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Post by buzzonesbirdie on Sept 27, 2008 22:02:51 GMT -5
Dont feel bad I do not have a meal plan for mine either. Mine actually get bone everyday but thats becuase they get small animals once a day and becuase of that they get organ meat daily too.
I think its not so much that you feed the same thing every day of each week ie monday rmb tues organ meat ect but that over the course of a week they get what they need.
I do not know the answer to the bone question
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Post by savagedestiny on Sept 27, 2008 22:49:00 GMT -5
That's exactly how I feel. As long as they're getting a good balance over time, they're just fine. After all, they'd hardly be on a feeding schedule if they were left to fend for themselves, haha. Both of them are up to their respective chicken neck halves only being split in two pieces. I think they'll be eating their halves whole tomorrow night.  |
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Post by buzzonesbirdie on Sept 30, 2008 7:42:11 GMT -5
Hello just checking in |
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Post by savagedestiny on Sept 30, 2008 10:33:13 GMT -5
I really don't have any updates to post. Both Vivi and Freya crunch up their chicken necks and pretty much anything else I give them. If its something new I still have to hand-feed Vivi a couple bites, but that's not even really a blip on the radar.
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Post by buzzonesbirdie on Sept 30, 2008 17:22:59 GMT -5
OK i was just making sure that all was going well |
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Post by buzzonesbirdie on Oct 1, 2008 9:08:27 GMT -5
Hi,
I was just wondering what Vivi and Freya are eatting right now?
What meats are they eating?
Are they eating bone?
Organ meat?
I just want to make sure that what I have in my notes is correct?
Also if they are eatting all of the above and have 3 different meats that they are eatting we can work on a feeding schedule and get you ready to graduate. Thanks
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Post by savagedestiny on Oct 1, 2008 10:55:34 GMT -5
Right now their breakfast is Primal Beef and Salmon Feline (http://primalpetfoods.com/feline/formulas/felineBeef.htm). They each get an ounce of that for the morning. Dinner has so far consisted of chicken necks, chicken wing tips, or if I've forgotten to thaw something they get some ground meat and bone, since I usually have some of that in the fridge. Of the ground stuff they've eaten chicken, duck, quail, rabbit, and turkey. Organ meats they've had chicken and turkey hearts as well as rabbit liver. I have some buffalo kidneys thawing right now, so they'll be trying that soon as well.
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Post by buzzonesbirdie on Oct 1, 2008 20:25:17 GMT -5
I would reccomend that you switch the primal from breakfast to dinner. Offer the RMB in the morning so that they fill up on that and give the primal for dinner. Also you need to start feeding whole wings, legs, and thighs (chicken, rabbit, cornish game hen, quail, duck, etc). Wingtips are high in cartalidge and necks are too bony. Below is a schudel for you to look at and make one of your own based on: RMBs atleast 4 days a week, boneless meat (chunks, not ground) 2 days per week, and organ meat 1 day per week. All of these foods should be fed in the am, and the primal should always be fed in the pm. This way they eat most of the rmb: MONDAY: Chicken wings (am), Primal (pm) TUESDAY: Chicken legs, quail legs, or rabbit legs(am), Primal (pm) WEDNESDAY: Boneless meat (am) [such as pork, beef, turkey. This should be CHUNKS, not ground], Primal (pm) THURSDAY: Cornish game hen (am), Primal (pm) FRIDAY: Boneless meat (am) [feed a different boneless meat then what was fed on Wed], Primal (pm) SATURDAY: Organ meat and chicken neck (or whole egg, shell and all) (am), Primal (pm) SUNDAY: Chicken, Rabbit, or Quail Thighs (am), Primal (pm) Also you need to buy different cuts of bonless meats (pork butt one time, pork shoulder another, etc) and to try and feed varying ages of meat: Mutton/Lamb Pork/Piglet Chicken/ Conrish Game Hen Beef/Veal Turkey/Poult Also Giuli said to try differetn types of primal as well. The more variety the better for the babies. Nature's Variety (frozen raw), and hare today-gone tommorow (frozen raw) are some other good ground foods. I hope this helps some. This is a combination of my thoughts and Giulies. Please let me know if you have any questions. We just want you to move to the next step of getting your babies on all raw. You are doing a great job. Keep it up |
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Post by savagedestiny on Oct 1, 2008 20:39:24 GMT -5
A whole chicken wing isn't too much for them? I feed whole wings to my cats, but I thought they'd be a bit much for the fuzzies. I've never really done thighs with my kids because with Riddle (my dog), thigh bones tend to splinter and get sharp pieces. I suppose for smaller animals that wouldn't be such an issue though.
I don't know if I'll follow the schedule exactly, but its a good guideline to start with. Also, although you guys are recommending feeding the Primal for dinner, its easier to keep it for breakfast. My fiance feeds breakfast to everyone a few times a week, and he doesn't want a single thing to do with anything involving doing more with raw meat than putting it in a bowl. They do get different formulas of Primal though, I try to switch the formulas every time I need a new bag, which is about every 1.5 weeks now. They're also getting Bravo raw in their rotation, but the cats turned and ran from their bowls when I tried to feed them Nature's Variety!
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Post by Forum Administrator on Oct 1, 2008 21:12:56 GMT -5
Oh yes, a chicken wing is perfect for them. My ferrets out-eat my cat. They have higher metabolisms then cats. Its pretty scary lol! With the thighs, cut some of the meat off. The goal is to get them to eat the whole RMB. If they fill up on all that meat, they wont eat the bone. You'll have to play around to see how much meat you need to cut off until they eat the whole thing. The thigh wont splinter for them, they'll be okay Its okay if you dont follow the schedule exactly, its really just a guideline. Just remember 4 days (atleast) RMB, 2 days a week boneless meat (not ground), 1 day a week organ meat. If its easier to feed the primal in the morning thats fine. Just be sure they are eating the BONE in the raw meaty bone, and not just stripping the meat. If they are then that means you might need to cut back on the amount of primal offered, or you will need to cut some of the meat off the RMB. Another option is to have them share the RMB. Ferrets will eat more or less depending on their age and the time of year. This time of year ferrets will be increasing their food intake so they can "beef up" for winter. I'm happy to hear you change the forumla of primal from time to time. Excellent. I like Bravo because you can get it without veggies  Many ferrets like NV so thats why Jas reccomended it. Honestly neither of us feed the commercial raw, so we are just passing on info (regarding commercial raw) that others who do feed it suggested. The next step for you is to get them eating those bigger RMBs. After that you'll be pretty much ready to graduate. Before you can graduate you'll need to post a "sample schedule" of what you plan to feed each week. Again, it doesnt have to be EXACTLY what you plan to feed, but a general estimate/example. That way we can review the way you plan to feed and then we can help you to "tweak" the schedule in case there is any excess/definciency. After you post the schedule and Jas makes any needed tweaks, then you'll feed them that schedule for one week. If they go through the week and successfully eat all you offer, then you'll be good to go and it'll be time to "graduate" (meaning this thread will be retired to the "newbie switch archive" and you'll post all future natural feeding questions in the "raw" "whole prey" and "general feeding questions" area. |
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Post by savagedestiny on Oct 2, 2008 2:25:29 GMT -5
I'll pick up some quail at Whole Foods tomorrow and try the thighs/legs with them. Riddle can eat the rest of the quail, she loves eating them. So far with what I've fed I haven't had a problem with them leaving bone behind. They gobble whatever I put down in front of them now, which is definitely a nice change!
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Post by buzzonesbirdie on Oct 2, 2008 6:55:15 GMT -5
Just wanted to add that when I feed mine chicken wings I feed one chicken wing per ferret and between them all they eat everything that I give them. Some eat more and some eat less so it works out in the end. Never had a problem with thigh bones and the ferrets, eat what they can and leave the rest. Other then that Giuli covered it all. |
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Post by savagedestiny on Oct 4, 2008 23:52:37 GMT -5
So Whole Foods has been completely out of quail the last few days.  The only other place I can get it is at the butcher shop a town over, so I'll have to wait until my day off next week to acquire some quail or rabbit. On a not-so-happy note, I'm pretty sure Vivi and Freya got in a fight over their RMBs tonight. They've always been fine, but tonight after I went back into the kitchen to clean up, I heard screaming coming from their room. I ran back there as fast as I could, and they were apart, but there was a slightly chewed neck in between them. I took it away since I didn't know who ate the other and didn't want more fights. I think from now on one will have to stay in the cage to eat. |
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Post by buzzonesbirdie on Oct 5, 2008 16:12:37 GMT -5
They will be fine until you get to the butchers without the quail or rabbit for now.
As for the fighting, I remember when I first switched mine, we had alot squables over food. It was like the first time that they got the food that they needed and they did not want anyone else to have it. But it seemed that once they knew that this good food was not going any where and that there was always enough food for them the food squables stopped. Every once in a while i still hear one but its usally Odin or Crash tying to take Riely or Hydras food and its more of your piece looks better then mine type of thing. Nothing seriouse.
Did you make sure that there were two pieces in the cage--or was it jsut the one?? WE used to just throw the food in but found that that casued problems so now we feed them large pieces and make sure that there is one per ferret. The only time we do not do this is when they get their whole rabbit--its large enough that they each stake out a section so to speak.
Hope this helps some.
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Post by savagedestiny on Oct 5, 2008 20:19:56 GMT -5
They each had a neck to eat, and they actually have a whole room to themselves. There's a cage in there that they hang out in sometimes, but the whole room is open to them. One neck was entirely eaten and the one they were fighting over was partially chewed.
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