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Post by Deleted on Jul 21, 2011 2:22:39 GMT -5
Ok,so i put down some whoke chicken livers yesterday and they scoffed them down! They woukdnt eat it pureed. That makes it a lot easier for me, it means i dont have to look at them! I hate liver! Im still trying to get them to eat sliced heart. No lucj yet apart from milo, he'll eat anything.
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Post by Sherry on Jul 21, 2011 8:29:25 GMT -5
Wonderful! For the heart- try the same thing, see what they do. If it's chicken/turkey only, obviously ;D For beef heart try cutting it in larger pieces. They may actually prefer that. Or even try smearing a bit of pure pumpkin on it. Basically, anything you can think of to trick them into eating it, because they desperately need taurine in their diet.
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Post by Sherry on Jul 31, 2011 11:51:50 GMT -5
Updates?
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Post by Deleted on Aug 1, 2011 2:32:11 GMT -5
Hi,
I've noticed something odd about their poo after they've had ground raw. There are loads of huge shards of bone in it. I mean about 1cm in length. Is this normal? Shouldn't they be digesting the bone? Could this cause blockages?
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Post by Sherry on Aug 1, 2011 8:23:44 GMT -5
Their bodies will slowly get better at digesting the bone, and yes it does take a while But no, that *shouldn't* present a problem for them. The bone shards should be smooth enough to just pass right through(edges, etc smoothed and rounded by digestive acids). I'm not going to say it could never happen that they'd get a blockage from bone, just highly unlikely. Mine used to have bone shards, but I've not seen them in quite a while now. They've been raw fed for 3 years now. So, other than that- what's happening with them? Full rmb's? What kinds of meat? What grinds? Organs and heart consumption going well?
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Post by Deleted on Aug 1, 2011 11:11:27 GMT -5
Milo will eat anything I put in front of him so all good there.
Kiki and Miya will eat thin strips of chicken/turkey, ground raw although there are times when they will turn their nose up at it. They will also both have a chew on a chicken wing but once the tip has gone they don't want to touch it.
Hurley still needs handholding a bit. Sometimes he will wolf down the ground raw, others he won't touch it an needs me to put some oil on it to encourage him. He will sometimes try chicken wing but not reliably. He will eat thin strips of meat too.
They all seem to like liver. I haven't managed to get hold of whole heart yet so they are still on the minced at the moment. My butcher doesn't have heart oddly and neither does the supermarket near me.
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Post by Sherry on Aug 6, 2011 23:46:36 GMT -5
I'd have SWORN I'd posted to this! Anyway, can you set me up a diet plan for Milo, to make sure that he's getting his optimal nutrition? 8-9 bone in meals a week, 3-4 muscle meals(at least one of which is heart), one organ meal(2oz liver, 2oz other organ). Minimum 3 proteins For Kiki and Miya, I'd start adding some powdered eggshell to their meat strips, so they are not deprived of their calcium. Will they eat heart or organ, even ground? They need to start getting that into their diet if they haven't yet. For the wing, you can also take the middle section, cut between the two bones, and take either a cleaver or the back of a large knife and essentially pulverize them. That way, they get the taste of the marrow, and they are getting bone as well. With Hurley, well- Hurley's "special" ;D Start putting slivers of meat in his grinds, just slightly larger than he gets in the mix, and mix them in well. Let me know how they do with that?
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Post by Deleted on Aug 16, 2011 9:30:33 GMT -5
Hi. I just got delivered 2nd bags of heart and liver chunks so that's their organs sorted they just seem to be licking the heart then stashing it so ill leave it in there so they'll have to try it eventually. I've been feeding them some ziwipeak as well to make sure they are getting all the vitamins they need. They love that stuff! Miya had another incident where she got a bone stuck in her teeth yesterday. I had to prise it off with a screwdriver. I might stick to the prize choice ground raw as the bones in that are a lot smaller. So far I've been feeding ziwipeak while I'm at work then a bowl of ground raw when I get home and turkey strips a few times a week. Here's a menu I've come up with using the meats I can get hold of Mon - heart/liver, chicken wings Tue - ground chicken with bones / bone in rabbit chunks Wed- turkey strips / ground rabbit Thu - ground chicken / chicken wings Fri - beef chunks / ground turkey / raw eggs Sat - ground chicken / ground rabbit Sun- turkey strips / chicken wings Also, we're getting a new kitchen soon so I'll finally have room for a fridge-freezer which means o can use the freezer in the garage just for the ferrets. Its going to be so much easier when I can just bulk buy everything.
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Post by Sherry on Aug 16, 2011 9:40:53 GMT -5
I've not come across the problems you have with only being able to get course grinds, so that may be what the difference is. Mine eat regular bone in like wings, and the commercial grind is relatively fine. Now, are you interested in phasing out the ziwipeak at some point? Or plan on keeping it in the diet, and just reduce the amount of raw left in the cage? And that's wonderful you could find a supplier for hearts and livers! Don't forget- one meal(or equivalent) of heart a week minimum. And 2oz of liver a week as well as another organ if you can find it. Though if they are eating ziwipeak every day, you may wind up reducing the amount of organ meat like the liver. Heart, being a muscle, will be no problem to keep at the normal level. It looks by that partial menu that you plan on giving some RMB's? Try to aim for 8-9 bone in meals a week. These will include the grinds with bone in them. Muscle meats like the heart and turkey, etc. are 3-4 meals a week, and liver/other organ 1 meal a week. How has Hurley been doing with some meat slivers mixed into his grinds? Or have you/are you going to be able to do that?
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Post by Deleted on Aug 16, 2011 13:22:58 GMT -5
It was the grind that I got from the butcher which had larger pieces of bone. I'm now goin got stick with prize choice and commercial for the ground raw. I want to keep some ziwipeak in the diet but not as much. I want to be able to use it for emergencies etc. I put a bowl of liver and heart in there this morning and they ate the liver pretty quickly and left the heart. I just checked on them and saw Hurley chewing on a ventricle! I'm so proud! Now they've finished all the heart I have put some turkey chunks in there and Hurley has eaten a few already Going to put a chicken wing in there next. Thats the main thing I want to get him eating as he has some tartar on his back teeth I want to get rid of. At the moment I haven't got a set menu I'm just making note of everything they eat on each day so I know when they last had organ/bone etc. I'm going to get some beef tomorrow to see if I can get them eating that. They didn't seem to like it last time I tried. If they had a least one meal of bone in ground a day and had chicken wings/bone in rabbit a couple of times a week that would be enough bone? Then the rest would be muscle meat and organs once a week. You mentioned I should get another type of organ. Do ferrets tend to like kidneys?
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Post by Sherry on Aug 16, 2011 18:56:33 GMT -5
First- congrats on them eating the heart! And YAY for Hurley!!!! That's fantastic However- since he's not been much for bone, he's still going to need to strengthen his jaws up a bit I think. You can still put the wing in, but try segmenting it, cutting between the two middle bones, and taking a cleaver to the large wing end to smash it up. That way, the marrow mixes in with the meat, which is usually quite a lure. And chicken bone shouldn't be so hard for your little one to dislodge on her own if it happens. It does take them some practice, though. And yes, that would be enough bone for them. 7 bone in meals with the grind, and 2 for the RMB's, so definitely. Other types of organ are kidney, brain, spleen, lung, pancreas, thymus, uterus, testicles, basically anything that secretes. As for what they'll accept? It varies by ferret. Lamb kidney would likely be the mildest if you can get it. Beef kidney is a really strong flavour. More so even than the liver. Let me know how they do!
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Post by Sherry on Aug 22, 2011 19:14:31 GMT -5
So how are they doing now? Hurley eating the chopped/minced up bone in meals yet?
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Post by Sherry on Sept 5, 2011 21:01:36 GMT -5
Update?
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Post by Sherry on Sept 9, 2011 19:25:21 GMT -5
Can we get a formal menu set up so we can get you graduated?
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