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Post by dinkyfish on Sept 4, 2012 10:22:04 GMT -5
Hi guys,
I was pointed in your direction from the Ferret Owners facebook group as I've been having issues with slightly seedy poops and I may not have my diet well balanced. I thought I had looked into it reasonably well but it turns out that (among other things) some of the food items I considered to be 'bone' meals did not actually contain enough bone (e.g. chicken thighs and drumsticks).
I've looked at your mentoring program and I'm not sure that's what I should be going for, it seems a lot more in depth than what I need as my two little fuzzits are already on a raw diet, it's more the balancing and variety I need help with. If you think I should go for the mentoring program then just say so and I'll head over there, if not I can list what I feed just now and perhaps you could suggest what I might be missing?
Thanks!
(Incidentally, a little pure pumpkin puree seems to have sorted out the poop issue for now)
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Post by Heather on Sept 4, 2012 11:06:11 GMT -5
My guys get pumpkin (or some veggie matter) all the time. It provides the roughage that normally would be fur and sinew in a prey diet. It feeds the gut bacteria and helps move things like ferret fur through the digestive track. The problem with frankenprey is it's missing the roughage, we have to simulate it. Post your menu, we will help you. The easiest is to post what you feed mon through sun.....a week's menu. We will then help you decide what you need to add or change. You may not need a mentor, your little ones are already on a raw diet. You don't need someone to help you switch (the key component of a mentor) you only need some tweeking of your diet ciao
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Post by dinkyfish on Sept 4, 2012 13:41:22 GMT -5
Yes, that's what I was thinking. Okie dokies here goes. I am currently feeding a mix of: Chicken wings, thighs and drumsticks (I had assumed all these would have been classed as meat on bone but I now believe it's only the chicken wings that would count?). These form the bulk of their diet. About twice a week they get minced beef (nice, cheap fatty stuff) and sometimes I throw an egg yolk in too. On the second feeding of mince (usually a Sunday) I chop up some ox liver and mix it through - they're still being fussy with this but will eat it using the scruff 'n stuff method. The first time I gave them liver I didn't chop it and they actually took it right out of their dish and threw it outside into their run lol So we are making progress on that one. My local butcher is also kind enough to give me some raw meaty bones each week (beef) but they're still not quite used to the technique of getting the meat off of these. They do try though so I'm keeping trying. He also sometimes give me tripe, which they eat quite happily. I have pumpkin in the freezer which they sometimes get a little of if I don't like the looks of their poop (only occasionally though, perhaps they should be getting it more often? I just worry about the sugar content) and they get a little beaphar malt paste as a treat each day (minimal amounts). On the advice I have already been given I have ordered some taurine powder from Amazon and have some egg shells drying in the kitchen ready to be ground up for extra calcium. I am trying to get in touch with a local man who rabbits as well but so far have got no response. And I think that's everything. I am aware it's a bit lacking in variety, but it's better than kibble every day I guess
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Post by dinkyfish on Sept 4, 2012 13:44:49 GMT -5
Oh I should add - I used to keep both rats and mice as pets in the past so am 100% unwilling to feed these to the boys. No negotiations on this on I'm afraid, it would absolutely break my heart.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 4, 2012 13:53:52 GMT -5
For good starter bones you can try chopping up chicken wings or cuts of meat with smaller bones in them such as pork tails, pork necks, chicken/turkey necks, chicken/turkey/duck feet, some of the random soup bones they sell in the grocery store can be hacked small enough. This gets them chewing on them and gradually they eat right through them! then you can work up to larger bones. I'm going to be starting some of mine on chicken thighs in the next couple of weeks.
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Post by bitbyter on Sept 4, 2012 15:36:44 GMT -5
Chicken and turkey necks work well for bone meat. Wrap them in plastic and bash them with a meat tenderizer to smash them up a bit so the ferrets can tear off bits of meat and bone to chew on.
If you can find anyone in your area that breeds rabbits for meat see if you can get some young ones as they would be perfect for the ferrets (though not very high in fat content).
When I did my egg shell processing I put them in the oven on 170 c for 20 minutes to kill off anything nasty. Then a smashed them up and put them through a coffee grinder. They are in a zip lock baggie and I don't forsee them ever going "off".
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Post by dinkyfish on Sept 4, 2012 16:32:33 GMT -5
For good starter bones you can try chopping up chicken wings or cuts of meat with smaller bones in them such as pork tails, pork necks, chicken/turkey necks, chicken/turkey/duck feet, some of the random soup bones they sell in the grocery store can be hacked small enough. This gets them chewing on them and gradually they eat right through them! then you can work up to larger bones. I'm going to be starting some of mine on chicken thighs in the next couple of weeks. Thanks. They're not too bad with bones so far, they absolutely destroy chicken wings and get through most of drumsticks too Are they allowed pork tails? I was under the impression that all pork was to be avoided due to the high natural salt content. p.s. Just spotted the 'Portal' themed names of some of your ferrets, made me smile Chicken and turkey necks work well for bone meat. Wrap them in plastic and bash them with a meat tenderizer to smash them up a bit so the ferrets can tear off bits of meat and bone to chew on. If you can find anyone in your area that breeds rabbits for meat see if you can get some young ones as they would be perfect for the ferrets (though not very high in fat content). When I did my egg shell processing I put them in the oven on 170 c for 20 minutes to kill off anything nasty. Then a smashed them up and put them through a coffee grinder. They are in a zip lock baggie and I don't forsee them ever going "off". Turkey necks are definitely something I'm going to try to get, that would add another meat for a bit of variety. Any recommendations for where to get these? There's no risk of them choking on splinters if I give the bones a good whack is there? The egg shells I'm using came from a couple of boiled eggs my mum made with dinner so I think they should be ok bug-wise but I might stick them in the oven to dry off a bit as they're still a little damp. I wish I had a coffee grinder, think it's going to have to be the old-fashioned mortal and pestle for me!
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Post by bitbyter on Sept 4, 2012 19:19:23 GMT -5
Smashed up bones are fine as long as the bones aren't cooked. Think about them chewing up the chicken wings, it isn't really any different if you break them up first. Cooked bones dry out and harden and can form splinters that they can't break up. Cooked bones are a bad idea for any pet. Try checking craigs list or kijiji for coffee grinders, there are usually quite a few available.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 5, 2012 5:59:50 GMT -5
As far as I know pork is fine so long as there none of that saline/salt water solution added. Now, I don't feed my ferrets pork exclusively, they get a commercial grind of several different meats with other in bone meats for dental care or as snacks in between meals. This can be pork, goat, chicken lately in my house. I also give a meal with pumpkin in it every 2-3 days or so to help clean them out and avoid potential blockages from fur. And yes, I have Portal ferrets- Chell acts like she's got her own portal gun with some of the places she weasels into.
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Post by Sherry on Sept 5, 2012 9:08:02 GMT -5
Ours love their pork. It's one of the favourite meats. But you do have to watch for the word "enhanced" somewhere on the package.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 5, 2012 9:50:37 GMT -5
Ours love their pork. It's one of the favourite meats. But you do have to watch for the word "enhanced" somewhere on the package. Or things like "extra juicy", particularly with chicken I've noticed. They inject it full of salt water to make it "juicer" and cheaper for them to sell since they're selling you water weight.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 5, 2012 10:17:08 GMT -5
my kids love their pork also. they get it every wk. as far as the bones, i bought a hammer that gets used just for meat bones. i hammer them while still partly frozen so meat dosnt go flying.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 6, 2012 12:43:07 GMT -5
If all you can find is the saltwater injected meat, you can soak it in several baths of regular water (rinse, soak, drain, repeat) This will get most of the salt stuff out.
~Kelli
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Post by dinkyfish on Sept 6, 2012 13:43:32 GMT -5
Okie dokie, thank you everyone. As long as I start adding a little crushed eggshell to each meal I should be alright for calcium, yes? And my taurine powder arrived this morning so I gave them each a little bit on some tripe and they munched it up Is there anything else I could be missing out on?
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Post by Sherry on Sept 6, 2012 14:26:52 GMT -5
If at all possible I'd add more consumable bone and keep hunting for the heart. Also it would be helpful if you could write out a menu. As in: Monday- chicken wings Tuesday- beef mince(what all is in it?) Etc. that way we can eyeball the balance better. If you just list "I feed this, this and that" we have no way of knowing how much of each is fed and in what ratio
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