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Post by kuuipo61606 on May 29, 2008 14:27:47 GMT -5
Gidget licking up some chicken juice! yay! She had to take it where noone else would see her eat it!! Jackie wanted to try some too, but he didn't eat anything...just licked! I'm so excited! my baby is eating REAL food!
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Post by kuuipo61606 on May 29, 2008 14:31:24 GMT -5
gidget is the only one who would even try it. nobody else did... they didn't even stop to sniff...except for jackie. i put little pieces of kibble around it so they would know it was meant for eating. maybe tonight i'll try it again. but i'm still so excited! woohoo! LOL
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Post by Forum Administrator on May 29, 2008 17:06:24 GMT -5
Whoo hooo! This is great news!
Try coating the meat with ferretone/ferrevite and then sprinkling crushed kibble on it.
Once all of your ferts are eating the meat you will need to get them eating the following percentages each week:
60%- RMBs (raw meaty bones: chicken wings, legs, thighs.......any type of meat that is on an EDIBLE bone. They have to be able to eat the bone for it to count as an RMB)
30%- Muscle Meat (chunks of boneless meat. Meat like pork, beef, lamb, etc. For example, you cant feed turkey wings, because the bones are too big and dense, but you can still offer your ferret chunks of boneless turkey meat instead)
10%- Organ meat (liver, gizzards, heart are the most important organs to include. These can be found in your local grocery store. If you go online you can find more "exotic" organs like pancreas, brains, spleen, kidneys, etc)
Its very important to try and provide as close to the above percentages as possible. Decide if you are going to feed 2 or 3 times per day and go from there. Once you add whole prey you wont have to worry as much about hitting all their nutritional needs. Whole prey is "complete and balanced" in its nutrients, so if you feed whole prey each day in addition to raw, you know that they are getting all the nutrients they need.
Good luck! Thanks for sharing pics....I LOVE seeing pics of ferrets eating natural foods.
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Post by kuuipo61606 on May 29, 2008 17:42:35 GMT -5
thanks! i'll post this on my freezer! haha
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Post by Forum Administrator on May 29, 2008 17:44:51 GMT -5
Just a note.....when the HF website comes out in august it will cover ALOT of stuff. Including how to feed a healthy raw or whole prey diet. Lots of useful info will be on the site, in an organized, easy to read, easy to reference format.
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Post by tss on May 29, 2008 22:10:11 GMT -5
Wow, it's not common for a ferret to start eating raw so easily.
Giuli, why is it ferret raw feeders count gizzards and heart as organ? There is a saying that a wise woman once said (Also know as Meridian or Anica) "If it doesn't secrete feed it as meat".
"exotic" things like pancreas, brains, spleen, uterus, testicles and kidneys can be found really easily. Look in ethnic stores, Asian stores are great! There are also Arabic, Hispanic, Indian and Mediterranean stores. And that's just what I've got in my area! Most of the time the prices are good, just ask before you pay. Sometimes there are some things that are really pricey..
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Post by Forum Administrator on May 29, 2008 22:21:26 GMT -5
You are right Maria, technically heart and gizzards are meat. I incluce them with my organ meal because liver (an organ) can be rather rich, I find that including more muscle meat (heart and gizzards) helps to keep their tummies from getting upset. Also, heart is higher in taurine, an important part of a ferret's diet.
I have had some trouble finding more exotic meats in my neck of the woods. Perhaps I will hop online and do a more advanced search for local shops that might carry the stuff. I usually reccomend feeding ATLEAST heart, liver, and gizzards because they can usually be found at the local grocery store.
Thanks for the tip on where to find the more diverse organs. I am getting ready to put the ferrets on whole prey only, but the cat eats whole prey/raw so I think I'll see if I can find some of these organs for here.
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Post by tss on May 30, 2008 10:33:33 GMT -5
Yeah, I wouldn't feed them liver by it's self I just wanted to make sure that was known. There was someone who raw feeds their dogs and showed the "meal plan", they had been feeding raw for 6 months or a year and said that the "organs" they feed are hearts and gizzards. I believe they were also having trouble with severe shedding and dander.. HELLO?!?! Those aren't organs!! A heart might be considered a "vital organ" but it doesn't produce anything, it pumps blood 24/7. What does that make it? a lean muscle (very tasty sauteed in a bit of butter and garlic I may add ) ). I always add heart to the ferrets soup.
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Post by meli on May 30, 2008 13:23:30 GMT -5
Another great post! grats kuuipo!!! so happy your little ones are enjoying their meats hehe
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Post by kuuipo61606 on Jun 3, 2008 18:38:37 GMT -5
ooooh yay! i love all the cool info! i was looking for necks and organs today at walmart. the only things they carried were gizzards and hearts. i'll have to go to one of those cool stores. thanks for all the info!
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Post by kuuipo61606 on Jun 3, 2008 18:39:15 GMT -5
o yea! one pic of gidget eating her wingette covered on kibble and ferretone!
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Post by Forum Administrator on Jun 4, 2008 14:32:08 GMT -5
Hahaha! That is hilarious. Are you sure that's a wingette though? That looks like a whole wing to me (not that thats a problem, my guys eat wings all the time, Im just curious).
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