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Post by buzzonesbirdie on Oct 6, 2008 6:35:53 GMT -5
Could it have ben that even though one neck was gone both of them were still hungry and they were not going to share the other neck. Next time throw in one extra piece. see if that helps.
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Post by savagedestiny on Oct 6, 2008 10:39:42 GMT -5
Three necks? That seems like a lot!
I guess I'm just really weirded out by how much they should eat- if I start feeding them a neck and a half apiece at night, they'll be eating more than my 15lb cat!
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Post by Forum Administrator on Oct 6, 2008 13:26:09 GMT -5
Necks are really boney, there isnt much meat on them. I would try a chicken wing or a chicken thigh or leg. Too much bone can make them constipated  Necks make good "chew toys" or "snacks" but I wouldnt recommend them as a meal. I know it may seem like they are inhaling alot of food, but I promise, ferrets are good self regulators, they will only eat what they need. Give them as much as they will eat, even if its more then what you feed your 15lb cat. Ferrets have very fast metabloisms and depending on the time of year, they can EASILY "out eat" a cat. As for the squabbling, honestly, its okay. I let my boys squabble over food for a few minutes, and then I'll seperate them and give them each their own meal. I honestly feel that squabbling over food is a good replacement for killing their food. As long as no one is bleeding and as long as in the end each of them each gets their own meal to eat, I not only think squabbling is OK, I think its a good form of enrichment....as long as it doesnt get out of hand (one of them is bleeding or pooping). |
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Post by buzzonesbirdie on Oct 8, 2008 10:56:16 GMT -5
Hi just checking in
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Post by savagedestiny on Oct 9, 2008 0:06:41 GMT -5
I fed the kids each a half an egg with a bit of crunched up shell with their breakfast this morning and they gobbled it. They didn't eat all the shell though. I'm hoping to work them up to being able to put them in the bathtub and have them crack and eat their own eggs.
Hopefully I'll be picking up some quail or rabbit tomorrow, provided the butcher has some in stock.
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Post by buzzonesbirdie on Oct 9, 2008 8:17:07 GMT -5
Dont be to worried about the egg shell. My guys crack their own eggs and still dont eat the egg shell all(some of them dont touch it all once the egg is cracked). Good luck with the quail or rabbit tomorrow  |
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Post by savagedestiny on Oct 10, 2008 21:27:35 GMT -5
No luck with the quail. Whole Foods is still out, and the butcher in the other town only carries deboned quail, which I can already get cheaper through work. Whole rabbit he had, but the price was outrageous!
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Post by buzzonesbirdie on Oct 11, 2008 0:34:02 GMT -5
Rabbit is pricey i hardly ever buy it from anywhere but my rodent pro orders. I had to break down today and get a rabbit from the butcher because for some reason when we put in our last order with r/p we only ordered 3 rabbits and they are gone but we still have to many mice and chicks and stuff to order again. not to mention not really having the money. Try to supplement with what you can find in your grocery stores.
Can you ask Whole foods to let you know when they get the meat in that you are looking for??
Can you order any of it from online butchers??
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Post by savagedestiny on Oct 13, 2008 8:29:24 GMT -5
I could probably order it online, but I'm really scared of having frozen stuff shipped because of my work schedule. I really don't want to come home to a bloody mess on my porch. D:
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Post by Forum Administrator on Oct 13, 2008 13:21:10 GMT -5
lol the people that ship frozen meat/prey do a good job of packaging it up tight. They also use ice packs and dry ice to keep stuff super frozen. Now that the weather is cooling down I think it would be okay if you had the package delivered and it sat on your porch for a bit during the day. It *should* still be cold and semi-frozen by the time you get home. |
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Post by Forum Administrator on Oct 13, 2008 13:40:56 GMT -5
So have you had a chance to try and "somewhat" implement the advised feeding schedule "outline" you dont need to feed it to the letter, but its a good idea to make sure they are eating raw meaty bones atleast 4x per week (or even daily is fine), the organ meal 1 time per week, and atleast 3 "types" of meat. From what I can see it *seems* that your kiddos are pretty much switched. If they are successfully eating a variety of raw foods and are eating close to the recommended feeding outlines, then you are about ready to graduate. Correct me if I am missing something or if I'm wrong. They are eating the pre-made raw in the morning and then the whole raw at night, correct? |
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Post by savagedestiny on Oct 13, 2008 20:54:04 GMT -5
Oh, yup, they're eating premade in the mornings and RMBs at night. Since I haven't had a chance to get my hands on anything else, so far they've just done chicken necks and wings for their RMBs. They've had some organ meats too, some turkey/chicken hearts and rabbit liver (at least I think it was rabbit).
I don't have a set schedule, but here's an example of how its been going recently:
AM every day they've had Primal or Bravo. They've eaten the beef and salmon Primal formula, and the venison. They've also had beef, chicken, and turkey formulas of Bravo. Sometimes they get raw egg with their premade. PM so far this week they've either had chicken necks or wings, and I have some organ meats thawing for them in the fridge right now.
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Post by Forum Administrator on Oct 14, 2008 20:02:31 GMT -5
Well I really like all that variety that you've got in there. Between the pre-made and the RMBs I am very pleased what they are getting. Once you get a chance if you could get them eating some chicken thighs and legs (in rotation with the chicken wings and necks) that would be great Some other good raw meaty bones include: Raw turkey neck (this might have to be cut into smaller, segments) Raw ox tail (this might have to be cut into smaller segments) Rabbit, Duck, Pheasent, and Quail raw meaty bones (legs, wings, thighs, etc) Cornish game hen (all parts) The middle segment of a turkey wing, called the radius/ulna (not the end segment or tip) Are the eating all/most of the bone in the raw meaty bones? From what I see here I'd say you are pretty much ready to graduate. I'd just like to see how they do on chicken thighs and legs and then well wrap this up and you'll be ready to graduate (meaning this thread will be moved to the archive and all of your future raw diet questions will be posted in the other sections of the nutrition area----"raw" "whole prey" and "general feeding questions/discussion") |
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Post by savagedestiny on Oct 14, 2008 20:58:57 GMT -5
I do have turkey necks and chicken backs, I never thought about giving those to the fuzzies because they're so big! I would absolutely like to get them eating more than just chicken RMBs too, but I'm having a hard time getting my hands on different meats.  I might order some baby quail and small rabbits online. I don't know if I could do rats- I used to keep rats as pets, I just can't imagine them as food items. So far I haven't seen a scrap of leftovers from the wings or necks. They're little piglets now, they don't leaving anything! I'll pick up some thighs and drumsticks for the kids next time I'm at the store and we'll see how they do. |
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Post by Forum Administrator on Oct 14, 2008 21:26:39 GMT -5
I'm not really a fan of chicken *backs* because they are kind of boney. A nice meaty turkey neck is alright, you will have to cut it into more managable pieces though.
I'm sorry if this has already been asked, but do you have a butcher nearby? They usually have all kinds of meats, in fact you can even find scraps for very cheap or sometimes even free. Just a suggestion, sorry if this has already been addressed.
I'm happy to hear that they are eating all the RMBs. Dont stress too much about not being able to get more RMB variety (yet) you are doing a good job getting them variety through the pre-made raw. I'm sure with a little sleuthing you'll find a good place to get a bit more raw meaty bone variety. Let us know if you manage to find some other raw meaty bones. I'd like to have you graduate before November 1st. I think thats a really do-able goal since you are SO close.
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