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Post by Sherry on Jan 26, 2012 10:53:02 GMT -5
Oh, this could get interesting! With the chicken, when it comes again- start mixing it with what you can get hold of otherwise. That way, they'll at least have a taste for it instead of going on strike.
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Post by jadewolf on Jan 27, 2012 19:25:19 GMT -5
Will do. I'll also go back to keeping a closer eye and being more pro-active on pushing meat on the boys. I did that with the heart to good effect. Last night I took 2 chicken hearts, diced them, put a teaspoon of soup over them, and set the boys loose on it. Snorri took a tiny amount of convincing but then ate about a hearts' worth. Dominique dove right in and hoovered it up. I put 3 more hearts, sliced, scattered among their bone-in chicken. As far as I can see, they ate most of the heart slices and a decent amount of the chicken.
This am they got ground beef. I can't find any of it left over, I think they inhaled it. No troubles there!
I also got more turkey that should be the brand they know-it's from the same store but has no brand name. There was 1 lonely package of "turkey parts", $1.29 a pound! I think it's back, bits of breast, etc. Definitely bone in and no big weight-bearing bones. There were wings and half breasts also packaged up, so I'm guessing they cut up a whole turkey and packaged up the "parts."
Is there any reason not to spread their hearts out in 2-3 meals through the week, mixed with other meats?
The pork ear has not been a huge hit. I think I need to take another try at explaining it to Dominique, my little chewer and meat lover. I tried a couple times with thin slices, but he licked it then moved off.
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Post by Sherry on Jan 27, 2012 20:26:32 GMT -5
You can feed it any way you like, as long as you are sure they are all getting enough Let me know how they do with the turkey
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Post by jadewolf on Jan 29, 2012 10:24:49 GMT -5
The smileys are ferrets now! Nice! Past two days they've gotten a mix of chicken wings cut up, heart slices, and a bit of ground beef. They've been eating it all although of course the wings are least favorite. Tonight liver soup, and turkey parts tomorrow.
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Post by Sherry on Jan 29, 2012 12:49:09 GMT -5
Sounds great! Can you write me up a menu of what they are getting, and about how much? Use the Monday-Sunday format if you would
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Post by jadewolf on Jan 31, 2012 19:32:24 GMT -5
Okay, menu it is. I will need to weigh things going forward, I've been more eyeballing it, but I can give approximate volumes. This menu starts yesterday, and it's for Snorri and Dominique only; Will and Minnie are on meat-pushing hiatus for a while.
Prep note: The turkey and chicken are wings, a tail, a neck, and some ribs. I smash up the bones pretty well and cut the meat into medium cubes.
Monday AM: 1/3 of a turkey wing bone in; 2 chicken hearts Monday PM: 1/3 of a turkey wing bone in; about 2 Tbsp ground beef; 2 chicken hearts Tuesday AM: about 1/2 cup bone in turkey Tuesday PM: 1 cup organ soup, made of half lamb liver and half pork kidney and about 1 Tablespoon turkey fat Wednesday AM: roughly 1/3 to 1/2 cup bone in turkey Wednesday PM: 1/3 to 1/2 cup chicken wings Thursday AM: 1/3 cup ground beef Thursday PM: 1/2 cup chicken wings Friday AM: 1/3 cup lamb muscle meat Friday PM: probably the same uneaten lamb, I expect some resistance Saturday AM: 1/3 cup chicken wings Saturday PM: 1/3 cup pork muscle meat Sunday AM: Chicken hearts! I have no idea how much, I'll probably start with 4 and if they eat them all, give more Sunday PM: 1/3 cup chicken wings
I will start weighing the meat, I got a scale for christmas!
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Post by Sherry on Jan 31, 2012 20:28:25 GMT -5
That's looking pretty good! You've got heart and organ. 8 bone meals, and 4 muscle meats. 5 proteins. Let me know if they are able to eat the bone from the turkey wings As for weighing the meat, if eyeballing it works, that's fine If they are leaving a lot, just give less. If they eat all of it add more. I tend to use my scale now more for weighing the actual ferrets themselves ;D
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Post by jadewolf on Jan 31, 2012 23:23:21 GMT -5
Yay! Glad to hear it looks good. I posted it on the fridge so we stick to it. They don't eat a lot of bone anyway, maybe about 25% of the chicken wing bones, but they seem to be doing about the same with the turkey. I will keep an eye to make sure of that.
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Post by Sherry on Feb 1, 2012 1:24:42 GMT -5
What you may wind up having to do is feeding just chicken wings for example for 3 or 4 days in a row. It sounds like they are holding out for the "good" stuff. Read "easier to eat muscle meats" ;D
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Post by jadewolf on Feb 2, 2012 14:41:28 GMT -5
I definitely agree they're holding out for easier to eat stuff. I will rearrange the menu some to group the muscle meats together a bit more so they have to eat the chicken wings.
Took Will and Minnie to the vet today; Will got his supralorin implant and with luck will start to get some weight back on. Minnie is now diagnosed as insulinomic, her BG was 49 an hour after her morning soup. So she's now on Prednisolone and with luck will also gain some weight. I have had exactly 1 ferret make it past age 5 without insulinoma. I'm really hoping having started Snorri and Dominique on raw before their second birthdays will help reduce their risk.
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Post by Sherry on Feb 2, 2012 17:24:18 GMT -5
Oh, I am so very sorry to hear about Minnie if it's any reassurance, Sinnead passed at the age of 8, and Zeus and Athena are both 5 1/2. None showed signs of insulinoma.
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Post by jadewolf on Feb 5, 2012 18:11:35 GMT -5
Thanks. I'm actually kind of relieved to have a diagnosis and treatment plan for her, and also to know she's still half a pound heavier than she was when I got her and she got super sick. We're still working out how to medicate her since she loathes being held, but we're getting it. Got lamb liver very cheap from my meat share, so I'm thrilled- $2 for a pound. Also got chicken wings from the meat share, so I can mix together them and the supermarket wings to improve their acceptance. So, here's the actual menu as it was fed from last week- mostly I just moved meals around, although I did cut out the ground beef meal. Monday AM: 1/3 of a turkey wing bone in; 2 chicken hearts Monday PM: 1/3 of a turkey wing bone in; about 2 Tbsp ground beef; 2 chicken hearts Tuesday AM: about 1/2 cup bone in turkey Tues PM: liver soup Weds AM: bone in turkey Weds PM chicken wings Thurs AM: 1/3 cup lamb (they ate it no problem once I hand fed 2 pieces) Thurs PM: 1/3 cup lamb Fri AM through Sat AM: chicken wings Sat PM: 1/2 cup pork muscle meat Sun AM: still working on pork from yesterday Sun PM: chicken hearts Nothing major to report on it, besides they're starting to digest the organs more. Next week's proposed menu: Mon AM through Tues PM: chicken wings, about 1/3 cup twice a day Weds AM and PM: ground beef, 1/3 cup each meal, plus 2 chicken hearts Thurs AM: liver soup (1/3 cup lamb liver/pork kidney mix, with a side of strips of lamb liver) Thurs PM through Sat AM: bone in turkey, about 1/3 cup twice a day Sat PM: pork Sun AM: pork Sun PM: chicken hearts I'm taking your advice and grouping the bone in meals more to outwait them. Although trying to out-stubborn a ferret... ;D
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Post by Sherry on Feb 5, 2012 18:34:23 GMT -5
Looks like all we've got to do is to get them eating their bone!!! Let me know how they do with it
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Post by jadewolf on Feb 9, 2012 10:28:07 GMT -5
I think the combination of mixing in the brand they are used to and feeding it for 3 days straight worked on the chicken wings. They didn't eat as much as they would of muscle, but after the first day I'd say they ate about 1/3 to 1/2 cup a day. And they did eat the bones in the chunks they took. They did leave some of the less meaty chunks, I think mostly the wing tips. I saw Snorri resorting to kibble a few times, but if I went in and hand fed him a chunk of wing, he ate it.
They were so thrilled to see the ground beef, though, they inhaled more than 1/3 cup within an hour. Today, liver! I just need to gear up and cut it up. Ugh.
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Post by Sherry on Feb 9, 2012 11:17:41 GMT -5
Something that helps? Cutting liver when it's semi frozen. Not as messy or smelly that way And they generally don't eat as much of something they have to work at, lazy little sods
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