Animalfarm2006's Switching Thread

[Heather]

That's awesome that Dingo is coming along so well Sometimes the sickest are the ones that truly inspire. You're going to have to convince your little ones to eat more than just rodents. Have you tried rabbit? The bone content in your rodents (if they're not adults) won't be enough to cover their calcium needs. Juvenile mice and rats barely make a balanced diet.
Please try and post more regularly, so that you can get your raw feeding switch back on track and moving ahead so that your little ones don't start to suffer from the lack of certain nutrients.
ciao

[AnimalFarm2006]

I feed regularly, just don't post like I should. But I will post hopefully at least once a day now.

I can't find a rabbit provider. I could breed them for the babys I guess.

[AnimalFarm2006]

Okay...So today has been a day of changes. I gave my friend regit, the surviving guinea pig, and now have tons of space to play with. I gave them a bowl of soup and they didn't eat it. I may reheat it even if it is a couple hours old. And I have new rat baby's. yay!

Diet wise: I thought about how I would feed raw to the kids when I do fully supply it to them. I figured I would do something like this

* Have kibble set out 24/7 of course for my monster
* Feed them once a day.

Or should I feed them twice a day?

Food will mainly consist of Chicken ( Whole chickens turned into pieces ), Beef parts at grocery store, Rat, Mouse and soups.

Extra meats will come around when things go on sale, or I get free meat.

[Heather]

I would feed at least twice a day. Ferrets are designed to eat multiple small meals during the day. Feeding once a day pushes the limit of fresh and feeding twice a day keeps down the bacterial load that could contaminate your food supply.
I would try to feed pork or something like that. What are you using as a bone in meat? You may have to supplement some egg shell to add some calcium to your little ones' diet.
ciao

[AnimalFarm2006]

The clan have been eating chicken Breasts every night with a few random sized rodents. Lellooo, Pixie, and Suprissingly Swipper are my main meat eaters. What ever is left is for the other kids.

So let me update my list.

Two aren't eating meat. Bear, and Dakota.

Dingo's eating hoppers now, and nibble on meats.

The rest of the critters are eating a meal of raw every night to get them use to eating it every night. They still have access to kibble, but they all meet me for their dinner. dingo, and monster are slow so I tend to hold them and feed them a few pieces. Swipper came out from under the bed with a mouse in her mouth. I thought that was the funnest thing ever.

[Heather]

So Bear and Dakota aren't eating any meat at all? Are you working with them to get them to switch ?
Big hugs and congrats are going out to Dingo, who's working hard at getting his raw bits in That's great that the rest of the crew is eating raw chicken breasts. Have you tried any other types of meat with this bunch? What about boned meats?
Keep working at it. It's never easy to get groups to switch and you have a couple with health issues too, not an easy thing. You're doing a great job, keep working
ciao

[AnimalFarm2006]

Well the chicken breast has bone in it so that's some bone. Right now I only have chicken. But I am waiting for something to go on sale.

The two buggers are soup slurpers but have yet to dabble in meats. I pick them up, show them some meat, and try to work with them every once n a while. BUT, I'm not stressing the subject for them two. They eventualy will get the idea and try to join in on the group feeding.

Tonight they are getting chicken. Yum Yum. Loo Loo was eating the chicken as it was being cut up.

[Heather]

Are you talking about the cartilage between the two breasts or are you talking about the actual rib cage?
Hmmm....I know what you're talking about soupy slurpers....I"ve just got another little one that has been added to my batch of little bums and he's being a real pain. He would sooner starve to death than eat chunks of meat. He will lick up his soupy as long as no pieces of meat get in the way...brat
ciao

[AnimalFarm2006]

:Sings The Update Song: It's An Update!!

BIG drum role- Dingo's fur is growing back. I picked him up and was like stunned. Than I danced and had to show every one.

Me- " Pet His butt!"
Mom- "Why do I need to pet a ferret butt?" :pets: "oh..It's fur."

Meal Wise- Everyone's eating whatever I give them. The chicken is just a whole fryer chopped up into a good size pieces to feed to them every night. Bone is Bone right? Ribs, Wings, etc. If that answers your last question.

Home Update- I am moving!!!!!! It's a scary thing to think about but yeah, I am moving out of my parents house and into a large room on a small farm. I am basically going to take care of the horses for my rent. Plus, it's 5 miles or so away from my college compared to a hr drive I do now.

The person said ferrets are alright. I went over with my dog to have a dog meet and greet. That went great. Than I was put to the test by his oldest daughters. I passed, and had a GREAT time with them.

So I'm not sure how feeding will go for a while during the moving process.

Now I just am going to have to make a cleaning schedule to make sure the ferrets are kept up on. If possible, can you post on my other cleaning post?

[Heather]

Yay....a furry Dingo....that's fantastic. Give that little furry bum a big hug from me
Want to put together a menu for me? Just a week of eats for your little ones or do you want to wait until you've moved into your new digs? Congratulations...big steps That will be a much nicer commute than what it is now. Good luck, keep me posted.
ciao

[AnimalFarm2006]

Let's wait untill I move in.

Lately though it's been.
Chicken chunk from the fryer. It's just a hunk of bone and meet cut off that I cut into smaller peices.
And Rat weanlings, and Killing off my adult mice.

[Heather]

No problem...when are you moving?
ciao

[AnimalFarm2006]

Next Sat. And than I have to rethink the ferrets Schedule and litter box plan. What's a good, High back type litter box that would be great to use?

[Heather]

A couple of my house litter boxes are actually rubbermaid containers with the one side cut down. They make awesome litter boxes (created for cat litter boxes). The ferrets enjoy them because they can run into them, turn around and then back into the corner.
ciao

[AnimalFarm2006]

I think I'm going to go to the store adn shop for some kind of tall container. I want them to poop in the litter, not my floor.