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Post by hazelrah on Aug 23, 2011 9:17:57 GMT -5
I think this is actually going like it's supposed to this time! I removed Helo's kibble this morning for the hour, then when I came to check back they were all asleep. I figured that I'd sneak his bowl down so I could go out and grab the rest for the other two, but he heard the ceramic hit the floor and, like, levitated over I haven't seen him this excited about anything since he came home; it's really nice How should I be handling the menu for the other two at this point? They're both eating boneless chicken pieces without any further interference from me, and I have been adding the powdered eggshell as well. Can I start branching out with them, or should I wait for Helo to catch up a bit more?
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Post by Deleted on Aug 23, 2011 13:32:11 GMT -5
No no, if it's not too much work keep moving forward. Have you tried bone with them? Best thing to do is get cgh wings or chicken wing tips, slice through the long bone (vertically), and then create slits (center of the wing outward to the edge) for them to grip. You might have to drizzle with oil or a treat to get them interested. If it's just too impossible, you can bash the wing up to break up the bone (using a pair of tongs sometimes helps, or spearing it with long forks before hitting) or if you've a blade sharp enough, chop the wing into chunks. The other big thing is organs, if they haven't had that before. But try them with the bone and we'll see how that goes
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Post by hazelrah on Aug 24, 2011 9:30:29 GMT -5
I was just starting on bone when I got Helo, so it won't be completely foreign to them. I picked up some bone-in wings last night and gave them their first one this morning. They ate most of the meat off it while in their cage during Helo's breakfast, but they weren't finished when Helo was so I just left the rest for them to gnaw on. What with the slits in the chicken, neither had a problem getting the meat off at least; it was like they never lapsed
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Post by Deleted on Aug 24, 2011 11:26:00 GMT -5
\o/ Everyone's doing SO GOOD.
You can give them a day or two on bone, and then introduce organ. Liver's the most common one, and if that's all you can find right now, it's okay, but remember ideally you want 2 oz liver, 2 oz other (usually kidney) per ferret. If they've had it in their soup at any point, they should be familiar with liver, and hopefully it won't go down so badly C: Generally ferts like the taste just fine, it's the texture they have issue with. If they don't like it plain, try drizzling it with oil, putting a bit of baby food on it (if they like baby food), or chopping it up and mixing it in with a meat meal (with these alternatives you can add in a bit of eggshell to ward off loose stool caused by organ). Worst case, you have to make a soup and add in the liver and give that to them until they can handle organ by itself (took my guys, before I got ground bone and organ in ground, a YEAR before they'd eat even a bit of liver).
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Post by hazelrah on Aug 24, 2011 15:53:53 GMT -5
Ok, awesome! I'll try and pick up some liver tomorrow and start adding it. I have a feeling Oryx is going to require soup My boyfriend thinks I'm nuts cause I'm soooooo excited to follow up on a hand made sign down the road that advertises rooster organs
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Post by hazelrah on Aug 26, 2011 9:07:14 GMT -5
Ok, STILL haven't been able to track down organ meat. Where do you tend to acquire it? I can order offline, but would like to go locally if possible. Would a farmer's market be a good place to look? I can't get hold of my neighbor with the lovely sign Everyone's still been doing really well Helo is eating most of the blender chunks, and the other two destroyed a bone yesterday ,lol. I gave them some raw egg (mixed together) with powdered eggshell in it as well today as a treat, which Oryx and Falcor loved and Helo didn't seem too impressed with
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Post by Deleted on Aug 26, 2011 13:23:44 GMT -5
I can get chicken liver at Walmart, myself. It comes in a tub (I think it's Perdue?) It's so sad, though - I have rabbit organs (lungs, kidney, extra) ground up, turkey liver, beef organs all just going to waste in my freezer (my guys don't actually need them) >:C
Other than that, do you have a butcher shop around you? You can try a farmer's market (mine only tend to have fruits and veggies) or another local co-op, if there's one around.
Other than that, for online, I can recommend hare-today.com (where I got all my excess stuff, argh).
ETA: I just went to Food Lion, and mine has pork livers as well as chicken livers, gizzards (with a few hearts). Just fyi.
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Post by hazelrah on Aug 27, 2011 0:13:46 GMT -5
Ok, I shall go on a wider quest. I live in the middle of nowhere, so it's a bit of a trek into town, even for Walmart I have seen chicken necks for sale at the farmer's market, and I think they had gizzards and livers as well but they go quickly. I'll just have to be up bright and early on a Saturday to make sure I snag some. And the fuzzies will never even realize just how spoiled they are On the random good news note, Helo is being absurd in his turnaround! I put him in the cage when he had finished with his own dinner, and he walked up to an uneaten chicken wing and just started going at it Tearing the skin off in chunks and everything
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Post by hazelrah on Aug 27, 2011 0:16:28 GMT -5
Didn't finish typing before I hit post for some reason You should totally just send your excess on over this way Out of curiosity, why do your guys not need it? Also, does it matter which kind of organs I get (species wise)? I was assuming it needed to be chicken, but you mentioned beef and pork livers and I'm fairly sure I can get both of those at my local grocery store, so that would be very convenient.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 27, 2011 10:30:07 GMT -5
Oh my, he's doing great, now, isn't he? No, there's no certain species to stick with when buying organ. The more variety you can get the better, so definitely pick up the beef and pork livers As to why mine don't eat those organs - I get a bone in/organ in grind that I give to my guys several times a week (duck, pheasant, goose, turkey) and that contains liver, kidney, etc of the animal already, so I would just be over feeding if I gave my guys an organ day
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Post by hazelrah on Aug 28, 2011 13:09:32 GMT -5
Oh, I see, that makes sense Yeah, he seems to like taking a couple bites out of the wings and them dragging them around and hiding then like toys I finally just went into town and picked up some liver this morning, hooray! I'm assuming soup is best for the intro? And should I feed on meal or a full day of meals on the liver?
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Post by Deleted on Aug 28, 2011 13:27:13 GMT -5
Some ferts take right to it plain, so you can always try that, but yeah. Sometimes a liver puree is best Organs can cause loose stool so sometimes it's best to feed with bone to balance that out (or just add in pumpkin to the soup). Right now, I'd start them out on 2 oz of liver per ferret once a week (since you don't have any other type of organ, correct? When you get a hold of some kidney (hopefully), you can go 2 oz liver and 2 oz kidney once a week per ferret).
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Post by hazelrah on Aug 28, 2011 22:17:38 GMT -5
Yes, this is the only organ as on right now. The grocery store where I got the liver also sold heart/ giblets, but I wasn't sure about if that would be appropriate in addition to liver or if they're more of an alternative?
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Post by Deleted on Aug 29, 2011 6:10:56 GMT -5
Those are always great (you need, ideally, two meals of hearts a week for the taurine) but they're considered muscle meats, not organ
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Post by hazelrah on Aug 29, 2011 9:49:31 GMT -5
Haha, now I feel silly for not putting that together Ok, so liver and kidney it is!
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