Kayla & Eden's Big Switch

[halbear]

Thanks Giuli, I will try the Nature Made Omega 3 Fish Oil Capsules. So then I should just give each ferret a couple of drops of the fish oil once or so per week?

Thanks for checking on that for me Heather. I truly appreciate everything you have done for us thus far!!

[Forum Administrator]

I generally give a few drops a week. I use about 1/2 or 1/3 of a capsule split between two ferrets, 1 time per week. Do not save any remaining oil, just throw the remaining oil and capsule out. I like to use the rest of the capsule for my cat

[halbear]

Thanks Giuli!!
I will try the capsules!!!! Have a great weekend!


Cristina & the fuz butts

[Heather]

Here's that information about the grinder. I just copied and pasted so that I would get the numbers right
**I got it from Northern tools. Is is the electric meat grinder #168620. It cost me 119.99 but was on sale for $20 less last week. It is not made for bones and skin. I cut the skin in squares. It did grind the thigh and leg bones from thighs slowing just a little. I will probably break the bones a little with a hammer next time to not stress the motor too much, however, it did a great job. **
Good luck, I'm working tomorrow morning but will check in with you tomorrow night
ciao

[halbear]

Thanks Heather!! Sorry I haven't responded in a couple of days. I have been so busy.
I ordered the grinder from Northern Tools, so hopefully it will be here in the next couple of days!
I found a supermarket that will sell me a whole chopped chicken with the bones and organ. The the normal chickens are $1.50 per pound, the chickens without antibiotics are $2.50 per pound, and the cage-free chickens without antibiotics are $2.99 per pound. Does this seem about right, or are the prices a little high? I don't want to feed them chicken that has been injected with antibiotics, etc. so I guess I will order the antibiotic free ones for $2.50 per lb. The girl at hte store said that there was really no difference between the ones for $2.50 per lb. and the ones for $2.99 per lb. except that the more expensive one were cage free. What is your take on this?
The girls are doing great! They are starting to lick from the plate again, but only for a minute or so and then they tend to try to get away until I put the spoon back in front of them. They sure are stubborn!!

I know the grinder will not be here for a couple of days, but once I get it what should I do? I will probably be ordering 3 to 31/2 lb. chickens. Should I put the whole thing through or should I take out the bigger bones such as the leg bones, etc. Also, should I add anything else to the mixture such as eggshells, egg, another chicken heart, another chicken liver, etc.?? I guess I basically have no idea what I am doing...
In any case, I hope all is well and I will talk to you soon!!!

[Heather]

That's fantastic. I'm glad that your stubborn little furbabies are starting to lick up the food from the plate. There is also the consideration that when ferrets eat kibble a lot of them are grazers. They grab a kibble run off and eat it, then return a little later and so on. My Loki, likes to eat that way. He eats raw on his own but every now and then I like to feed my guys to make sure that they remember how to eat from a spoon. Feeding him is a real pain as he likes to take a mouthful and run off to the feeding box and eat the mouthful. He also does this on his own....he also is a true believer of eating on the run as he will pick up the whole bowl and run off with it and hide it to eat it at his leisure (it also means that he doesn't have to share ) He's developed huge, strong neck muscles and can carry a full bowl of meat without even spilling any
Ok...what should you grind. Be careful grinding the leg and thigh bones...I might be tempted to either take the meat off the bone or really pound it down with a meat cleaver or hammer. It's the only bones that might clog up your grinder. You can add an egg per chicken (at least that's how I work it), you don't need to add the egg shell because your guys will be eating the bone from the ground up chicken. I always add a couple of more hearts than there is chicken and I also add a couple of livers.
Here is the recipe that I started out using and I haven't really changed it much. It's Dr Ian Billinghursts recipe for cats but it works equally well for ferrets
7.5 lbs of ground meat and bones, skin and fat (ferrets really need the fat even more than cats) This would amount to 2 of your chickens, roughly.
1.5 lbs of heart, liver and kidneys (gibblets) I add this much because you will loose some of the nutrients namely taurine when you freeze, this amount helps you maintain the right amount needed.
3 eggs (you can include the shell if you like, I don't bother)
I also add between 1/4 to 1/2 c of pumpkin or squash as we cannot add fur to this mix.
I will then freeze this in 1 lbs pkgs
When I thaw this I add 1/2 tbsp of marine fish oil (this doesn't freeze well and looses some of it's potency) and serve to ferrets in quantities that they will eat readily
If you have any questions, I will check in on you tomorrow and see how things are going.
ciao

[halbear]

Hello!!
Eden is definitely a grazer!! I have trouble keeping her still sometimes when she is eating so that she does not run away with a big mouth full of food and hide it somewhere. Loki sounds like a funny little guy!!! His behavior reminds me of Eden!! I can't believe he can carry the whole bowl of meat!!! That must be impressive to see!!
I will be careful with the leg and thigh bones. I'll try to pound them down with the hammer before I put them in the grinder so that it doesn't wear it out or break it.
I will try Dr Billinghursts recipe. I do however have one question. When I put 1.5 lbs. of heart, liver, and kidneys should I add equal parts of each or should I put more hearts?
Also, when I went to the grocery store to pick up the chickens the butcher told me that when he cut up the chickens, the insides were missing. He said that sometimes there are organs, but mostly they are previously taken out. If I were to buy this chicken should I add more than 1.5 lbs. of organs since they are missing?
Also, The meat that is $1.50 per pound does not have any added hormones to it, but there are hormones in the food it was fed. The chicken for $2.50 per pound does not have any hormones and was fed a strictly vegetarian diet. Is the chicken for $1.50 per pound harmful? Which one should I go with?
Thanks Heather and I will talk to you soon!!

[Heather]

When I'm doing innards (offal ) I usually add more hearts than liver and gizzards (the gizzards my guys are really fond of and they much prefer them in all their grisly plainess ), so they get them seperate. These are much fought over treasures and there is much screaming and bickering...rather like small children with treasured toys...ferrets don't share well
On the subject of chickens...this is going to be entirely up to you, I don't know what hormones your chickens are allowed to be fed but...ours up here they are not allowed to be fed hormones, nor are they allowed to have hormones or antibiotics injected into them or they cannot be sold for human consumption. That being said, with the amount of meat that my guys go through I would very much love to feed them organicanically fed and raised chickens (these chickens are not allowed to have feed that has been tampered with (pesticides sprayed on or such) but I buy my ground chicken by the case (50lbs a case, every 3 weeks, this also goes for my turkey, pork and lamb) so I can't afford to buy organically raised for myself much less my furkids. I honestly think that even though they get the regular food, that they're still doing much better than what is used for kibbles and all the additives and such that are pumped into pet foods. It's rather like raw feeding....ground raw is better than kibbles and moist pet foods, whole raw is better than ground and prey is better still but anywhere along that raw line is a good place to be. So if you feel that buying the cheaper meat is ok for you and your furbabies then do so. I don't think that your going to see any huge differences one way or the other. So in other words "in a perfect world" we would only feed organic meats...but it's not a perfect world and we just want to make it better That's my position on it anyway We do the best we can with what we have
Have a good evening and I will check in with you tomorrow.
ciao

[halbear]

Thanks for the advice Heather!! I agree completely,we can only do the best we can with what we have. I had no idea that ferrets enjoyed the gizzards that much. I will have to try it and see if they go for it. I wish it were that way down here, but unfortunately they do pump antibiotics and steroids into the chicken.
I am expecting the grinder to get here in the next couple of days, so I will keep you posted. Also, I will be going out of town tomorrow and I will be gone until Monday. I will probably not be able to post until Monday and I wanted to let you know so that you did not think I was MIA.
I hope you have a great weekend, and I will talk to you soon!!!!

[Heather]

Good luck and have a great weekend. Sending hugs to your furbabies
ciao

[halbear]

Hello! I just got back from my first mini vacation! I will be going out of town again this coming weekend from thursday to sunday. Busy busy busy!!!!
On another note, the girls are doing great! Kayla is starting to grow some of the hair back on her neck. It seems like it is growing back pretty thick. The hair is dark brown which is surprising because she is a cinnamon color. Eden is also doing really well. Kayla is doing well with eating from the plate again , but Eden is still being a little persistent.
The grinder just arrived today and I will be making the soupy tomorrow. I can't wait to use it!!! I will definitely let you know how it all turns out!!! I am going to follow the recipe that you gave me in a previous post!!
Well, I hope you had a great weekend and I hope all is well! I will talk to you soon!!!

[Heather]

I hope that you enjoyed your weekend, vacation....I have to wonder what that is . Had a gorgeous weekend here, beautiful sunny weather, relatively mild. Great walking weather.
Whoo hoo sounds like lots of fun That's great that some of Kayla's hair's coming in I have noted that some of my guys have very distinct summer and winter coats and markings. During the summer some of my guys put on these lovely coppery brown coats but during the winter these same fellows get deep rich mahogany coloured coats. Napoleon and Nicodemus are dressed in black this season Of course, a couple of my guys are getting very gray but little Babushka (my little old lady) decided her coat was going to be mostly black with some gray flecks in it. So, I honestly don't know if kibble fed ferrets have such deep seasonal colour changes but I know that my guys do.
I'm glad to hear that they're starting to progress to eating more on their own. It's all a matter of persistence. You are doing fantastic with your little girls
Do let me know how things work out with the grinder and also if your little ladies are liking your new grind method
ciao

[halbear]

Hey There! I finally used the grinder and I followed the recipe you gave me. Everything turned out very well!!! The grinder is great! I love it!! It makes everything a breeze!!
The girls are not too crazy about the new mixture, but they will warm up to it!!
It is quite thick which is probably why they are not too excited about eating it.
I will be leaving tomorrow morning for my second vacation so I will probably not be able to read or write until Monday, but you have my phone number if you need me.
The bones seemed to grind down pretty well so I am hoping that they will go down smoothly!! I hope you have a great weekend and I will talk to you soon!!!

[Heather]

You could add a little more liquid or a raw egg to your mix to make is more to the consistency that your little ones are used to. At least until they're more comfortable eating this new food I'm glad that you like your new grinder . I hope that this makes your converting a lot easier and allows you a better range of comfort as you now don't have to worry about balancing their diet...it's all there for you Once they eat this without pressure then you can work at your leisure to get them to eat whole meats or even prey if that's your pleasure.
Have a great weekend, I will talk at you on Monday
ciao

[halbear]

Hello!!
I am finally back from my vacation. The girls are doing great. They are eating the raw mixture with no problems. They were a little cautious at first, but I think they are pretty much over that by now. In the next couple of weeks I am going to introduce whole meats to them. I am hoping that they will go for it, but hey all in good time right? In any case, I am pleased at their progress and I thank you for helping us to get to this point!! Have a great day and I will talk to you soon!!