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Post by wmella85 on Jul 7, 2008 8:02:37 GMT -5
so i put various sized CCs in the soup last night. good news is this morning the entire bowl was empty! bad news, there was diarrhea all over the place. poor babies!!!!!
so i cleaned the cage. good thing i got up an hour and half before i am due to be at work!
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Post by Forum Administrator on Jul 7, 2008 17:22:54 GMT -5
Yay! Eating chicken chunks, whoo hooo! BTW, with the diareha, thats common/normal during the initial switch. just add some UNFLAVORED pedialyte to their water bottles (in place of water) to keep them hydrated. Work on gettting them OFF the soupie as soon as possible. The goal is to use the soupie as a transitional tool. Its okay if its not totally balanced, AS LONG as they arent eating it for months and months. For now just make a simple soup of plain meat (whatever protein you want: chicken, turkey, etc) for every palm sized pieces of meat you add to the blender, add 1 powdered/crushed eggshell. You can add some water if needed. Work on weaning them off soups and totally on to chunks. We are seeing progress so I dont think it will take much longer  |
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Post by Forum Administrator on Jul 8, 2008 22:53:33 GMT -5
How are things going? I wanna know I wanna know! Don't leave me hanging woman!!!!  |
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Post by wmella85 on Jul 10, 2008 14:42:42 GMT -5
Sorry! ive been working like a mad man this week!!! gotta make money to buy the ferries chicken. lol
anyways! so i made another bath of thick stew. i didnt have any chicken, and it was not on sale, so i used some lamb.
the kids didn seem to mind, but it gave them the stinkiest diharea ive encountered with them. phew!
we are stil working on upping the size of the CC, we are up to around dime size. tonight i am going to throw in some organ meat. i bought some cow kidney. so we will see how that goes.
for my specific update:
baxter: eating dime sized chunks!!!
matilda: still on the smaller chunks when forced to eat them. she would rather the soupy but Im not putting up with that. she is my oldest, so i expect some resistance from her.
oliver: just sorta sneers at the chunks but knibbles at them.
Penny: eats whatever she runs into. lol. so i think that she may b eating large-ish chunks but im not sure.
i havent really been home for a few days and my roomies have been caring for them.
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Post by Forum Administrator on Jul 10, 2008 17:48:47 GMT -5
Yay, progress! and they ate a new food, hooray! Let me know how the cow kidneys go!
BTW- Lamb is kind of high in fat so this can contribute to runny poopies. Some ferrets cant tolerate boneless lamb because its so rich it gives them the runs and without the fiber (from bone or eggshell) to balance things out, things get nasty lol. You can add 1tsp of egghsell powder to each cup of raw lamb to help add fiber (from the shell) to help firm da poopies.
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Post by wmella85 on Jul 11, 2008 20:43:57 GMT -5
well, they all turned their little prissy noses up at cow kidneys. Baxter took peices and hid them. i had to do and find where he put them when he was done. i dont think that he ate any really...just sorta chewed on them a bit. matilda will only eat it ground up. i think that we have taken a step backwards again. noone except Baxt is showing any intrest in the chunks. soooooo irritating!!! lol.
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Post by Forum Administrator on Jul 11, 2008 20:45:02 GMT -5
Hang in there I just sent you a PM. We are working on getting you matched up with a Holistic Ferret Mentor  |
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Post by wmella85 on Jul 14, 2008 21:53:09 GMT -5
Okay, so ive posted twice today, and not one has showed up. strange!!!! Anyways, a short version of what i typed was today was a huge success!!! All four of my little pinkertons ate themselves full off of pork chunks!!!!
I cubed pork and sprinkled some Duk soup mix over it for a familiar smell. they went nuts and gobbled it all up! i had to put a second serving down for them! they all got squinty eyes as they chewed up their chunk dinner!!!
yay!
is the Duk soup mix a good thing for them to have with every meal nutritionally? i know it has a bunch of good stuff in it.
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Post by Forum Administrator on Jul 14, 2008 23:15:37 GMT -5
Nope, the duk soup mix wont give them all they need, that's why variety in a natural diet is key Im glad they ate the pork! If you havent been, it might be a good idea to start dusting their meat chunks with finely crushed eggshell (1 tsp per 1 cup of meat). Can you give me a list of all the foods eat ferret has tried so far? Have you been able to increase the chunk size and decrease the amount of soupie yet? I dunno why your posts didnt show up (very odd). Im glad you were finally able to post though I love the squinty eyes! Dont you? |
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Post by wmella85 on Jul 15, 2008 10:36:11 GMT -5
im using the duk soup as an additive, not a base food. its a familiar smell to them, so it lures them in. just dusting the chunks with it for smell right now. i have been collecting and washing eggshells and making a fine-ish powder for them. i will start putting it on every meal i give them. (thanks for the measurement, it helps) we are no longer on soupie as of last yesterday!!! its all chunks of meat from here on! okay their foods tried list consists of: boneless-skinless chicken breasts (they like) cubed pork (they like) ground lamb (liked but gave them the squirts) ground beef (they eat it, but dont seem to enjoy it) cow kidney (baxter took a piece and hid it, but the others hated it. it looked like it smelled offensive to them, did to me also though) tonight i am introducing some large beef bones with the marrow in them. My grocery store rocks!! im thinking i might have to do all the work and pull the marrow out myself for them if they dont get the idea. or i might stuff some food in there and let them learn that good things come from inside bones! i am freezing them right now to get rid of any parisites. so i will get back to you to report how that goes! maybe i will put some duk soup paste in one side and leave the other plain. I LOVE SQUINTY EYES!!! i was getting all excited and calling my roomies over, they look and see four ferrets eating raw meat. i look at them and see the signs that they think this is really good, they are relaxed, all four chomping down on some raw pork with a light dusting of duk soup! it was thrilling!!! i sat and watched them eat their whole meal. now thats love. |
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Post by Forum Administrator on Jul 15, 2008 10:42:34 GMT -5
im using the duk soup as an additive, not a base food. its a familiar smell to them, so it lures them in. just dusting the chunks with it for smell right now. Sounds good i have been collecting and washing eggshells and making a fine-ish powder for them. i will start putting it on every meal i give them. (thanks for the measurement, it helps)No problem. we are no longer on soupie as of last yesterday!!! its all chunks of meat from here on! Excellent!
okay their foods tried list consists of:
boneless-skinless chicken breasts (they like)
cubed pork (they like)Good. How big were the cubes? ground lamb (liked but gave them the squirts)That's normal, lamb is pretty fatty and until they adjust can cause the runs ground beef (they eat it, but dont seem to enjoy it)Have you tried CHUNKS of beef? My guys hate ground beef but love beef chunks cow kidney (baxter took a piece and hid it, but the others hated it. it looked like it smelled offensive to them, did to me also though)My guys dont particularly care for kidney, but they love liver and heart though.
tonight i am introducing some large beef bones with the marrow in them. My grocery store rocks!! im thinking i might have to do all the work and pull the marrow out myself for them if they dont get the idea. or i might stuff some food in there and let them learn that good things come from inside bones! i am freezing them right now to get rid of any parisites. so i will get back to you to report how that goes! maybe i will put some duk soup paste in one side and leave the other plain. You can scoop the marrow out and let them have that, but dont give them the actual beef bone. Beef bones are too large (and too dense) for a ferret to eat. They might break a tooth trying to eat it (but more then likely they just wont chew it up at all and theyll walk away). The biggest bone I'd offer would be a turkey neck (and I wouldnt even offer turkey wing or leg bones, just the necks) Stick with chicken bones (from all parts) rabbit bones, duck bones, turkey necks, and pork neck SEGMENTS (not a whole neck). I LOVE SQUINTY EYES!!! i was getting all excited and calling my roomies over, they look and see four ferrets eating raw meat. i look at them and see the signs that they think this is really good, they are relaxed, all four chomping down on some raw pork with a light dusting of duk soup! it was thrilling!!! Isn't it though? It makes me so happy to see them eating food that I know they like i sat and watched them eat their whole meal. now thats love. I do that too lol Its fun to watch, isnt it?
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Post by wmella85 on Jul 15, 2008 11:11:00 GMT -5
the cubes are majority kibble sized, with some large chunks and some small strips. trying to give them a variety so we dont get stuck.
i will try some beef chunks. what do you reccomend i buy?
and what kin of animals liver and heart? i think i ead somewhere on here that we are supposed to feed only chicken livers?
and what is a gizzard? and what are chitterlings? i saw a frozen bucket of them but didnt know what they were.
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Post by Forum Administrator on Jul 15, 2008 11:27:47 GMT -5
the cubes are majority kibble sized, with some large chunks and some small strips. trying to give them a variety so we dont get stuck. Good. Slowly work to increase that chunks size. If they balk, take a step back i will try some beef chunks. what do you reccomend i buy? I used to buy pre-cut beef chunks (but those are expen$ive!) so now I just go to the store and look at the huge hunks of beef and buy what is on sale (not only do I save money, but it ensures that I switch up the cut I buy. Which is important because doing so ensures variety and maximum nutrient diversity). I know that $9 for a hunk of beef seems intimidating, but it really lasts a while (take it home, chop it up, bag into little meals, and freeze) and what kin of animals liver and heart? i think i ead somewhere on here that we are supposed to feed only chicken livers? They can eat beef liver, but if you DO feed beef liver, be sure to a.) not feed the whole liver. Just feed a palm sized piece and b.) be sure you buy ORGANIC liver. and what is a gizzard? and what are chitterlings? i saw a frozen bucket of them but didnt know what they were.Chickens dont have teeth, so in order to better digest the seeds they eat they have a gizzard. A gizzard is basically a muscular organ that helps to grind up the food a chicken consumes. A chicken will eat some types of dirt or rocks, they go into the gizzard and then any seeds that enter are ground up. Gizzards would be classified as a boneless muscle meat. They are a cheap source of chicken and many ferrets love them. I feed them when I feed gizzards, to help reduce the runny poopies that extra rich liver can cause. Chitterlings are the small intestine of a pig. Some organs are cleaned for human consumption and lose alot of their nutrional value for pets. For example, the bleached tripe you might find in the store is NOTHING compared to the nutrient content of raw GREEN tripe. Im not sure if chitterlings are cleaned so thoroughly that they are no longer of good nutrient content. Perhaps another natural feeder on here could throw in their $0.02.
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Post by wmella85 on Jul 15, 2008 13:22:21 GMT -5
okay, i will buy some beef chunks, gizzardds and livers on friday.
what so you find is the easiest way to grind eggshells into powder?
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Post by Forum Administrator on Jul 15, 2008 14:18:24 GMT -5
Rinse them out. Let them dry. Crush them in your hand, then you can run them through a coffee grinder, a food processor, or sit there and crush them by hand using a mortor and pestel (or whatever its called). I use a heavy glass milk bottle to crush them to bits.
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