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Post by shea85 on Feb 2, 2009 12:03:09 GMT -5
What a difference a good diet makes. They are doing very well eating raw.  Letty is such a lady when it comes to eating. She waits for me to put the food in the bowl...Bamf will leap and grab it right out of my hand. Letty takes her time and eats quietly...Bamf shakes the meat and is a lil pig! Is it normal for kits to eat more? I meant to ask why is it one of your ferts can't have chicken? |
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Post by sherrylynne on Feb 2, 2009 12:19:04 GMT -5
Kits will normally eat a LOT more than an adult. After all- he's still growing, and needs the extra calories and nutrients to grow big and strong  . I love it when they feel they have to "kill" their meat before they can eat it  . But I think I'd stop Bamf from grabbing the meat from your hand. One day, he may mistake your fingers for a piece of his dinner ! Boris can't have chicken because he has a sensitivity to it. It gives him yellow, runny, seedy poops! That means he can't digest it properly, and it moves through his system too fast to absorb the nutrients, so if he were to have a diet solely of chicken, no matter how much he ate, he could potentially "starve", because he isn't getting what he needs. Ok, so what are they getting, and when? I think we should probably start a schedule, to give them the variety, and get the RMB's and organ meats in line. To start, decide what they're going to get, say, on Monday, Tuesday, etc., and we can work from there |
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Post by shea85 on Feb 4, 2009 19:52:28 GMT -5
I'm going to have to sit down and write this out. LoL
Anything I should keep in mind besides liver once a week and bone meats 4 times a week?
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Post by sherrylynne on Feb 5, 2009 10:00:35 GMT -5
Just raw meaty bones(ie drumstick, thigh, rabbit, quail, etc) 4 days a week, or 8 meals a week.
Chicken liver, or chicken liver size if you're giving beef or pork liver, either weekly, or split up amongst a few meals.
And muscle meats the rest of the time!
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Post by shea85 on Feb 6, 2009 2:22:45 GMT -5
Mon - chicken thigh portions with bone
Tues - pork cutlets
Weds - wings and tongue (since wings aren't meaty)
Thurs - Drumsticks
Fri - Breast meat
Sat - Liver and thighs with bone
Sun - Beef chunks (stew meat or roast)
Anything I need to change? And is ground meat okay? Like hamburger...ground turkey?
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Post by sherrylynne on Feb 6, 2009 9:52:38 GMT -5
Will they eat the bone with the thighs and drumsticks? If they do, it doesn't look to bad to me. I have to run it by Heather.
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Post by Heather on Feb 6, 2009 12:30:19 GMT -5
Fantastic mix....but (there's always a but  )....not enough bone and you have no heart. You've got thighs but most ferrets will only eat the knuckle off the bone, most will not eat the thigh bone itself. Weight bearing bones are hard and you have to gnaw on them. Ferrets don't gnaw (for the most part, I've got a couple of guys who will but it's to get at the marrow, not to eat the bone) The hardest component to get in a small carnvivores diet is bone and the one component short of meat that is necessary. You need to look at quail, chicken necks, wings (which you have), pork riblets (not the ribs, once again you've come up against a large bone). Some of my guys will eat the chicken ribs off a whole chicken. The wish bone.....I'm trying to think of easily accessible bones here without going into prey....fish heads if your guys will eat them, small fresh sardines. Some ferrets like fish, my guys do. Rabbit, but if you buy dressed rabbit from the butcher they're rather large too, but you could definitely use the ribs. The problem is if it's weight bearing then chances are the bone is too dense. As far as hamburg and ground turkey, I wouldn't especially if your guys are eating whole meats. The only ground meat that I would advice would be some of the ground pet foods so that you can get your bone content. Otherwise, I would avoid ground meats. I have used ground pork on occasion for ferrets who need to put on some weight but ground chicken and turkey is too lean for a ferret. Just a few thoughts from this end. Excellent work guys, awesome progress ciao |
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Post by shea85 on Feb 8, 2009 14:24:41 GMT -5
They will gnaw on larger bones but I will have to look for meats that have smaller bones. I kept trying to think of meats that had small bones. I will have to browse more in the meat section...
Should heart be fed weekly? And how about gizzards?
The stores here don't sell rabbit or quail. I know some upland hunters (pheasants and geese mostly). I'm not sure what they do with the birds after. They usually just hunt to keep their dogs trained. If I can get birds that way, would that be okay to feed? Once plucked and cut?
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Post by sherrylynne on Feb 8, 2009 22:09:51 GMT -5
Heart and gizzard can be fed as any other muscle meat, whether beef, chicken, what have you! As for other bone in meats, you can do turkey necks, chicken necks, ox tail, etc. Think generally any animal the same size, or smaller than a chicken, or a good number of neck bones. Duck is another good one. With the turkey necks, try to get good meaty ones, or simply add some muscle meats to them. As for the wild game, it should be just fine, but I would freeze it for at least a couple of weeks. That way, if there are any parasites, the cold will kill them. Not saying all wild has parasites, but it's a "just in case" clause ! You and your guys are doing great, by the way! |
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Post by shea85 on Feb 9, 2009 14:09:35 GMT -5
Another question...lol
Pork brains. I saw that at the store. Ever feed that?
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Post by sherrylynne on Feb 9, 2009 15:18:39 GMT -5
Never tried it. I'll post and find out how many have, if any!
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Post by sherrylynne on Feb 10, 2009 9:38:52 GMT -5
The pork brains should be fine as a meal, although I'd consider them an organ meat, so not too much of it!  |
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Post by shea85 on Feb 11, 2009 1:29:27 GMT -5
Haha ok!
I'm going to have to try and find some heart meat. Hmm..
If I don't post as often please don't think I've abandoned everything! I just found out at work they are laying off 21 people. And my seniority is in the middle of that 21. So things may be tough for a while. Not for the pets. If all else fails my parents can take care of them til I find another job and place to live. Darn economy and I work for a factory that makes bearings...mostly for automobiles.
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Post by sherrylynne on Feb 12, 2009 10:52:56 GMT -5
I do understand. Good luck on the heart hunt , and definitely good luck on the job front! I'll keep my fingers crossed for you. |
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Post by shea85 on Feb 13, 2009 11:32:24 GMT -5
No luck on finding heart yet. The ferts are eating very well though. Love the beef right now.
And I will be looking for a job the next couple weeks. I'll be laid off middle of next month. Hopefully I can find something that pays decent!
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