|
Post by sherrylynne on Nov 29, 2009 21:18:19 GMT -5
So, an official menu would be something like: Mon- chicken, bone in Tues- pork necks Wed- chicken, bone in Thurs- organ meats Fri- chicken, bone in Sat- eggs, a.m., p.m.-what would it be? Sun- chicken, bone in
I know I'm harping on a menu, but to get you graduated, we need to see what all they are getting, in what amounts, so any modifications can be made. Is there any way to introduce another protein? Lamb, goat, turkey, etc? They really do need another meat protein in there somewhere, on a weekly or bi-weekly basis. I understand they get cornish hen every couple of weeks.
|
|
jon
Going Natural
RAW FEEDER
Posts: 109
|
Post by jon on Dec 1, 2009 19:22:12 GMT -5
Bella is still a problem. I did get her to eat mush from a spoon, and then a little voluntarily from the bowl. For the most part though, she wants nothing to do with it. She doesn't like any kind of treat that we've tried. Kibble - that's the only REAL food. I've tried mixing in duck soup mix, Ferrovite, and crushed kibble. She's still not eating voluntarily. Unfortunately, she's also our smallest girl. She's always been very skinny, so I'm not comfortable letting her go without food for any length of time. For now, we're scruff 'n' stuffing in the evening and again in the morning. I guess we'll just keep going. She's pretty unhappy about it though.
|
|
jon
Going Natural
RAW FEEDER
Posts: 109
|
Post by jon on Dec 2, 2009 8:28:04 GMT -5
Yes, that's pretty close. Eggs are Saturday AM, with chicken wings or Cornish hen in the PM. I tried both turkey wings and necks last month, no takers. I'm going to try again this weekend. For the mush kids, I grind thighs, backs, and wings. This past time, I added some boneless pork and beef. I'm also going to try them again on beef - ox tail and stew meat. I'll let you know if anybody's tastes have changed. We've been thinking about frozen whole prey, but I'm not sure that my wife can handle it. So, an official menu would be something like: Mon- chicken, bone in Tues- pork necks Wed- chicken, bone in Thurs- organ meats Fri- chicken, bone in Sat- eggs, a.m., p.m.-what would it be? Sun- chicken, bone in I know I'm harping on a menu, but to get you graduated, we need to see what all they are getting, in what amounts, so any modifications can be made. Is there any way to introduce another protein? Lamb, goat, turkey, etc? They really do need another meat protein in there somewhere, on a weekly or bi-weekly basis. I understand they get cornish hen every couple of weeks.
|
|
|
Post by sherrylynne on Dec 2, 2009 22:13:24 GMT -5
Bella WILL get there! It took me 6 weeks of basically force feeding Boris soup, albeit thick, before it finally "clicked" with him. Then one day, he took a chunk and ate it, and hasn't looked back since I do feel quite confident in your ability to switch her over. You've done a wonderful job with the others already!
|
|
jon
Going Natural
RAW FEEDER
Posts: 109
|
Post by jon on Dec 3, 2009 0:19:15 GMT -5
We'll persevere. Bella will eat (some) if scruffed.
Zoey is nibbling at chunks now - not the quickest learner, but she's getting there.
|
|
jon
Going Natural
RAW FEEDER
Posts: 109
|
Post by jon on Dec 12, 2009 9:25:07 GMT -5
It's official - Zoey is a big kid now. She's cracking bones with the best of them. Londo, G'Kar, and Bella are still on mush, but are still doing OK.
|
|
|
Post by sherrylynne on Dec 12, 2009 11:43:23 GMT -5
Woohoo! You are SO getting there How's Bella doing with the mush now? Still having to "convince" her?
|
|
jon
Going Natural
RAW FEEDER
Posts: 109
|
Post by jon on Dec 13, 2009 23:15:20 GMT -5
Bella reminds me of a bad blonde joke. Every night, I show her that mush is food, with scruff 'n' stuff, then she eats her fill. Every night, she forgets and has to be retrained. I know that ferret's have attention deficit issues, but this is ridiculous.
Londo and G'Kar are eating the mush with no problem. The still like it soupy - they tend to leave chunks at the bottom of the bowl.
I have a question - we're still getting runny yellowing poop sometimes. I'm thinking that it's because the thighs may have too much fat/skin. Have you experienced anything to that effect?
10 down 2 half way there 1 still not quite 'getting it'.
|
|
|
Post by sherrylynne on Dec 14, 2009 10:34:34 GMT -5
My only one that gets that sometimes is a bit sensitive to chicken. Yellowy, seedy, mucousy poops when he has too many chicken meals in a row. If you're not getting the birdseed with it, it could just be not enough bone/meat ratio. Any idea which of the 13 it could be? Yeah- I know, silly question As for Bella- I still have to give Boris soups from my finger before he'll eat it. So, yeah- some are like that. Or meats he doesn't remember Got to hold it for him to check out, then it's like "oh yeah! I like that stuff, I remember now"
|
|
jon
Going Natural
RAW FEEDER
Posts: 109
|
Post by jon on Dec 20, 2009 15:50:48 GMT -5
No real changes. Still have three on mush and the rest on chunks. We had an incident today though. We've got one bully, G'Kar, but it wasn't him, it was Tommy - he also gets in moods sometimes, and picks on a random new guy. Today, everyone was eating their chicken 'n' pork, and he attacked Meri - it looked like maybe they were fighting over the same piece of meat? Anyway he (Tommy) got Meri's lip pretty good - drew quite a bit of blood. Have you seen or heard of ferrets fighting like that over food? We've had thieving, but never anything like this.
|
|
|
Post by sherrylynne on Dec 21, 2009 10:57:47 GMT -5
Oh yes! Mine do it on a regular basis. I get hissing, barking, yelling, screaming, tug battles. Everybody thinks everyone else's chunk is better than theirs . It's just a fluke that he got Meri's lip. Poor baby! Generally, they each get one end of a piece of meat, and the tug-o-war begins! Winner get's the big piece and runs of to hide or eat it, loser gets the chunk she/he had in their mouth, and everybody's happy
|
|
jon
Going Natural
RAW FEEDER
Posts: 109
|
Post by jon on Dec 21, 2009 11:53:13 GMT -5
Hmmm. I wonder if more bowls would help? Right now, we have a bowl for each level (right now, everyone is crammed into three levels of a Ferret Nation 142/3 - part of the "integration" exercise. Anyway, chunk eaters have two bowls (one per level), and the mush eaters (3) have their own bowl/level. At feeding time, I have to keep the mush eaters separate - otherwise everyone will gobble down the mush first, and they'll go hungry.
We've added another FN cage - single level, and will be setting that up today. I wish there was an easy way to connect them without cutting holes into the cage. Once it's set up, well have 3 in the new cage, and 10 in the three level (it really is pretty big - each level is 91X63X98cm.
Thanks again for all the help and patience with my never ending stream of questions.
|
|
|
Post by sherrylynne on Dec 21, 2009 19:10:56 GMT -5
Not a problem, Jon! That's what I'm here for
|
|
|
Post by sherrylynne on Dec 22, 2009 11:55:16 GMT -5
With the mush eaters, can you get even small chunks mixed in for them? About the size of ground meats?
|
|
jon
Going Natural
RAW FEEDER
Posts: 109
|
Post by jon on Dec 25, 2009 23:49:38 GMT -5
With the mush eaters, can you get even small chunks mixed in for them? About the size of ground meats? I've tried it a few times. They eat around the chunks. We had another scruff 'n' stuff session tonight with the mushers - zero enthusiasm. We'll keep at it. They all eat the mush though, so nobody is going hungry. Tonight's repast is ground turkey necks - Mmmmm.
|
|