Hi Meli and Giuli,
Here's the response I received from Mary McCarty. She's a senior AFA judge, and a super peron
here's a link to her ferretry...
nbferret.com/index.htmlMary' s response....along with my concerns. Mary provided some great feedback here....
> these guys are going to be stressed adn should probably be eased into the diet change, just like any other diet change.
> 1. these kits could be as young as 6-7 weeks old (teething)
Actually, this is great, as they should be willing to try new things
and teething means they will most likely take to the raw chicken wings better.
> 2. Their mom was not on raw and therefor may not be passing on required immunities via colostrum
Not really an issue. Colostrum is only there the first 24/48 hours and after that it's gone. I don't know of anything that would be different in the Colostrum of a kibble-fed mom vs a natural diet-fed mom.
> 3 These poor little kits will have been through so much already -
> spayed/neutered, shipped around, etc.
Right - they are already stressed and any diet changes (regardless if
they are kibble or natural) should be taken slowly.
> 5. Their immune systems won't be mature
Immune systems don't mature until over at least 6 months of age, so not
really an issue with this question. As long as they are healthy
otherwise,
it shouldn't be an issue. Ferrets are designed to eat a natural diet,
so
as long as they are not already sick, I would not be too concerned
about
starting them slowly on a more natural diet.
> Can you please recommend an apprach, a "schedule", and a diet
> transition plan on how to safely which these kits? Any input would
be
> greatly appreciated.
What I would do is let them get settled in and keep that bowl of kibble
in
the cage. Then try new treats - this is the time to get them used to
ferretone. I would also try the raw chicken wings as a treat, as well.
It
will really help with teething. Make sure they take the precautions -
rinse the wings well and either feed immediately or freeze.
If they want to take the food bowl away a few hours before trying a new
food, that should be okay, too. I would try mice (might want to start
with
fuzzies as opposed to adults), as well as quail, rabbit, any meat,
really.
You can do just the meat for now, as long as they are still on the
kibble.
If they want them on no kibble at all, then they will need to make sure
they recognize whole prey (including organ meat), as well as something
like Bob's Chicken Gravy, as food before doing that.
The schedule really depends on the babies and how well they recognize
this
diet as food and how their systems respond. I have a litter of 6 week
old
babies here and we did raw chicken wings once so far. They had some
really
funky poo so we stopped for now and just have them on kibble and Bob's
Chicken Gravy, as well as a mouse a day.