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Post by luci on Sept 4, 2009 16:23:34 GMT -5
Woo! That is so excellent!
Are you going to try to make it down for the farmers' market soon?
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Post by luvfuzzies20 on Sept 17, 2009 11:05:33 GMT -5
I'm still just plugging away with chunks of chicken in their daily chicken gravy. Trying to find time to read archives on other people's raw transitions for different ideas.
Haven't had much luck with getting them to eat bone. I have put in wing tips and cut wing sections from cornish game hens. They either ignore them or stash them away for me to find in a couple days (yuck).
Any other tricks I can try?
Thanks.
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Post by luvfuzzies20 on Sept 17, 2009 11:11:28 GMT -5
For some reason I didn't see your post until after I posted mine today.
About the farmers market: I think about it every weekend. It's just so hard for me to get out of the house that early. Plus, my husband golfs Sat & Sun mornings so there isn't anyone here to do the regular ferret morning routine of feedings and meds. Maybe I can talk him out of golfing one day....
I really do want to get down there while the season is still good. Plus, I want to check out the Asian markets that you go to.
I found a free chest freezer on freecycle.org. So I really want to start filling it up with meat goodies for the dogs and ferrets.
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Post by luci on Sept 17, 2009 17:04:28 GMT -5
Try smashing up the bones so they can see that there's something inside that's worth the work of chomping on bones. Also try backs and ribs. Those are nice and small.
It may take some time for them to work up the jaw strength to actually gnaw through bones. Give them tough meat like gizzards to give them a good workout. I really found that biting, nipping and inappropriate chewing improved by leaps and bounds with my cats (and Ghia) once they were eating raw. Definitely an excellent side benefit.
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Post by luci on Sept 26, 2009 13:03:45 GMT -5
I checked with Bar 5 and Otis Farms this morning and they will each be bringing a case for you tomorrow.
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Post by luci on Sept 29, 2009 13:15:20 GMT -5
This seems obvious, so you've probably already tried it, but have you been blending up some raw pieces into your gravy?
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Post by luvfuzzies20 on Oct 2, 2009 15:00:50 GMT -5
Yeah, when I do the blended stuff, they will just leave it. They lick around the raw. They eat less that way, than with little chunks.
The dogs love the chicken carcusses, there are 5 packed to each bag. More that I figured. The pork was 4 big slabs of frozen meat. It took a little work to get it all apart.
I have been using cornish game hens and cutting the bones and cartilage pieces into the gravy. They leave most of it, sometimes come back and they are slowly being eaten during the day. Not sure who is eating what, that's the tricky part with so many mouths.
I am starting the new group of 5 on chicken gravy and tiny bits of meat. They are all eating the gravy, not sure who's eating the meat yet. I will have to just sit and watch them eat one morning.
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Post by luci on Oct 2, 2009 19:54:10 GMT -5
Any progress is great progress. Even if you blend in a one inch cube of raw into your giant batch of gravy it plants that seed of accepting raw as food. Maybe try increasing the blended raw a little bit each week along with offering the raw chunks. If the raw blended into the gravy is imperceptible so that they can't help but eat it and then continue increasing the blended raw tiny bit by tiny bit until they're eventually eating more raw than cooked. The trick will be figuring out the starting point so that everyone is eating the gravy without realizing that they're eating some raw.
Sorry that got a bit weirdly worded. I hope you get what I was trying to say there.
When are you going to get beef from Bar 5? I could use some beef if you wouldn't mind spliting a bit with me.
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Post by luci on Oct 8, 2009 13:23:20 GMT -5
Liz,
Since you have the largest business currently switching to raw, if we could get an idea of how you keep track of who is eating what, weights, meds, etc. so that we can learn from your experience. Do you weigh the ferts regularly? What charts and notes do you keep? What is a typical day like?
Thanks.
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Post by luvfuzzies20 on Oct 10, 2009 0:13:49 GMT -5
Wow.... sorry I've gotten off track here. I'm still plugging away with the chunks everyday. But I will get some blended raw going and try what you suggested.
I had to put Sahara, my 8 yr old, to sleep on Tuesday. She took a turn for the worse and had fluid on her lungs and overnight got swelling on the side of her face from infection in her mouth. Not a good week. She was my longest resident, she came to us 7 yrs ago.
As far as the meat -- Someone called me out of the blue yesterday that had some freezer burn meat. It was a lot. Probably close to 80 - 100 lbs. of venison, beef, chicken, pork and fish. It was several boxes of the individually wrapped steaks, etc. All for free! It filled both my freezers, so I won't be able to get anything for awhile.
How did those rabbits work out? I really like the chicken backs. They go great when I'm feeding a lot of this meat that's boneless.
Yes, I do have quite a large business to switch. I have added the 5 new guys that came into the shelter a couple weeks ago. They are between 1-2 yrs and have taken to the gravy and chunks quickly.
I started out keeping a journal, but seemed to be writing the same thing every day. I was keeping track of the holdouts and what I was doing for them. No, I don't weigh my ferrets. I handle them so much, I can usually tell who is gaining or losing weight just by picking them up. I will try to get a weight on everyone and log it down.
Do you think we should start a new thread? Since Franklin isn't with us anymore? I currently am switching 23 ferrets.
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Post by luci on Oct 10, 2009 13:32:32 GMT -5
I'm so sorry about Sahara. The poor baby. How lucky she was to have been in such a wonderful, loving home for so much of her life.
What a score on the meat! I was just telling someone that it pays to put the word out when you're a raw feeder. So many people think they can't afford to feed raw. If you can do it, anyone can.
The rabbit is a HUGE hit with the cats. Fierra has been funny about rabbit lately. Seems to upset her tummy a bit. So I'm taking it slow with her a offering just a bit of rabbit blended with other stuff. See if she can learn to accept it again.
We don't need to start a new thread. I changed the topic name to better reflect what's in here. And... I know this is a lot, but... Could you list all the fuzzes names, ages, health issues, weight, and where they are in the switch?
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Post by luvfuzzies20 on Oct 20, 2009 10:28:39 GMT -5
I haven't forgotten about getting all the ferret info posted, just been crazy around here. I will get the weight on everyone and post it as soon as I can.
Continuing the daily raw chicken, liver, gizzard, heart in the chicken gravy.
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Post by luci on Oct 21, 2009 22:43:43 GMT -5
Thanks for the update!
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Post by luvfuzzies20 on Oct 28, 2009 11:05:13 GMT -5
still working on weights, etc.
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Post by luvfuzzies20 on Nov 15, 2009 12:33:00 GMT -5
It's been crazy around here, sorry for the delay. I took in another ferret on Nov 9th. He, Houdini, blended in so well with my young group, that Dan doesn't even know we have another one. And Houdini is already eating the chicken gravy with raw chicken.
Hope all is well at your home.
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