Loki, Rolo, Edgar and Mr. Bean go raw (part 2)

[weloveourweasels]

So I attempted to switch my brats to raw once before a year ago. This was when I got Mr. Bean as a kit and before Edgar was even though of. The girls were stuck on soup and Mr. Bean was eating bone in like a champ but hated the organs he needed. I did not know then that I could have just blended them into soup and problem solved. So because the girls were being really slow (I think they were holding out for the kibble) and Mr. Bean wouldn't eat organs I stopped the switch and have just been supplementing with raw soupies. I should have kept Mr. Bean on RMBs but I didn't give them to him for a week and when i offered him a wing he had no part of it.

Anyway I had a switching thread and a mentor but for some reason my old thread disappeared. I am armed with enough knowledge now to go at this alone. I just wanted to post a thread to keep track of things and be able to look back on it.

My goal is frankenprey and I already have a menu

Mon: Cornish game hen

Tues: Beef chunks

Weds: heart and chicken necks

Thurs: chicken wings

Fri: Turkey thighs (without bone I know they are too big)

Sat: Cornish game hen

Sun:liver/kidney soup am bone in or muscle PM

For now I am starting them with soup and will gradually add less water each time until they are eating ground meats. From there will be chunks and bone.

Here is the soup recipe I'm using

12 oz meat
2 hardboiled eggs without shell
4 teaspoons olive oil
2 scoops goat milk
3 cups water
1 teaspoon fresh not cooked powdered egg shell per 8 oz meat
1 small pinch nanogreens per ferret in the evening.

I'm happy to FINALLY be kibble free!! I'm switching them cold turkey that way the process doesn't drag along because they think they will get kibble. Once they realize they aren't getting kibble anymore that will help me a lot.




I can't wait until they are eating RMBs though I hate making soup and cleaning the blender ha ha.

[Heather]

Good luck.....why the hard boiled egg or do your guys prefer this? You shouldn't use the boiled egg's shell but drying the egg and grinding up the shell from a raw egg would be a better source or nutrients for your little ones. It's just a thought.
ciao

[weloveourweasels]

It is just what the recipe called for I guess in order to make the recipe balanced it needs the eggs. That is half a hardboiled egg per weasel. I already boiled up an entire dozen of eggs that are waiting for me to use. I have another dozen I didn't boil. If I put 2 raw eggs in wouldn't that be too much egg (3 1/2 each a week) or would that be OK?

Will the eggshell from the hardboiled eggs hurt them? I just made up a batch tonight and don't want to waste it. Or will they just not get as much nutrients from it?

I do have some egg shell I ground up last month I just thought it was so conveinent to be able to throw in a whole egg. I won't do that anymore though.

See I know I posted here for a reason. I have never heard to not give hardboiled egg shell.

Thank you Heather.

[Heather]

I wouldn't waste the hardboiled eggs....let them have them. Some people will not feed raw eggs to their furkids, so no damage done I'm not so sure about the cooked egg shell.....but that being said people feed bone meal (not good but doable right?!) I will ask and see ok? I don't think you will cause any damage, but I would like to make sure, ok? Don't throw out the bathwater yet
ciao

[weloveourweasels]

Yea bonemeal is steamed right? For now until you find out if it is OK I will just peel the eggs and use the ground eggshell i have.

Thanks

[Heather]

Ok, talked with a couple of people. They told me that you can use the cooked shell but only as a fine powder. The shell does indeed become hard and brittle and can cut skin, but powdered this no longer becomes an issue. The integrity of the calcium isn't badly damaged so it's not really a dietary issue but a safety one. Good luck
ciao

[weloveourweasels]

Thank you so much for your help

I'm going to strain the rest of the soup from this batch into a fine mesh strainer just to be sure. Next batch will be with non-cooked powder just in case.

[ferretdroogies]

How well do your guys like this recipe?

Is the goats milk powdered goats milk from the grocery store like this? www.amazon.com/Meyenberg-Powdered-Goat-Milk-12-Ounce/dp/B001E5DZTS

It sounds like something I'll try with my guys if it has good success for yours. Not really sure when I'm getting a mentor...signed up 2 days ago.

[weloveourweasels]

Sorry for not updated I did on another forum and forgot to here. haha. Yes I use Meyenbergs powdered goat milk. The recipe I posted I doubled and am going to change now.

Wed Oct 14, 2009:
Mr. Bean and Rolo woke up smelling the soup and stuffed their faces without assistance. Edgar smelled it and knew he liked it but the texture still weirds him out. I got him to eat a couple spoonfuls and he even tried to eat out of the dish by himself but again the texture is just too much for him. I let him go do his own thing after that, I don't want to give him a complex. Loki isn't even awake so I have no idea. I imagine it will be a few licks off the spoon and on to helping herself from the dish. I hope they don't have to eat soup for long I hate cleaning the blender

It will be nice to grab a bag, thaw and feed. Pretty much as simple as kibble.

Thu Oct 15, 2009: Afternoon
I think the soup was too thick for them. I know everyone ate but not nearly enough and they all kept making faces and weren't that into it. I think they are just mad their is soup in their bowls instead of kibble. I'm going to pour what they didn't eat into a measuring cup to see how much they actually ate. Then I'm going to warm them up a new batch and make it a bit thinner. Then once they all eat it by themselves I'll keep them at the same consistency for a few days and then thicken it a bit. I'll report back later.

Evening:
I made it thinner and it was much more accepted. They had ( they are passed out now which is good because I need to let the rats out to play and put their new bedding in the cage ) a boatload of energy this morning. Mush more than usual I'm not sure what from. Maybe the pent up frustration of there being no kibble. I sucked all the kibble crumbs out with the hand vac today so they don't smell it or try to lick up the crumbs. Everyone ate on their own but I spoon fed everyone after a bit just to make sure they got enough.

I gave them waaay too much last night I threw like 8 oz down the drain this morning. Bev recommends feeding this recipe 4 times a day so that is what I'm going to do instead of twice a day. there will be much less waste too. I'll be feeding them at 1 PM, 3, 6, and 9. What they don't eat goes in the fridge. The fact that everyone ate by themselves (even if just a little) is good enough for me.

Note to self: DO NOT put soup in Snapy fit bowls I had to spoon what was left into the ceramic dish otherwise it would have splattered everywhere. I'll give them back their Snapy fit bowl when they are on just ground.

Fri Oct 16, 2009: Afternoon
I'm happy to not have ferret kibble in the house anymore.

This morning the bowl was licked clean empty not a drop left. They were all very bright eyed and alert. I fed them and everyone ate at the bowl by themselves. I noticed yesterday the poops were much smaller and the box hardy smelled at all in just one day of being on just raw. I got some pictures or Edgar, Rolo, and Loki eating this morning; deafie Mr. Bean is usually last to wake up and wasn't present yet.

Evening:
Either it is in my head or every one's fur is already getting softer. Their litter box is like a dream. There is a lot of urine (too be expected when switching) but the poops are so compact and neither the poop or pee smell. Also they haven't really touched their water dish since they get water in soup. Everyone played hard again today and when hungry enough Loki and Edgar helped themselves. Loki was the only one I didn't have to spoon feed. She woke up when she smelled the fresh soup, I placed her in front of the dish and she ate for like 5 minutes. Things are going good and I'm happy with that. Edgar went to where the Snapy fit bowl was that had kibble in it and gave me a dirty look He will learn to love it.

Oh I learned that I shouldn't put the hard boiled eggs in the blender with shell on. uncooked shell is better but cooked shell is fine as long as it is a powder.

Sat Oct 17, 2009:
Nope it's not in my head, their fur IS getting softer and everything is smelling better already! I have to keep on with the thinner soup for now and stay with it because they are not accepting to the thicket texture yet. But that is to be expected it has only been four days since the switch started. I'll have to go at their pace. Edgar I found wants his own dish and doesn't really like eating with the others in his face eating from the same dish. He threw a tantrum and started kicked his legs because everyone kept trying to eat out of the spoon I was feeding him from. Since they are finishing their meals now I can give them their Snapy fit bowl back.

[weloveourweasels]

Little brats I tell you! I walked in the room with some warm water and a spoon to thin their soup (it is more thick than thin) and guess who is sitting there going nomnoms? Edgar all by himself. Silly weasels.

[sherrylynne]

I'm glad they are loving their raw soupies so much! But if I read this correctly, they are eating at 9pm in the evening, and then not again for another 16 hours? Or do they have something in the interim? A better timing might be 9 or 10am, 1 or 2 pm, 6pm, and 9 or 10 pm.
If I remember correctly, a healthy ferret can go up to 12 hours with no food. 16 might be stretching it a bit.

[weloveourweasels]

They eat ever 12 hours I fed them at midnight last night and this afternoon. Sometimes I feed them early just to be sure noone has been hungry and they all ignore the bowl till after 12 hours.

[sherrylynne]

Ok, thanks for clarifying I though I misunderstood what you were saying!

[weloveourweasels]

So onto the update. Yesterday or the day before I started them on a mix of turkey and beef (much thicker than at the start of the switch) . I was worried with the addition of the beef they would go back in how good they are doing but they like it even more. As I have mentioned before they have had turkey and beef raw soup but never mixed together and never using this recipe. Everyone (except deafie Beana) runs to the food dish and they all know what breakfast and dinner means. Last night Edgar literally GALLOPED out of the FN from the top level. Everyone is eating on their own but sometimes certain ones (except Edgar) want to act picky and I will pull out the spoon and feed them a few seconds till they realize "oh OK yummy stuff DUH" Edgar is doing the best. Perhaps because he is youngest? Next time I buy meat (I still have over 3 lbs ground beef and turkey) I'm going to get bone in and boneless and progress this a bit further and start the REAL journey. Getting them to eat soup eh no problem but bone in meat....that might be a bit more difficult. You can't spoon food bone in meat. I'll probably just have hold them one by one and scruff-n-stuff. I know they are getting ready because they have been chewing on their toys exercising their jaws when they did not hardly do that before the switch.

More updates:
I never realized how much I hated kibble crumbs till they were gone.
No more cloudy kibble crumb infested water
No more water digging
No more corn chip smell (was faint to begin with but now there is NONE)
Their pee is actually CLEAR now. Since I have this vinyl mat when they pee on it(right next to the litter box little brats... ) I can see the color of the pee. Before the switch it was dark yellow, clearly they were all borderline dehydrated.
The litter box smell is like non existent.
Everyone looks and acts fantastic.
Rolo was a bit thin for my liking before the switch but she IS putting on her winter weight(instead of losing more weight) and she is looking good and solid.

Yay

[Heather]

Sounding great. Isn't it wonderful, seeing almost immediate results makes you aware as to how difficult the kibbles is on their system. Great work
ciao