Animalfarm2006's Switching Thread

[AnimalFarm2006]

So anyway!! I have a question. I'm sure i've asked this question a lot but time to refresh my mind!!

How much would guestamate it would be to feed ten ferrets raw with walmart or cosco prices?

The new roomies have three frickin freezers!! and he does natural horseman ship to his horses so he's pretty cool about the ferrets eating raw/whole prey.

oh! How much does an averge ferret eat a day?

[Heather]

I'm absolutely positive that sherrylyne stickied the amounts individual ferrets eat in one sitting, in one of the nutritional sections....just can't remember which one I'm rather busy right now but if I get some time later tonight I will see if I can find it. It's stickied right at the top of one of the sections but I can remember if it's in the common questions or where. It's measured out in both prey and oz if I remember correctly. I couldn't even begin to give you prices ours are so much higher than yours. I don't shop at walmart and use a coop so I've no idea as to pricing.
ciao

[AnimalFarm2006]

I'll look around for the thread! Don't want you to do everything.

[Heather]

Here you go holisticferret.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=gen&action=display&thread=4764
ciao

[AnimalFarm2006]

Update- I'm slowly putting raw back in the diet. My rats ended up going to a good home since they were becoming a pest. Loved them dearly but I wanted less work not too much work!!!

Soup + Chicken/bone/etc bits every night or other night depending on how exhausted I get.

List of bone crunchers->
Lelloo
Jack
Pixie
Tulla
Monster ( when I get him to wake up )

List of Rodent eaters->
Lelloo
Jack
Monster
Ripply
Pixie
Dingo
Swiper
Tula

List of Soup Slerpers->
Bear

And finally,
Dakota just won't give in to anything. I really don't think she's a bright ferret. Hate to say it but out of all, I know her less other than Ripplys side kick.

[Heather]

Have you tried hand feeding Dakota some soupies? Looks like most of your guys are considering raw as a new diet. You have more who will eat mice than whole meats....do they eat any other rodent or prey?..rabbit, rat? What meats do you have them trying or eating other than chicken? This is great, you're getting there. It's not easy switching a large business.
ciao

[AnimalFarm2006]

Hello Hello,

So the new start for the weasels has started. I know I've started, stoped, and started since I started this thread but I hopefully can finaly finish!

My plan is too wean off the kibble, finaly, and feed a diet of meats. I am not afraid of not keeping kibble because the weasels acually chew on their food all day. Even Tulia, who I have had only the past 1-2 monts, loves her bone.

But I still have to keep kibble around for monster right? He has insulinoma. Could I just make sure he has some kind of chow around?

Updates-

Two days of chicken. One day was a boney chicken breast cut into chunks. The other day was a chicken thigh cut as much as possible.

How do you feed bigger meats like chicken thighs etc? I cut alot of the meat loose. Pixie was gnawing on it last night.

List of Meat Eaters-
Jack,
Leeloo,
Pixie,
Swiper,
Tulia
Ripply
Monster (nibbles)
Dingo ( nibbles )

Non Eaters-
Koda
Bear

[Heather]

Hi
When feeding my guys chicken thighs, even legs...I slice the meat to the bone but leave the meat on the bone so that they can rip and tear. I use a criss-cross pattern.
I presently have a little girl who was turned into me who has insulinoma and spinal damage. At the moment she eats only raw food. I have to hand feed her 2x a day to make sure that she does eat. I don't know how along she is in the disease (as though we ever really know her blood sugar when she was diagnosed was about 30...really low) so she may well have to eventually eat kibble as well as raw. I know that they feel nauseous if they allow their blood sugar to plummet too low and then it becomes a perpetual cycle of not wanting to eat, even though they need to. At the moment she does eat on her own, along with me assisting so that she doesn't get her pred on an empty stomach. She has put on weight and with some increases in her calcium, she is walking a bit better though she still staggers if someone knocks into her. This has to do with her spinal damage not the disease.
Your list of meat eaters gets longer each time...that's great .
ciao

[AnimalFarm2006]

lol Yeah. Slowlllyyy everyone is wanting to join their buddy who is chowing down on some sort of sqeeshy pink stuff.

Going to go shopping at cosco this week for a store of meat.

[Heather]

Noms......sounds good
ciao

[AnimalFarm2006]

Sooo. Tonight is chick wings, three small peices, and a little thing of pumkin to help aid digestion. Monsters having clear snot baby food poops. Not sure whats going on with him as of late.

[Heather]

Sounds to me like tummy issues of some type....is he one of your sickies??
ciao

[AnimalFarm2006]

Yes. He's the boy that crashed a few weeks ago. He had insulinoma & adrenal. So..do you have to keep kibble around if a insulnoma ferret eats raw happily?

Also- so each fuzzie would eat about 3 oz of meat a day. That's 10 x 3. 30 oz. 16oz is a lb. 2 lbs 3 ozs of food to look forward to every day. I got a 10lb bag of chicken wings, small guys, for something like..12 bucks. In the end It takes me approx- $1.20 per lb. $2.76 a day to feed ten ferrets a meal of chicken wings.

The weasels go through 1 bowl 1/2 of kibble a day. That's 3.5 cups. 3.5 cups = 1.75 lbs. 6.3 lbs in each bag of kibble for 10.00. That's $1.58 a day for a group of ferrets.

BUT!!!!! You have to add the cost of litter, detergent for cleaning up the messes they make on bedding, etc.

My question is-> How much less do they poop on raw and how regular?
Does raw regulate a ferret with insulinoma's insulin better?

[Heather]

I presently have 1 insulinoma ferret. She's the only insulinoma ferret I've ever had experience with, that's out of 30 or more ferrets that have come through my hospice. She's was diagnosed in the spring. She's on .25mls of pred x2 and is fed only raw. She had problems yesterday but today is eating like a horse and is much more stable. She actually went out to play in the outdoor play area. I think, she unfortunately, wasn't strong enough to get back up from the play area and was really wobbly but after a feeding (I make sure she eats by hand feeding her twice a day when she gets her pred) she was on the go again.
I honestly believe that kibble causes insulinoma. So if you're counting pennies and trying to find a cheaper way of feeding and caring for your little ones.....comparing food is only the most bottom step. I figure I save hundreds of dollars a year in vet fees. My guys on average probably cost me anywhere from $50 to $100 per week to feed (that's factoring what it costs me to feed the prey animals too). I could cut some of the factors out by not buying commercial grind, or some of the more exotic meats but I figure some of those proteins are worth the cost. You have to include extraneous costs when you're tallying up the costs of caring for your little ones and one of my biggest cost is vetting. I have 3 adrenal ferrets and 1 insulinoma ferret.....I've presently got 12 ferrets in house. Vetting usually costs me a couple of thousand a year.
I've never really thought about how much a ferret poops. I know it's substantially less on raw. I was horrified at how much poop comes out of a kibble fed ferret, even a ferret that eats partially raw.
Does raw regulate better....theoretically yes. Practically, I don't have enough information to answer that. Right now, Calipso only gets raw, eventually we will have to see what happens. I will feed her kibble if she needs it but for now it's holding her stable.
ciao

[AnimalFarm2006]

I think your thoughts helped mine!!

How did you like my math? I was on a roll with the conversions.

Today I went shopping and bought some odds and ends.

30oz is a ton to feed all at once so I think I'm going to split the feedings too a little bit of bone in the evening, and something in the morning.

Right now I am going to make sure everyone can eat raw and try to get everyone to eat the stuff.