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Post by harrisi on Feb 5, 2009 4:57:41 GMT -5
Just wondering  |
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Post by Heather on Feb 5, 2009 8:54:53 GMT -5
The amount of food fed any one day fluctuates. Right now I have an upper respiratory virus going through my business. 8 of my 16 fuzzies are down with it. Their appetites are still good, but they're not eating as much as they would normally. I keep an eye at who's at the food bowl and how often. They're of course handled multiple times (many snuggles) plus med times so I know instantly if anyone is loosing weight. My guys are fed on demand, so when the food bowl is empty and they're hungry they just go to the fridge when I happen to be in the kitchen. They all know that they just have to come and get me. I'm guessing off the top that I feed roughly 1lb or so of meat/bones and offal daily, excluding mice, quail or rats. I think you sort of get to know what your furbabies eat. I mean, you have to look at a furbaby on an intividual basis. Attila (roughly 4 1/2 lbs male) eats a lot more than Calypso (1 lbs female). So if I was to say feed 2 oz it may not work for your furbaby. I've just never measured that closely. Just in my house  ciao |
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Post by Kerit on Feb 5, 2009 9:18:59 GMT -5
I usually measure in "handfuls"... Not very scientific! Whenever I buy something new I've been cutting it into thumb-sized pieces and putting approximately one handful into snack-sized ziploc bags to freeze. So, in one day, the two 3-pound boys usually get one adult mouse for one meal, and a snack-sized baggie of something else, like beef heart or gizzards, or one cut up chicken leg or wing, for the other meal. If I'm going to be gone all night or otherwise don't have a chance to thaw something, they get the same handful of dry stuff, like Archetype or a S&C patty. If it's NV medallions, then one apiece. I would love to have a scale to make sure all of my handfuls are even. Something for the wedding registry |
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Post by jojodancer on Feb 5, 2009 11:15:51 GMT -5
Two Stella and Chewy's Freeze Dried patties with some AFS sprinkles and maybe some Wysong is made into a soup twice a day. 2 of mine eat most of this soup, then the other 4 finish it off.
I also have two crocks of ziwipeak available 24/7 in their cage. I usually have to refill them once a day - all 6 will eat the ziwipeak throughout the day.
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Post by sherrylynne on Feb 5, 2009 23:33:27 GMT -5
My gods, Heather! You have 16, and they only eat about a pound a day? Mine must be little piggies  . The four of them eat about 15 oz daily! |
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Post by Heather on Feb 7, 2009 0:22:48 GMT -5
Please note I did say excluding whole meats, and prey . They will sit down and consume 5lbs of quail in a sitting. They consumed some 30 mice last weekend. No, your little ones aren't piggy...just ferrets ciao |
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Post by sherrylynne on Feb 7, 2009 11:12:57 GMT -5
Thanks for clarifying! I was starting to worry . Somehow, I missed that bit about whole prey! |
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Post by harrisi on Feb 7, 2009 15:54:16 GMT -5
I thought mine were being pigs aswell! My ferrets usually get 1 whole prey daily. Rabbits, Quail, Guinea pigs and Rats are the main whole prey and as all are fed as adult for the main part they only need one of whatever it is at the most each. If I feed things like chicken or beef then they get 2-3 cups each (they all eat the same amount luckily for me and if the girl leaves any the guys get the rest ), deer isnt a set amount at all, sometimes its two front legs, the neck and skull sometimes its two back legs, sometimes its the rib cage alongside DOTC and so on. Either way, they get at least 2 cups of meat eat. I prefer to stick to whole prey though as to me that is the point of a "natural" diet and I know it is staple amounts of bones/organ/meat (that was worded wrong lol). |
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Post by Heather on Feb 7, 2009 16:02:14 GMT -5
This weekend because everyone's feeling like sh**, they're eating predominantly ground meats. They've gone through 6 lbs in two days, so roughly 3 lbs a day (I also noticed they have some venison jerky that someone has created downstairs that they must have stolen from the dog). Some of them are coming up to the end of their vibactra so they're starting to feel good, still sneezing but their activity levels are up and they're starting to show some interest again. So each ferret is eating about 3oz of food per day...your 4 guys are going through roughly 16 oz so they're eating about 4 oz actually a little less. So that works, my guys are under the weather and I have 2 little females one who weighs under 1 lbs (and is good weight, she's a tiny little thing and one the weighs just over a pound) So making allowances for sizes you're feeding roughly the same amount as I am. My guys will be getting some beef heart tonight for their treat, it works out to be about 1.5 lbs divied up between the households. ciao |
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Post by harrisi on Feb 7, 2009 16:10:13 GMT -5
I cvant feed beef heart unles I seperate the ferrets, they all seem to love it and fight over it! But the girl especially will take hers, stash it then go back for the others and eat it when they are sleeping Which reminds me, I have tons stocked up in the freezer hmm...maybe beef heart soup tomorrow? lol. Glad to hear some of the your furkids are starting to feel better aswell!  |
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Post by Heather on Feb 7, 2009 17:04:36 GMT -5
**deer isnt a set amount at all, sometimes its two front legs, the neck and skull sometimes its two back legs, sometimes its the rib cage alongside DOTC and so on.** Either your deer are a lot smaller than mine or your ferrets are huge or maybe I misunderstood something Ciao |
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Post by harrisi on Feb 7, 2009 17:47:55 GMT -5
**deer isnt a set amount at all, sometimes its two front legs, the neck and skull sometimes its two back legs, sometimes its the rib cage alongside DOTC and so on.** Either your deer are a lot smaller than mine or your ferrets are huge or maybe I misunderstood something Ciao Nah, they are fully grown and most of the time bucks but they are more bone then anything. Besides, whatever is left I can give to the neighbours for their dogs lol. Or if I am getting somebody else to feed them I cut the front legs into slices with the bones and put them into bags so they just need defrosting and putting straight into a bowl. Keep in mind that is feeding 8, sometimes 10, ferrets aswell. They never get a chance at the venison though as my brother freezes it for the barbecuse in the summer |
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Post by Heather on Feb 9, 2009 0:23:59 GMT -5
I just had visions of ferrets draggin off half a deer carcass. Hey, I've watched a couple of my guys try and hidey my dog (140 lbs of Irish wolfhound puppy) so I know it's possible I understand about feeding multiple ferrets, with 16 in house you throw down a couple of rats and watch the equivalent to a feeding frenzy or furry pirahna attack ciao |
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Post by fuzzymom on Feb 12, 2009 14:31:44 GMT -5
Since I'm mostly feeding meat right now (working on getting the colonies up and going again), my four go through 1lb per day.
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