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Post by Deleted on Jun 18, 2011 15:36:51 GMT -5
Generally, when we take out kibble, we add in bone powder or eggshell to give them the calcium they need on a soft diet (half a teaspoon eggshell/bone powder to 8 oz meat). Eating three or more times a day is fine. However, you might gradually have to make them more at a sitting, if they're extremely hungry. Soup is sometimes not as filling so they need more of it Our goal is to have them completely on soup with NO dry kibble available. And that IS the plan! Your guys are being so accommodating, we might get there soon! Baby food is used because it is protein rich and really easy to eat and digest, and sickies need that. There's nothing in it that beats raw diets, but it's not as hard on them as bone or chewy meats or kibble. My Pixie gets supplemental meals of it (she has tummy issues), and I use it just to ensure she gets enough calories. The baby food can stay in, if you want. You'll need stuff to cover up the organs (most ferrets protest those quite a bit) until they get used to them. But organs are a bit down the road, too, at this point.
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Post by melcab on Jun 18, 2011 16:36:50 GMT -5
Great so then next step should be total removal of kibble with added eggshell powder instead then? I think I'm going to try that tonight. I've been saving eggshells as we eat a lot of eggs here. Just need to grind them up. Unfortunately I no longer have a coffee grinder (I blew it up trying to grind nuts for something else lol) and I'm trying not to spend a ton of money this month *knocks on wood* since we just had to replace out hot water heater $$$$ I know coffee grinders are cheap tho. Is it really bad if you "overdose" on eggshell powder? lol I'm not sure how much soup is being given. I just fill up their bowl and since they aren't quite finishing it all in one sitting, but close, I figured that was a good amount. Prolly should up the amount a little bit tonight though if I'm not adding kibble.
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Post by melcab on Jun 19, 2011 7:25:53 GMT -5
For the past two meals they've had NO KIBBLE! Just chicken babyfood, pureed chicken, water and eggshell powder (hand ground to dust by myself! phew! need me a coffee grinder, stat!) So how long should I stay at this step? What should I do next? Gradually change the ratio so that it's mostly pureed chicken with a little babyfood? Right now it's about half and half. Not that I've measured, but I'm eyeballing it.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 20, 2011 7:32:18 GMT -5
What we do now is start adding chunks. Fingernail thin. Once they eat those, we thicken the soup by adding a bit bigger chunks. As they adjust to that, increase the size of the chunks until and take away the soup bit (gradually) until they're just eating meat chunks.
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Post by melcab on Jun 21, 2011 7:11:06 GMT -5
So since I had just finished the first batch of pureed chicken last night this am I took out a new package. Last time I pureed it a lot and added water even to make it mushier. This time I didn't add any water and pureed it a little bit less, but kept some meat whole so I could slice it up. It was still a little frozen so I put that back in the fridge for a little while. For breakfast I gave them half a jar of turkey baby food (yes they eat turkey baby food too now) and put a couple of spoons of the now diced? chicken in, added water to make soup and also eggshell powder. They lapped up about half. Looks like they might have left most of the chicken behind and lapped up the babyfood, but then it could be that they just ate half the bowl in one sitting and will go back later, which is what they've been doing and they've been finishing it all up and licking the bowl. So it could go either way. They could leave the less pureed chicken behind entirely or they could go back for "brunch" later like they've been doing and finish it up. We'll see. But it's been going pretty good so yay!
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Post by melcab on Jun 21, 2011 18:17:19 GMT -5
Yup! They finished it at "second breakfast" lol. Tonight is the same. The chicken meat is less pureed than last batch, but they don't seem to mind.
One thing, though. They don't usually finish their whole bowl in one sitting, but they do seem to be looking for food about mid-day after their breakfast is all gone and at my bedtime. I usually feed them at breakfast and at dinner. I haven't been giving them a "lunch". Yesterday though I had to give them a little "bedtime snack" because they were looking for more. I gave them just the babyfood as it was a quick snack. The bowls are pretty full when I feed them. I'd say it's between 5-8oz at a time. Should I give them more at feeding time? (and get a bigger bowl)
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Post by Deleted on Jun 21, 2011 22:13:58 GMT -5
It might be good, or sneak in a lunch meal, at least while they're on the softer diet. Remember, each ferret is individual, firstly, plus transitioning revs up their appetites (pretty much for the first few months/year, depending). Also, your guys are relatively young (and they always seem to be much hungrier), and a soft/mushy/liquidy diet doesn't tend to fill them up as fast or for as long as the raw diet. So, if you've a feeling that your guys need more, give them more in whatever fashion works best
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Post by melcab on Jun 22, 2011 22:25:34 GMT -5
So I gave them breakfast lunch and dinner today as clearly they were looking for it. For dinner I cut up two chicken tenderloins, this time in little slivers by hand so pieces are slightly larger. Seems like their thing is to eat half then come back for the next half later so it's hard to tell if they've snubbed the chicken and only lapped up the babyfood or they are just doing their normal half and half thing. I gave them a whole 2.5 oz jar of chicken baby food with it this time since lunch was light and I wasn't sure about the chunks. Guess we'll see in the morning. If they haven't finished by then, should I assume they aren't ready for this size yet and go back? Or just persist until they eat it all this way?
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Post by melcab on Jun 23, 2011 7:48:08 GMT -5
Forget that question. They ate it all up by morning. Breakfast was the same. So keep progressing to bigger and bigger chunks? How big should we ultimately progress to? I mean, I know eventually we want them to eat chicken wings, but I'm probably going to have to smash them up at first two, so that's like a step back sort of. How big should the muscle meat chunks get to before we get to the next step?
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Post by Deleted on Jun 23, 2011 19:58:56 GMT -5
Generally, an accepted "chunk" is 1-inch. They eat that, and we can introduce bone. You can smash or (if you've a knife to handle it), cut them up, bone and all, into pieces and gradually work them up to a whole wing.
Right now, they seem to be doing good. Have you thought about trying to add in a bit of gizzard into a meal? They're tough to chew, but a lot of ferrets like them right off the bat, and it'll give them a little variety. That and heart.
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Post by melcab on Jun 24, 2011 16:38:22 GMT -5
Tried bigger chunks last night and this morning. Same deal. Lapped up the soup, went back for the chunks! Watched them chew up the chicken at the side of their mouths like little lions lol. The nom nom sound was so cute I'd say maybe a couple more meals of bigger chunks at this rate and we'll be able to try a smashed wing maybe. Don't know if you saw my other thread "name that meat" but I bought a whole chicken for my family and saved the giblets in the freezer for when the ferrets were ready. There was some debate as to what organs were which, especially the gizzards. Some said there were gizzards, but the meat they were referring to was attached to the neck so we weren't sure. Might have to make a special trip this weekend to try and find some. There did appear to be a tiny heart in there though. Should I mash this up? Cut it up? Put it in with the soup? (more like chunks and gravy now than a soup really)
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Post by Deleted on Jun 24, 2011 17:41:44 GMT -5
Definitely put it in. I'd just try chopping it up about the size of the chunks already in the soup. As for the gizzards - there's usually one or two in, and they'd be ... tougher feeling than the slimy liver (which is usually included too) - I'm not so great at anatomy, but it'd make sense if they were connected to the neck, right? Since the gizzard is part of the digestive track.
But also GREAT JOB! Your guys are really doing amazing, it's lovely to hear!
(edited because GRAMMAR. WHAT IS IT.)
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Post by melcab on Jun 24, 2011 20:05:42 GMT -5
LMAO! Grammar? Is that, like, my mother's mother?
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Post by Deleted on Jun 24, 2011 21:04:14 GMT -5
LOL ... it's how I fail *so hard*
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Post by melcab on Jun 25, 2011 20:39:35 GMT -5
Thought I'd give you a quick update. We are now eating good sized chicken chunks without baby food (although not as excitedly as with). I also gave them the chicken heart. I just cut it in half. They appear to be gone, but I haven't checked to see if they've been stashed or eaten. I'm so thrilled they are doing so well! I'm still nervous about giving them enough food because they like to do the nibble all day long thing
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