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Post by pazupazu1 on Dec 7, 2018 1:29:00 GMT -5
Haven't updated in a couple days- mostly because we are in a bit of a routine now, and the boys are less stubborn. Howl reverted back to his spoon feeding for a day or so but they are both on track now.
The Hare Today meals have much more bone than the Darwins meals, it seems. It's fun watching them pick out the bone and chew on them. I introduced beef kidney and they took to it eventually! I also now add small-medium size chunks of meat in with their grinds at every meal to get their jaws working even more. They aren't crazy about them, but will eat them if I hide them under the food !
Can't wait to maybe introduce chicken necks or something of that nature soon!
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Post by Charlie on Dec 7, 2018 19:54:15 GMT -5
That's so awesome! They are coming along! If they are picking out the bones to chew on them then you may want to try chicken necks! When you get the necks or backs chop them up into smaller pieces. You don't want to give it to them in one big piece.
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Post by pazupazu1 on Dec 8, 2018 18:44:41 GMT -5
They have been having loose stools as of late, it's formed but also watery. Would adding in some crushed eggshell to a meal help with this?
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Post by Charlie on Dec 9, 2018 22:47:24 GMT -5
Yes, that would help with loose stool. I find when Charlie eats the meat only meals or the organ meals his stool gets a bit looser but still formed and when he has the bone in meals it's more firm.
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Post by pazupazu1 on Dec 10, 2018 12:13:21 GMT -5
Ok! It seemed to have helped Their poos have been looking great unless they get really riled up or something. Almost a month on raw! They are now eating 50/50 chunks and grinds. The grinds I only do for the bone content, and it helps them eat the chunks. That's probably why they've been having looser stools, since they aren't eating as much of the grinds at each meal. The chunks are an inch- inch 1/2 in size. They do like to run off with them but they will eat them usually instead of stash them Howl was once afraid of the chunks, but he goes for them immediately now! They also have been extremely happy and playful lately. Couple questions... - How big do you make your chunks? I feel like the 1 inch size for my guys is great, they don't have trouble chewing them. I have read somewhere not to make them too big in case they choke? - What do you use for muscle meats? Ground meat? Gizzards?... - What do you use for bone content and how long did it take your ferrets to take to them? Thanks! Really looking forward to removing the commercial grinds ASAP. Hopefully what I have in my fridge from the Hare Today order, will be my last! (aside from the beef kidney and gullet)
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Post by Charlie on Dec 10, 2018 20:32:22 GMT -5
Yeah my chunks are about 1 inch sometimes a bit bigger. The pieces are big enough that it still takes them a bit to eat them. They won't choke on the bigger pieces because they have to bite pieces off of them to eat them so you are ok there.
For muscle meats I use beef and gizzards. The bones in beef are way to big for them to eat so I only use the meat there. Pork is good here too because some bones are too big.
For bone in meals I use chicken wings and necks and backs, turkey necks and backs, whole mice, pork riblets (have to really chop those up), and rabbit.
I never did the soup phase for my ferret. He was young so I just offered him chicken wings chopped up and he started chewing on it. Then every day I just tried adding in different meats for him to try and he would take to them. So my morning meals are all bone in meals and the evening meals I'll alternate between organ meals, meat only meals and bone in meals depending on how his stool is. So on Wednesday I do a heart meal, Friday is 1/2 heart, 1/4 liver and 1/4 kidney then on Sunday is 1/2 liver and 1/2 kidney. Monday is a meat only meal and the other days I put bone in to keep firm stool.
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Post by pazupazu1 on Dec 10, 2018 21:34:05 GMT -5
Yeah my chances are about 1 inch sometimes a bit bigger. The pieces are big enough that it still takes them a bit to eat them. They won't choke on the bigger pieces because they have to bite pieces off of them to eat them so you are ok there. For muscle meats I use beef and gizzards. The bones in beef are way to big for them to eat so I only use the meat there. Pork is good here too because some bones are too big. For bone in meals I use chicken wings and necks and backs, turkey necks and backs, whole mice, pork riblets (have to really chop those up), and rabbit. I never did the soup phase for my ferret. He was young so I just offered him chicken wings chopped up and he started chewing on it. Then every day I just tried adding in different meats for him to try and he would take to them. So my morning meals are all bone in meals and the evening meals I'll alternate between organ meals, meat only meals and bone in meals depending on how his stool is. So on Wednesday I do a heart meal, Friday is 1/2 heart, 1/4 liver and 1/4 kidney then on Sunday is 1/2 liver and 1/2 kidney. Monday is a meat only meal and the other days I put bone in to keep firm stool. This is very helpful! Thank you! How do you cut the bone in meals? Last time I tried to cut a bone in chicken wing it was a mess! After 30 minutes of attempts I only got a few small pieces (they didn't even eat them) again, I'm a vegetarian so I really don't know how to prepare meats or cut things, haha. I've been using sharp scissors to cut boneless thighs etc. as it's quick and easy. Also, how do you measure exactly how much to give of heart, liver, kidney? Do you weigh it? When I read things like, 1/2 heart and 1/4 kidney it's hard for me to picture how much that is. Chicken hearts are easy as they are small but I know it can be bad to overfeed liver due to too much vitamin A. I do have a small kitchen scale...I would love to have something that said how much in ounces I should be feeding of liver and other organ per ferret per week. I guess that's something I can figure out on my own. I am really bad at measuring (baking is impossible for me, lol)
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Post by abbeytheferret6 on Dec 11, 2018 6:21:00 GMT -5
Yes, you do weigh ther organs. I have an old, digital postal scale. You can find digital scales for the kitchen probably at Walmart--- definitely online. Mine goes up to 5 lbs.
When I strted out doing raw I just made organ soupies--- very easy, and ferrets tend to take to organ soupies better than chopped. I use my Nutribullet to make soupies. You can make a batch of soupies and freeze them in ice cube trays then pop them out and put in freezer bag or baggies.
So looking at the sample below--- the Friday pm meal will be 50% heart and 25% liver and 25% kidney(or other organ).
The Sunday pm meal will be 50% liver and 50% kidney (or other organ). Kidney seems easier to find than other organs.
Monday am: edible bone in meat Monday pm: edible bone in meat (or muscle)** Tuesday am: edible bone in meat Tuesday pm: muscle meat Wednesday am: edible bone in meat Wednesday pm: heart Thursday am: edible bone in meat Thursday pm: edible bone in meat (or muscle)** Friday am: edible bone in meat Friday pm: ½ heart + ¼ liver + ¼ other organ Saturday am: edible bone in meat Saturday pm: muscle meat Sunday am: edible bone in meat Sunday pm: ½ liver + ½ other organ
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Post by Charlie on Dec 11, 2018 19:52:52 GMT -5
Yeah my chances are about 1 inch sometimes a bit bigger. The pieces are big enough that it still takes them a bit to eat them. They won't choke on the bigger pieces because they have to bite pieces off of them to eat them so you are ok there. For muscle meats I use beef and gizzards. The bones in beef are way to big for them to eat so I only use the meat there. Pork is good here too because some bones are too big. For bone in meals I use chicken wings and necks and backs, turkey necks and backs, whole mice, pork riblets (have to really chop those up), and rabbit. I never did the soup phase for my ferret. He was young so I just offered him chicken wings chopped up and he started chewing on it. Then every day I just tried adding in different meats for him to try and he would take to them. So my morning meals are all bone in meals and the evening meals I'll alternate between organ meals, meat only meals and bone in meals depending on how his stool is. So on Wednesday I do a heart meal, Friday is 1/2 heart, 1/4 liver and 1/4 kidney then on Sunday is 1/2 liver and 1/2 kidney. Monday is a meat only meal and the other days I put bone in to keep firm stool. This is very helpful! Thank you! How do you cut the bone in meals? Last time I tried to cut a bone in chicken wing it was a mess! After 30 minutes of attempts I only got a few small pieces (they didn't even eat them) again, I'm a vegetarian so I really don't know how to prepare meats or cut things, haha. I've been using sharp scissors to cut boneless thighs etc. as it's quick and easy. Also, how do you measure exactly how much to give of heart, liver, kidney? Do you weigh it? When I read things like, 1/2 heart and 1/4 kidney it's hard for me to picture how much that is. Chicken hearts are easy as they are small but I know it can be bad to overfeed liver due to too much vitamin A. I do have a small kitchen scale...I would love to have something that said how much in ounces I should be feeding of liver and other organ per ferret per week. I guess that's something I can figure out on my own. I am really bad at measuring (baking is impossible for me, lol) I use a meat clever to chop everything up on a cutting board. But one of the other girls said she used gardening shears to cut bones. Obviously they are clean. lol Yes, I use a food scale to measure the food. Charlie gets 2 oz in the morning and 2 oz at night. So the heart, liver and kidney meal would be 1 oz heart, 1/2 oz liver and 1/2 oz kidney.
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Post by pazupazu1 on Dec 13, 2018 17:46:58 GMT -5
This is very helpful! Thank you! How do you cut the bone in meals? Last time I tried to cut a bone in chicken wing it was a mess! After 30 minutes of attempts I only got a few small pieces (they didn't even eat them) again, I'm a vegetarian so I really don't know how to prepare meats or cut things, haha. I've been using sharp scissors to cut boneless thighs etc. as it's quick and easy. Also, how do you measure exactly how much to give of heart, liver, kidney? Do you weigh it? When I read things like, 1/2 heart and 1/4 kidney it's hard for me to picture how much that is. Chicken hearts are easy as they are small but I know it can be bad to overfeed liver due to too much vitamin A. I do have a small kitchen scale...I would love to have something that said how much in ounces I should be feeding of liver and other organ per ferret per week. I guess that's something I can figure out on my own. I am really bad at measuring (baking is impossible for me, lol) I use a meat clever to chop everything up on a cutting board. But one of the other girls said she used gardening shears to cut bones. Obviously they are clean. lol Yes, I use a food scale to measure the food. Charlie gets 2 oz in the morning and 2 oz at night. So the heart, liver and kidney meal would be 1 oz heart, 1/2 oz liver and 1/2 oz kidney. THANK YOU! That's exactly what I needed. The ounces! So I would double those measurements for two ferrets, correct? Also I have an update- I randomly found pork neck bones at the store and they've been loving them!! Big bones to chew on. I think I've got them eating just about everything they should now! Bones, liver, heart, other organ, muscle meats! And 3-4 different meats during the week.
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Post by Charlie on Dec 13, 2018 19:15:50 GMT -5
I use a meat clever to chop everything up on a cutting board. But one of the other girls said she used gardening shears to cut bones. Obviously they are clean. lol Yes, I use a food scale to measure the food. Charlie gets 2 oz in the morning and 2 oz at night. So the heart, liver and kidney meal would be 1 oz heart, 1/2 oz liver and 1/2 oz kidney. THANK YOU! That's exactly what I needed. The ounces! So I would double those measurements for two ferrets, correct? Also I have an update- I randomly found pork neck bones at the store and they've been loving them!! Big bones to chew on. I think I've got them eating just about everything they should now! Bones, liver, heart, other organ, muscle meats! And 3-4 different meats during the week. Yes you would double that for 2 ferrets. If one is a girl then it would be roughly 1 1/2 oz for her per meal. Females eat a little less then males. If there are a few bites left over then it's all good. If there isn't any food left over then you may need to increase slightly. If they are kits then they eat more, which I believe you said they are still kits. Then yes give them more!! I was told up to 4 times more than an adult. My sister's ferret is a kit and she eats about as much as mine so I give her the same as Charlie, 2 oz. a meal. It says that males each between 3-5 oz a day while females eat 1-3 oz a day. Something like that. So Charlie gets 4 oz a day but sometimes he has food left over. In the summer they may eat less and in the winter they may eat more. Sounds like you are making great progress!! If you can get up to 5 different meats then even better! That way you have more options if they get finicky with one meat. Also putting in whole prey works too. Baby mice are considered a snack, while adult mice are full meals. Charlie likes mice. Usually 2 mice is about 2 oz for him. That will replace one bone in meal for him. If I offer him 2 whole prey meals a week then it will replace 1 bone in meal and 1 muscle meal. But so far I'm just giving him mice once a week. I have given him whole rabbit before but I took out the intestines etc. and chopped it up into portion sizes and gave him the rabbit with fur and all!! He left the feet. lol But if you want to start with any whole prey start with a pinkie (baby mouse). It's a great time to try that too!!
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Post by pazupazu1 on Dec 13, 2018 20:33:25 GMT -5
I definitely want to try the pinkies! I think I can get them at the pet store around the corner...makes me sad though my vegetarian heart is crying over it haha! But I know it's whats best for them!
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Post by Charlie on Dec 13, 2018 20:43:35 GMT -5
You know it's best for them because that's what they eat!! You have choices but for them they get what it best for them! Yes, it is sad for the mice but in the wild that is what they would eat. We want to feed them as close to what they get in nature. At least that's what I'd like to do. Mind you in the wild, they don't find already prepared meat from the grocery store! But I know what you mean.
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Post by Sherry on Dec 14, 2018 11:03:15 GMT -5
Keep in mind that while pinkies are a good introduction to mice(I used them chopped up and mixed in a favourite meat to get them used to the taste), they ARE only a treat. Think of them as the cotton candy of the carnivore world
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Post by pazupazu1 on Dec 15, 2018 13:15:17 GMT -5
Yes, you do weigh ther organs. I have an old, digital postal scale. You can find digital scales for the kitchen probably at Walmart--- definitely online. Mine goes up to 5 lbs. When I strted out doing raw I just made organ soupies--- very easy, and ferrets tend to take to organ soupies better than chopped. I use my Nutribullet to make soupies. You can make a batch of soupies and freeze them in ice cube trays then pop them out and put in freezer bag or baggies. So looking at the sample below--- the Friday pm meal will be 50% heart and 25% liver and 25% kidney(or other organ). The Sunday pm meal will be 50% liver and 50% kidney (or other organ). Kidney seems easier to find than other organs. Monday am: edible bone in meat Monday pm: edible bone in meat (or muscle)** Tuesday am: edible bone in meat Tuesday pm: muscle meat Wednesday am: edible bone in meat Wednesday pm: heart Thursday am: edible bone in meat Thursday pm: edible bone in meat (or muscle)** Friday am: edible bone in meat Friday pm: ½ heart + ¼ liver + ¼ other organSaturday am: edible bone in meat Saturday pm: muscle meat Sunday am: edible bone in meat Sunday pm: ½ liver + ½ other organHow many ounces of heart for the Wednesday pm meal? Thanks!
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