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Post by saphire2815 on Sept 9, 2009 12:26:44 GMT -5
Well no new news, Barlee, Biscuit and Baylee are really doing well, Bon Bon switches between raw and kibble, she can't seem to make up her mind, and Butter is really loving the last batch of soup that I made, that I have completly reserved it for him, and I wrote down the recipe and I hope I can recreate it again. Good news I'll be able to take him to the Vet soon, probably first week in October. But this batch of soup will be great when I move on to the next batch, because when Butter is done the bowl always gets licked clean.
Well thats it for now. TTYL.
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Post by sherrylynne on Sept 9, 2009 20:28:29 GMT -5
Is there any way you can set Butter up in a playpen for a couple hours before you feed the others? Just to try to convince Bonbon that filling up on raw first would be better Otherwise, sounding good! Are they taking any bigger pieces yet?
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Post by saphire2815 on Sept 10, 2009 11:52:16 GMT -5
It's harder to separate during the week, I only have the two cages, plust Butter and Bon Bon came to me as a bonded pair and I do notice a difference in her when I separate them. He sleeps most the time, so I don't think he would have much of a problem, but He is approximatly 2 years older than her, I bet she has been with him since she was a kit. She likes the Raw but I am noticing she likes it more mixed with the soup. The chunks I'm cutting up vary in size and I include bones. I am having no problems with them eating any of it, it's just predicting when they will eat how much. I finally got a kitchen scale and I have been measuring about 2 oz for Biscuit, and about 4 oz for Baylee and Barlee, morning and evening, sometimes it all gets eaten and sometimes almost none of it gets eaten. Maybe when I can afford it, get a cage for those three. None of them seem to be bonded to any one other ferret. It's all a matter of fitting it into the budget, school just started and my kids keep coming home telling me they need $$ for this or for that. Or at least if feels like it. LOL But I'm always trying to think of ways to make it work, people are always trying to sell cages cheap on Craigslist, I'll go that route, they don't care if the cage is new, why should I? I did put Biscuit on the scale and for the 1 second he will sit still we were able to figure his weight at 4 1/2 pounds! This boy is all muscle too! I can't even grab his scruff! When he came to me he was this big bundle of fat and had no energy and he looked like he lost weight when we started the raw, but really he just turned all the blubbery fat to muscle and probably gained weight!
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Post by sherrylynne on Sept 10, 2009 21:46:58 GMT -5
Wow! Biscuit is one big boy! To get his scruff, go lower on the neck, by the shoulders. That should work for him I know what you mean by the cash situation. One other thing you could consider is a playpen for them. Always handy to have, especially if one of them is sick. With mine, sometimes they eat everything, sometimes their not as hungry. Not to worry. Chunks can sit out for up to 24 hours if need be. I always check by smell when I put in more meat Now, I'd try increasing the sizes of meat overall. If you can get them to the point of sharing a chicken thigh, that would be perfect! At least one other person I know uses shower hooks to hold the meat to the cage bars so it can't be stashed. They just chew on it in place!
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Post by saphire2815 on Sept 13, 2009 13:00:01 GMT -5
The pieces have been getting bigger, biscuit I think likes his meat older. I have noticed he takes and hides pieces and I find him later chomping down on an old piece of meat that looks like Jerky. I haven't been working too much with the feeding den, oh well, I can find another use for it. I find it easier to just close them up in the cage with the food.
The soup that I make for Butter is doing real well, he still wanders like a drunken sailor, but he's been eating a lot more and started gaining weight again. And I have been giving it to Briar who seems to like it. Along with everyone else.
Sorry I haven't been posting as much lately, but without a lot of change I'm not sure what to post. And until I have the ability to completly separate Barlee, Baylee and Biscuit into a separate cage and completly take away their kibble I really can't judge to see if they have converted completly or not. I should be able to do that before the end of October.
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Post by sherrylynne on Sept 13, 2009 20:31:24 GMT -5
You have been doing just fine in the posting department! If there's not much change, just pop in every two or three days and say "No change". That way I know everything's still status quo Ah, yes- the homemade jerky . Why they refuse perfectly good pieces of meat in favour of a stinky old dried up piece of meat, I'll never know!!! But- they do. That's good that Butter's putting on some weight, and that they others seem to be taking to it. You'll get them all there- don't worry! Try taking out the kibble a couple hours before soupies with them, then put in the warm(ish) soups!
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Post by saphire2815 on Sept 16, 2009 11:40:58 GMT -5
Well the last batch of raw I left in fairly big pieces and I didn't split any of the bones (Just cut the ends off the Thigh bone pieces) and Barlee and Baylee are lazy! They won't touch the big pieces, arg! Biscuit on the other hand, loves it! He's not picky, this morning he was getting heart pieces for a treat was was so happy for it. I'll add some beef next week, I don't think he even noticed that there was pork pieces added LOL!
Well thats it for now.
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Post by sherrylynne on Sept 16, 2009 21:50:40 GMT -5
I'll be honest- I've never been able to get mine to eat the really large chunks(like a whole thigh). I'm too much of a softie to make them go without . What you have to do is get them used to eating a certain size, then increase it just slightly, until they get used to that. That's good that they are eating larger pieces, and that you've started introducing other protein sources, as well as eating bone! Once they're eating 3 different proteins, we'll work on the liver
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Post by saphire2815 on Sept 17, 2009 12:49:58 GMT -5
The Liver has been included with all their meals. I know there is suppose to be a balance, but I found it easier to just make big cut up bowl with everything in it. This will last approx 2 1/2 -3 Days with the Three
2 Wings 1 Thigh 6 Hearts 3 Gizzards 1/2 - 1 Liver 1 thin sliced Bonless Pork Chop
I cut it up into varying size pieces Mix and then when I put together a bowl I just reach in and grab stuff. This way if I need someone to help, I can just say open container A, weigh out X amount put in cage.
What do you think I should do different to make it more balanced?
Also Biscuit has become a beggar, but for Raw. My cages are next to the kitchen and when I get home from work I go into the kitchen to cook dinner, and Biscuit now comes into the cage closest to the kitchen climbs to the top level and then looks at me, like wheres dinner?
Butter is again active, he was even wrestling with Bacon this morning. I love it when he feels well. I had to get my boys on board, now they see a difference they make sure he gets soup a lot more now too. Because of my working, I just don't think I was feeding him enough times in the day. On weekends we search him out every couple of hours, and during the week, we give him soup in the morning, when they get home from school and twice after I get home from work. I put him on the scale last weeked and he was just 1 1/4 lbs, I'll check again this weekend to see if he is maintaining, gaining or loosing. This was a cheap scale so it isn't perfectly accurate, but better than nothing.
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Post by sherrylynne on Sept 18, 2009 19:31:21 GMT -5
Actually, that mix sounds pretty balanced, as long as they are all eating a bit of all of it. A couple of mine aren't partial to liver, so that's why I feed it separately. Biscuit sounds like he knows where the good stuff comes from Weighing Butter is a good idea. That way, you're able to keep an eye on whether or not he's eating. It's great your boys are now on board with the whole raw thing, too!
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Post by saphire2815 on Sept 20, 2009 20:18:52 GMT -5
Well I put some ground beef and some sliced steak on top of the chicken yesterday and biscuit LOVED it. He's so easy. But also Baylee and Barlee also liked it.
Thats all for now.
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Post by sherrylynne on Sept 20, 2009 21:26:36 GMT -5
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Post by saphire2815 on Sept 21, 2009 12:25:50 GMT -5
Biscuit is eating Mostly Raw, I don't see him eat kibble anymore, but who knows when I am not looking. (No soup, but he likes it)
Barlee and Baylee go between the Kibble and Raw, I see them eat both.
Butter is soup only, I haven't seen him go to the kibble to eat lately, it seems he has started searching us out when he is hungry now. He will not eat any kind of chunk if it is bigger than a fingernail size sliver.
Bon Bon and Thyme are back onto the Kibble, but will lick the soup off of the meat and such and they will take the meat if I hand feed it to them, they will go in the next batch once Biscuit Baylee and Barlee are good.
Bandit is still eating Kibble, but she will take pieces of meat from my hand and run off, I still have yet to see her eat raw. She will also be in the next group with Bon Bon and Thyme.
Bacon, Briar and Blaze are still Kibble only, but they will lick the bowl clean with the Soup.
So everyone likes my soup. I usually make a quart, and I know what I did to convince everyone to like it, I put 1/2 Cup of Kibble and 1/2 Cooked Ground beef, and the rest is Raw Chicken/Hearts/Gizzards/Liver and Water, and the stuff smells like a cross between cat food and baby chicken food.
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Post by sherrylynne on Sept 22, 2009 21:18:30 GMT -5
Ok, thanks! Now, this is where your work is going to be cut out for you Biscuit: try to make his chunks a tad larger Barlee and Baylee: I know Butter is in the cage, but can you take the kibble out a couple hours before feeding them? That length of time shouldn't hurt Butter. I gather they are eating some chunks? With Butter: Can you try him with some ground of whatever meat he really enjoys, with some soups mixed in with it as a lure? I think we should probably just focus on these for now, but keep offering the rest the soups for a mealtime. Just remove their kibbles the same time as the other cage, and a couple hours later put the soup in for about an hour, then put the kibble back in. That way, they get used to the kibble being gone sometimes, and it won't hurt them to be a bit hungry when you put the soup in. We aren't going to work too hard at changing the second group right now, just work with the soup.
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Post by saphire2815 on Sept 24, 2009 11:37:44 GMT -5
Last night when we were putting the ferrets away for the night Butter walked up to the plate of raw picked up a piece of meat, nibbled just a little bit off, then went to sleep. By George I think he's figuring it out . Then today, when we were putting away the ferrets to leave for the day, Bandit walked up to the plate of raw and proceeded to eat right along next to biscuit! I haven't even been working with her, it's just always been available. I have been cutting the chunks up to varying sizes, small bite size to larger pieces that need to be chewed at to be eaten. If I make them too big they don't get eaten, but everything is getting eaten. Recently I've been adding little bits of pork, hamburger or steak and that all has been dissapearing also. I have been having my boys take the kibble away when they get home from school, and I return it at bed time, and I think the kibble eaters are just fine with that, except for Briar. He just begs and begs and begs, persistant and it seems to work. He just lays in the middle of the living room staring at me, like why are you starving me, I just want a treat. LOL
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