Animalfarm2006's Switching Thread

[AnimalFarm2006]

Hmm. I think that might of been the case with Tulia. She just perfers the taste of meat compaired to kibble. Which is a good thing. Easy work for me.

I do have a question.

Since I no longer get rats, mice, etc. I have been feeding a more limited source of protein. Chicken And ground beef mixes. :sigh: oh and pork is somewhere on the list.

My question is-> How would i take the next step to get them to only eat raw? like...9 out of 10 are eating it. 1 our of 9 is just starting. I guess I can't untill they have all eaten raw at the same consistency.

could I take away kibble for haft the day and replace it with meat? Dakota has to get hungry eventualllyyy!!

[Heather]

I honestly don't like to let any rescued ferret go hungry for any period of time. Insulinoma is to much a disease that sits in the background and then rears its ugly head when a ferret gets stressed or goes without food for any length of time. Are all your little ones in the same cage? Can you make sure that he's eaten a full protein meal before you leave? I know from a couple of my rescues, starving doesn't make them eat...they just sleep
ciao

[AnimalFarm2006]

Yeah. Your right. I just don't know the next step to get the majority of them only eating raw. The guys are out in their play gone.room untill sat-sun when I have to do the rugs, etc.

update- Day old chicken wings that I beat on untill the bone was chunky turned into bone dust in their tunnels.

I gve them pork chops cut up in 6 oz bags and that went by by.

So..is it okay if they get chicken wings like..M-T-W- Pork and liver mush T, and chicken F's. I'm trying to find other meats to feed.

[Heather]

That's a lot of chicken. They can eat more pork (they seem to like that), lamb, beef, turkey even some fish. Those are all things that are readily available in most grocery stores, even walmart. Chicken wings don't have a lot of meat on them, perhaps some chicken thighs. What about some heart, they need taurine and heart is a good source of taurine. It doesn't have to be chicken, it could be beef or pork heart. You and your guys are off to a good start.
ciao

[AnimalFarm2006]

I got a hit on some deer meat, liver, and heart. ^.^ I also can get neck, shoulder, etc for the dog.

[AnimalFarm2006]

Hey is 2 bucks for a weanie rat a good price? 10 for 15.

[Heather]

Deer meat is great if they will eat it. Great stuff. I'm not very good about prices for rats or mice. Our prices tend to be a bit higher than yours. I pay a flat rate of $3 for my rats but most of them are quite large.
ciao

[AnimalFarm2006]

So I made them beef mush and added pork chunks. No takes untill I put their chops into the mix. Than everyone was like...ohhh!!!! It's foood.

[Heather]

Sometimes we have to be inventive when we're trying to get them to eat new or different foods Looks like it worked for you . You can also as they eat this, give less and less of the meat they know and like while increasing the new stuff until they will eat it on it's own. I've done this myself
ciao

[AnimalFarm2006]

So beef and chicken liver mush was tasted but revoked. It apparently tastes good but sticks to their mouths.

I think I'm going to make it with soup or do something else with it.

Chickens on the menu today. Yuummmys.

[Heather]

Either add some chicken broth (not bovril or oxo) or water to make it into a soupy or add it to a ground mix of other meats. That's the only way most of mine will eat it. I mix it with the regular ground meat, bone and egg. They love it that way.
ciao

[AnimalFarm2006]

So!!!

i made soup, two bowls full, and added the mush. It was a hit. They also had chicken wings that morning.

So it was 8 oz of soup, 6 oz of mush, and 4 oz of chicken wings. Not includding water added to the soup.

That's roughly 20 oz out of the 30 they should be getting.

And...they showed me that the mush goes in one end and comes out the other in the same form. I gave them chicken wings but apparently they all had to go on a bare spot of the bedroom. Lovely mess.

Monster ate some chicken on a wing. ^.^ He also chowed down on soup. I keep screwing up his medicine times. I usualy give him and lou a belly coater, clean up, and than meds by 12. Today he got it at 2.

Do you have any photos of ferret jackets? I want to make monster one that looks kind of like a horse jacket but I have to look at other designs to see what works better.

[Heather]

I've never made jackets for my guys. Pooka was the only one that ever lost her coat and once we got her melatonin dose right, she put on a gorgeous fluffy coat.
When you make your soup and your mush, do you put in any egg shell? Sounds to me that your little ones aren't getting their calcium needs, hence in one door and out the other. It's moving so fast through their system that even though they're eating it, they're not getting the benefit. You could also try feeding some pumpkin in that mix too.
ciao

[AnimalFarm2006]

I added ground egg shell in the mush. But I'll try the pumkin when I make soup-mush night.

Can they eat beef neck? I know they are lazy eaters so I didn't want to waste meat if they won't eat it. I need to get some more pork for them as I ran out. All I have is chicken wings, mush, and neck.

[Heather]

I think, if it's the cut of meat I'm thinking of the bone is probably too heavy. Beef is a tricky meat to feed with bone in. You can give it to them to see if they will eat some of the smaller bones but my guys normally clean the meat off and leave the bones
ciao