Feeding schedule

[jon]

At present, our 14 strong business are all on raw food (chicken, pork, turkey and eggs). They're doing fine, but since we work, there's an issue with their feeding schedule.

I usually let them run around for about 45 mins to an hour in the morning, while I'm getting ready for work. When I need to leave, they get their breakfast, and are put away for the day. When I get home from work, they're out for another 4-5 hours. When we go to bed, they get dinner.

The problem? There's a long time between breakfast and dinner, and a short time between dinner and breakfast.

We feed them chunks, not ground. If we leave the food out during their playtime, pieces of meat get stashed everywhere.

Any thoughts or suggestions?

[sherrylynne]

I feed mine in the cage when they have to go back in either because I'm going to work, or to bed, and just leave the meat in the cage til the next feeding.

[bigsis7]

I think that schedule works fine, but if you'd like them to have more food during the day I'd just leave it in their cage. Meat is usually safe for ferrets to eat for 24 hours, so a few hours in the cage won't hurt anything :].

[mjohn143]

I have kinda the same sched and mine are on chunks too (with a little bit of water and Duk Soup). Anyway I put the food in their cage in a bowl before I leave for school then come home and let them out and leave a little fresh meat bowl out. If they don't finish it I add it to their dinner and put it in the cage when I put them up for bedtime.

[halblingefrau]

My feeding schedule is as follows:
On soup/ground/commercial raw days they are fed in the morning and evening.
If I give a chicken piece (bone in, skin on), they get fed once in the AM and I leave it in all day.