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Post by beccafuzzball90 on Oct 21, 2008 15:22:42 GMT -5
Ok so I want to start out feeding my ferrets raw food. I want to know everything on how to do this. I've heard of all the perks and I thought it would be really good to do. Right now I feed her Evo which is good, but I want to feed her something better. Ok so here are my questions. It might be easier if you email them to me or message me on here but you can just reply back it's just harder to get to. Email - rnwohn@yahoo.com 1. What kind of raw food do I start out with? 2. How should I prepare the food? 3. When should her meal times be? 4. How much should I give her so she won't be so fat? (She's already a little chunky) 5. Does raw food make them any fatter than a regular kibble like EVO? 6. Does raw food make them any more hyper? I know I'll have more questions later but this is just to start out. Thanks a lot!
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Post by Jaycee on Oct 21, 2008 19:02:28 GMT -5
First of all, hello and welcome! Glad to have you here! I am going to answer your questions with the way I started the switch, and I am sure others will share their techniques as well. 1. What kind of raw food do I start out with? I would start off with raw boneless chicken breast. 2. How should I prepare the food? Try small kibble sized pieces for starters, but if that doesn't work, don't worry. You can blend the chicken in a food processor and add to it the Evo she likes to eat. I find it best to soften the kibble with either water or low sodium chicken broth and then blend the kibble mixture with the chicken. If she doesn't take to that, you can make the mixture more "soupie" by adding more water or broth. You may have to assist feed the first few times with a spoon, but she will get the hang of it. Once she is eating the "soupie", you can make the mixture more solid by adding less liquid, and slowly ween the kibble out until she is only eating raw chicken. From there, try adding chunks of chicken into the blended chicken and go from there. 3. When should her meal times be? Soupie mixture can sit out for 6 to 8 hours depending on how warm or humid your home is. Ferrets don't have to have food accessable 24/7, just be sure she does eat something within 24 hours when you initially start the switch. 4. How much should I give her so she won't be so fat? (She's already a little chunky) Boy, I hope my ferrets aren't thinking this of me!!! I wouldn't worry about this. I have always been told it is better to have a ferret that is a little heavier, than one that is too thin! Plus, once she is on a raw diet, that "fat" will become more muscle. You will be very surprised! 5. Does raw food make them any fatter than a regular kibble like EVO? Nope. Muscles! If only a raw diet would work for me too! 6. Does raw food make them any more hyper? Raw doesn't make them more hyper, but they may be more energetic (if there is a difference between the two). I hope all goes well. Let us know if there is anything else we can help you with! That is what we are here for!
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Post by charmantpapillon on Oct 21, 2008 19:14:15 GMT -5
1. What kind of raw food do i start out with
I started out with chicken. chopped p small and coated in kibble dust some start with making a raw soupie or by slowly adding watter to their food in daily incriments until its the cnsistency of canned cat food then adding in raw ground chicken little by little untill theres no kibble then adding in chunks of chicken and working their way up to bone
2. How should I prepare the food
pick one of the above methods and just put it in her normal feeding bowl.
3. When should her meal times be?
I leave food out for beast for an hour in the morning, a half hourin the middle of the day and for 2 hours in the evening. Ferrets eat mostly at dawn and dusk so if you cant follow my schedule put out food when you leave for work. check it when you get home usually i can leave raw meaty bones out for 12 - 24 hours (it never lasts that long when they start eating it belive me) muscle meat 6-12. ground 4-6
4. How much should I give her so she won't be so fat? Actually she shoudl be a little chunkier right now its about the time they start paking on weight for winter. But with a raw diet instead of all the fillers that are undigestable that build up and make the ferret eat more to gain weight (say a peice of mead is 50% protein and a kibble is 50% protein but 20% of the kibbles protien is VEGETABLE protein which is undigestable since the ferret gets more out of the meat she wont eat so much and will weigh a healthy weight for her body) And you dont need to regulate the food intake ferrets are very good regularters and rarely overeat.
5. Does raw food make them any fatter than a regular kibble like EVO?
Not likely even "good" kibbles have plant matter and carbs in them to bind it all together since ferrets dont NEED carbohydrates it actually causes them to gain weight. also most kibbles have a 9-10 percent moisture content thats less than a hard wood floor.
6. Does raw food make them any more hyper?
It does give them more energy but its more of a stabliation rather than an increase so as opposed to bouncing for 5 minutes then being completely worn out she can bounce for a longer period of time.
Let me know if you have more questions and i hope i helped you =)
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Post by bigsis7 on Oct 26, 2008 17:25:08 GMT -5
Hi! Welcome to the Holistic Ferret Forum!!
1. What kind of raw food do I start out with? I have started my ferrets out on chicken and it remains their favorite, but pork and steak are good starters too! I would start out with boneless meat. 2. How should I prepare the food? I put my meat all in separate zip loc bags with the amount they usually eat. To thaw it faster I put it in warm water and let it sit until mostly or totally thawed then give it to the ferrets. When you first start out though, it would be best to cut up the meat in bite size pieces and cover it with crushed kibble. Or you could blend together some raw meat into a soup. 3. When should her meal times be? Whenever you like! I usually feed my ferrets around my dinner or lunch time and offer the rest of the food (if they didn't eat all of it) to them just before I go to bed. 4. How much should I give her so she won't be so fat? (She's already a little chunky) Ferrets usually limit themselves on how much they eat, but maybe 1/8-1/4 of a pound. 5. Does raw food make them any fatter than a regular kibble like EVO? I wouldn't say fatter. If she's young she'll grow bigger than most ferrets on a kibble diet. What you will notice if she's older (and young) is she'll have a lot more muscle! 6. Does raw food make them any more hyper? Oh yeah!! My Oliver and Chewie (who's adrenal and is supposed to be slowing down) are very hyper!! With Ollie it's manageable, but Chewie...holy cow!
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Post by spiritualtramp on Nov 6, 2008 13:13:45 GMT -5
1. What kind of raw food do I start out with? Depending on where you want to go with their diets, people find success in different ways. I started out with ground raw and worked up to rmb's. I also used freeze-dried in the interim when they were off of kibble but not quite on rmb, and that worked out well.
2. How should I prepare the food? Cutting up chicken, turkey, etc into teensy weensy kibble-sized bites and mixing that in with kibble might work at first, but it may not, depending on how finicky your fuzzers are. When I go shopping, I immediately separate foods into four-ferret meal-sized portions and freeze them, that way I can unthaw only what I need for each meal.
3. When should her meal times be? I feed mine twice a day - morning (around 8am) and evening (around 8pm.)
4. How much should I give her so she won't be so fat? (She's already a little chunky) When I started on raw with Diesel (he was my first raw eater, long before the others,) I was told about 2-4 inch-sized cubes would make up a meal for a male ferret. Obviously with bones and organs, you just have to estimate, but it works out to be several ounces per fuzz.
5. Does raw food make them any fatter than a regular kibble like EVO? No way, when done properly, it's all muscle!
6. Does raw food make them any more hyper? I have found the energy levels are consistent and higher than when on kibble, instead of drastic spikes and peaks like kibble can cause. More hyper? I just call it more fun!
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Post by sherrylynne on Nov 8, 2008 11:52:57 GMT -5
Hi, glad you're making the switch to raw! You won't regret it. 1. What kind of raw food do I start out with? I started mine out with ground chicken. 2. How should I prepare the food? I had to blend it in with soupies, because Boris was stubborn about the switch . Your's might take it mixed with egg yolk, though. 3. When should her meal times be? I try to offer around dawn(if I'm up and dusk. That's when they're most active, and when they'd be most likely to hunt if in the wild. 4. How much should I give her so she won't be so fat? (She's already a little chunky) You'll find that the raw will give her more energy, and she'll drop the weight in no time! 5. Does raw food make them any fatter than a regular kibble like EVO? Fatter? No. They do become more muscled though 6. Does raw food make them any more hyper? I don't think I'd call it hyper, as a kid on sugar would be considered hyper. But definitely much more energetic .
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