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Post by bk1226 on Aug 17, 2008 14:26:17 GMT -5
I have 2 ferrets, Herbie (male) and Talon (female) both age 3. They are currently fed kibble. I had been feeding them 8 in 1 Ultimate but am interested in trying new options. I know this a raw diet forum but I would like to start with a high quality kibble and supplement with raw to see how they do. Any suggestions on a good food for now? I just got some Wellness Core cat food that I'm going to add because it's grain free and 50% protein. I am a vegetarian so I don't exactly have extra meat lying around to give them scraps. Does anyone have any recommendations for a good type of meat to add to their diet? Thanks.
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Post by Forum Administrator on Aug 17, 2008 14:30:13 GMT -5
Hi, I'm happy you've joined Do your ferrets currently eat any "duk soup" like Pingford's porridge, homemade Duk soup, or babyfood? (basically a wet meaty food?) Once I get the answer to this we can progress from there
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Post by Forum Administrator on Aug 17, 2008 15:09:33 GMT -5
Ah, also meant to add that we have another vegetarian (or vegan?) raw feeder on the site. Animalsgetrevenge is currently switching her babies to a raw diet and is doing fabulously. Here is a cool thread you can check out about raw feeding as a vegetarian, its geared towards dogs, but you'll get the idea www.dogster.com/forums/Raw_Food_Diet/thread/511961
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Post by bk1226 on Aug 17, 2008 18:57:29 GMT -5
I've given them homemade duck soup before. I actually just ordered some duck soup mix to add to whatever I will be feeding them. My one ferret Herbie has been really sick twice (I posted a question in the natural remedy section with the details) so he's eaten duck soup then and loves it. Thanks for the link about the vegetarian stuff.
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Post by Forum Administrator on Aug 18, 2008 1:31:23 GMT -5
Well if they are used to the duk soup here is what ya do. Use this recipie to make a natural duk soup: 1 cup raw meat (and skin) from chicken thighs 1/2 a raw chicken liver 1 raw chicken heart 1 tsp finely ground eggshell powder 1/3 of a Nature Made Omega 3 Fish Oil Capsule (200 mg) Blend together and serve. If you like you can warm it slightly. Get them used to this soup. Feed it in the evenings. Take away their food (kibble) 3-4 hours before you feed them this soup. Raw foods are meant to be digested quickly. This helps to prevent the ferret from getting food bourne illness. Kibble digests at a slower rate then raw meat. If kibble is fed in the same meal (or is still in the gut) when you feed raw foods, the digestive rate of the meat could be slowed. This could cause your ferret to become sick from food bourne bacteria that NORMALLY would not make them ill. Does this make sense? Anywhoo, so take away their kibble for a few hours in the evening then offer them this raw soupy. Do this every night. Once they seem to be taking to the soup you can begin to add small chunks of raw chicken to the mixture. Start out with VERY small pieces (like half the size of a kibble piece) and work your way up. Eventually they should start to eat the chunks. At that point you would slowly decrease the amount of soup and increase the amount of chunks (over a period of time) until they are eating JUST raw chunks of meat. Once you get to that point I'll give you further instruction. I think once you get the hang of feeding raw you'll probably drop the kibble completely (most people do once they realize how simple raw feeding is ) Let me know if you have any questions
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Post by bk1226 on Aug 18, 2008 22:04:54 GMT -5
I have been posting a link in another section about my ferret Herbie's previous health problems and some people have suggested I not feed him chicken. Is there something else (meat)that would be better? Also, when I've fed my ferrets duck soup before it's been either force feeding when Herbie was sick or just giving them a little as a treat out of their cage. I guess the only way to know is to try but do people find that their ferrets like to play with their liquid food? They like to dig in the food bowl with the kibble and that would be pretty messy if it was a liquid. Just wondering. Another question, which I'm sure many people ask and is answered somewhere on here, is what about bacteria or parasites being the food is raw. I know if they were born and raised in the wild they would be equipped for that but how does it affect them raising them in capitivity on kibble until they're 3 and then switching them?
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Post by Heather on Aug 18, 2008 23:33:59 GMT -5
A ferret's digestive track was created to handle raw meat and bacteria. Just because you've fed kibble for 3 yrs doesn't mean that it's affected your ferrets ability to handle the bacteria load that might be there. You may actually be horrified at the bacteria count in your kibble It takes centuries of kibble to change the digestive track of an animal. That's why ferrets are getting so ill, we're feeding them things (kibbles) they're not designed nor are they capable of eating. A ferret has to eat food that can be processed and absorbed in less than 4 hrs. That's the turn around time between eating and pooping (by the way salmonella takes approx 6 to 8 hrs to infect an organism ) That's also why they have to eat so much kibble in comparison to raw meat. Unless, your ferret has a compromised immune system (and I've fed raw to IBD, and ulcer ferrets) you shouldn't have any problems with your ferret having the ability to eat and process raw meat As I haven't prowled the other sections yet tonight I cannot base a total answer on why your little fellow can't have chicken but please remember that a sensitivity or an allergy cannot be based between a kibble reaction and a raw food. I know a lot of dogs, cats and some ferrets who cannot tolerate a certain protein in kibble...say chicken but can eat it comfortably raw. You can only assess this by possible trial and error. That being said I haven't read the thread you're discussing so there are possibly other factors that I'm not presently aware of I've never had a ferret dig in their raw food, of course they do hide it in inconvenient places I don't normally leave soupys for my guys to eat. I usually feed it with a spoon and measure how much is going in. There are a lot of people who do leave their furbabies to eat their soupys and I've not heard of them digging in it. I hope that sort of answered some of your questions Good luck, I hope I will see you around. ciao
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Post by bk1226 on Aug 19, 2008 20:45:51 GMT -5
This sounds stupid, but for the eggshell powder do I just crush up an eggshell? And do they sell chicken hearts or do I have to dig it out of a chicken? I've seen chicken livers sold seperately but I don't know if I've ever seen chicken hearts.
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Post by Heather on Aug 20, 2008 0:23:47 GMT -5
First question....yes all you do is rinse out the egg shell and let it dry. You then pulverise it ... I use a mortar and pestle but some use the small coffee grinders. You then use approx 1 tsp per lbs of meat. Secondly... chicken hearts. I've heard some people say that you can buy them just like the liver in the supermarket. I buy mine at the grocery store and they're sold with giblets in a pkg. If you have a butcher near, you can check and see if they can order some for you. ciao
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Post by animalsgetrevenge on Aug 20, 2008 16:57:07 GMT -5
Hey BK1226- I'm the other veggie that Giuli was talking about. After not touching meat for over 5 years I have switched my fuzzies to raw last month. It took a lot of getting used to but I'm surviving and my babies are loving it. Let me know if you need any moral support or want to talk to another veggie about feeding raw! Good luck and keep in mind what your ferrets will be happier and healthier after their switch Cassandra Giuli- Thank you for posting that link! I hadn't seen it before
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Post by bk1226 on Aug 20, 2008 20:04:50 GMT -5
Cassandra - Good to know I'm not the only one here. Yeah veggies! I have been a vegetarian for 15 years so this is definitely going to be weird. I just went out and bought the meat and felt like an idiot. I grabbed some of those plastic bags you're supposed to put your fruit in to pick up the meat (which of course is still in the package at this point). I am getting ready to go make the soup. This is going to be an adventure or at least I'll try to take that outlook on it. My ferrets better love this stuff.
Giuli - I forgot to say thanks for that link about the vegetarian raw feeders.
I could not find any chicken hearts at Meijer and they looked at me like I was crazy when I asked the person at the meat counter. Where do you guys buy them? The fuzzies will be getting gizzards added to their soup today since I couldn't find any hearts. I hope that works ok?
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Post by Forum Administrator on Aug 21, 2008 1:05:41 GMT -5
OMG you are too cute lol! Putting the meat in the fruit bag. That really made me chuckle. Bless your heart! Yes, gizzards work fine I can't find any chicken hearts around here. I buy a pack of gizzards and SOMETIMES there will be a heart or two in there. The only heart I've been able to find is beef heart, and I'll cut that into "thumb sized" pieces and give that to the ferts. Good luck with the soup, and if you haven't already fill out a form in the "Natural Diet Newbies" section and paste it into a post. Then post all your future updates in that thread so we can moniter you. Good luck!
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Post by pear2apple on Aug 21, 2008 15:07:58 GMT -5
BK- I put my meat in the plastic baggies too, who wants to get blood all over their hands?! Its disgusting. I don't buy too much meat, but I'm not a vegetarian, I just don't buy meat because I don't know what to do with it and don't want to touch it. Also, you're in Columbus, I think there is a big health store downtown? Isn't there like a huge market area that has a lot of local farmer stuff? My friend lives there and mentioned it. I will have to ask her again about it. You should be able to find all the weird stuff people talk about at a local grocer. Like in Dayton we have the Dorothy Lane Market, its local to this area. So maybe something like that near you? Like a gourmet organic place. Thats what Dorothy Lane is. Good luck finding all your meats. PS. "dig it out of a chicken" THATS what I found hilarious!
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Post by bk1226 on Aug 21, 2008 15:18:56 GMT -5
Actually, when I went and asked about buying chicken hearts & the lady looked at me like I was crazy, she did tell me that I could buy a whole chicken and they sometimes keep the heart inside so I could get one out of there. So they really did want me to dig it out of a chicken!! I looked at her like she was crazy when she said that We do have a big whole foods store here in Columbus. A couple probably. I always thought of it for fresh veggies and not as much for chicken hearts but I'll check. I made the soup stuff last night, which ended up being more of a disgusting slimy ball of stuff than soup. It was definitely not the most enjoyable thing I've ever done. Should I still post the newbie question thing if I already want to give up on this idea? They did lick the slimy ball a couple times. -Beth
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Post by pear2apple on Aug 21, 2008 15:39:00 GMT -5
No need to give up! My soups never look like soup. They look chunky and funky!
I think you should post in the newbie section and keep trying! There's more than one way to switch your ferrets, and more than one way to make a soup!
Like cutting up raw meat into teeny tiny pieces and then mixing it in the blender with water or kitten replacer milk or meat baby food and serving that way. This is what I did in the very beginning, until the raw chicken I was using gave the weirdest totally not ok poops! Thats why I stay away from chicken in everything. But it might not be the case for you. Its all trial and error!
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