|
|
Post by pastelsummer on Dec 4, 2010 22:27:00 GMT -5
first,
how much do i feed him? right now heis eating soup, with kibble on the side. I want him completely off kibble soon as it made him so sick.
but how much do i feed him in the soup? it is ground turkey and water.
and how long do i feed him kibble?
do i have to wait untill he is on whole prey to take him off it?
also he already eats the soup thick with a few chunks i figured a week of that then what? just straight to the ground turkey and then on to whole prey?
and with whole prey i plan some chicken, rabbits, and rats. Is that enough variety or will he need more than that? Those are the easiest to feed him as i raise rabbits and chickens for my self and i planned to buy a pair of rats anyway i can just get a male and female instead of two females.
also how do you kill the rats? i know how to do rabbits and chickens but how do you actually kill the rats? And how on earth do you kill the baby rats and rabbits?
|
|
|
|
Post by pastelsummer on Dec 4, 2010 23:45:02 GMT -5
ok from researching older threads i am seeing that mice are a better idea than rats to breed. Is that correct? If so how long does it take to go from the breeding to the delivery and at what age can they be bred?
|
|
|
|
Post by Heather on Dec 5, 2010 0:01:00 GMT -5
I would strongly suggest feeding some ground egg shell, some pumpkin to aid digestion and some organ meat in that soupy (if you go into the mentoring section, look under one of my students and on the first page will be the recipe with amounts). Then you will have a more balanced diet and less of a need to rush the raw switch. When I'm feeding soupy, I will feed as much as they will eat. It's probably a couple of oz, depending on his weight. I feed my sickies 3 or 4 times a day, unless they're really doing poorly then they're fed every couple of hours. I've never measured, except when I'm syringe feeding liquids. Is he consistently eating his soupy, and will eat it on his own? I wouldn't take the kibble away until you have him either on ground egg shell, bonemeal or ground bone and organ meats. You don't have to wait until he's on prey, just consistently eating a thickened balanced soupy with bone or egg shell or eating frankenprey. We state that you require 3 types of proteins to cover dietary needs. If you get them to eat that, then you've covered the basic needs. I would attempt to feed other proteins too (a sale on certain meats like pork or if you've got a little extra meat chunks when you're making you're own food) just to cover necessary trace minerals and vitamins. If rabbit is a large portion of his diet then remember to supplement with taurine as it's suggested that rabbit is low in taurine (there was a study done years ago with cats, all they were fed was rabbit, there were flaws in the study but by adding taurine you will cover your bases). Killing ..... how do you kill your rabbits, wouldn't it be the same? Sorry, my rats come frozen in little baggies (my guys used to hunt rats but I don't allow them to hunt rats anymore). I would guess the same would be for baby rats and bunnies. Again, the baby rabbits I got came in baggies too  There was some discussion with some others on board about how to humanely kill rats and rabbits, hopefully some of these members will add their input  . Good luck ciao |
|
|
|
Post by pastelsummer on Dec 5, 2010 0:44:46 GMT -5
ok i will tell dh to start saving the egg shells in the morning. ( we eat 1-2 dozen a week) and add that by organ meat do you mean hearts and liver? And i know he LOVES pumpkin. i gace him some because he bloated a bit after he was sick and he ate it and pooped out a big poop! After that i wasnt sure if it was safe to give everyday or not. SO it is safe to take his kibble and feed him just soupy? If i let him eat at will on the soupy he eats a good 6-8 oz a day!!! but if it is ok to let him i will go ahead.
|
|
|
|
Post by pastelsummer on Dec 5, 2010 0:48:28 GMT -5
And the reason i want him ff the kibble is because he was so sick on it alone, and it wories me to keep him on something that would make him that sick. Period want it out of here. Feeding a kibble to an animal that makes them that sick is just not good. I figured i would alternate evenly between rabbit chicken and mouse. with some beef everynow and then. Everything but the mice is stuff we already grow for our own table. And I just like mice so i am willing to breed some for him to eat. As long as i get to play with the mamas lol
|
|
|
|
Post by sherrylynne on Dec 5, 2010 1:11:38 GMT -5
Depending on how much of the soup he is eating, you can take the kibble out during the daytime, but I'd really put it back in at night, unless he's eating 4-6 oz per day of the raw soup. For the eggshell, just rinse and dry it a couple of days, and give it a few quick zaps in a CLEAN coffee grinder if you have one. If not, you can use a mortar and pestle to powder it.
Hearts are muscle meats. Organ would be things like liver, kidney, spleen, brain, stomach, pancreas, lung, etc.
You can add in about 1/2 to 1tsp of the pumpkin per day safely.
I buy most of my meats on sale, so get them really cheap. The more proteins you can give him, obviously the better.
It sounds like you live in the country. Does anyone you know hunt? He can also eat venison, squirrel, duck, etc. Good way to get organ meats, also!
|
|
|
|
Post by pastelsummer on Dec 5, 2010 2:14:05 GMT -5
no hunters that i know of I can get chicken livers cheap at the store so i may do that for now. i have wild quail and phesant around her in spring and summer i could shoot them and feed him some of those .i will ask around see if anyone is going hunting soon. could he eat cow organs? i may be able to get a bunch of them from my local butcher.
|
|
|
|
Post by Heather on Dec 5, 2010 2:17:42 GMT -5
Yes, to the cow organs. My guys aren't fond of tripe though  .....except to stash  They love quail parts though. Never had enough money to feed them pheasant though (as you can tell, I don't hunt  ) ciao |
|
|
|
Post by pastelsummer on Dec 5, 2010 2:20:23 GMT -5
ok do i have to feed them the pelts on my rabbits? i have some i am breeding just for pelts so if i skin them is that ok?
|
|
|
|
Post by sherrylynne on Dec 5, 2010 12:24:24 GMT -5
That's fine, yes. Some of my guys will NOT touch the fur anyway |
|
|
|
Post by pastelsummer on Dec 5, 2010 21:21:37 GMT -5
ok good!!!! lol i will be good to go then. He is bonkers for the soup and given a choice he will eat only soup. So I am thinking it shouldnt be to hard to switch him over.
|
|
|
|
Post by Heather on Dec 5, 2010 23:37:08 GMT -5
It's certainly a good start ciao |
|
|
|
Post by josiesmom on Dec 6, 2010 2:34:14 GMT -5
ONe issue with soup as a major part of the diet is that the teeth and gums don't get exercised. THen when you introduce something like a raw meaty bone it actually hurts them to bear down on the bone. Some to the point of getting bleeding gums.
I"d suggest making your soup gradually chunkier and chunkier until over the course of three weeks or so he is getting offered full raw meaty bones or prey.
Cheers,
Kim
|
|
|
|
Post by Heather on Dec 6, 2010 23:10:01 GMT -5
Definitely ciao |
|
|
|
Post by pastelsummer on Dec 7, 2010 1:55:29 GMT -5
well i made it super thick today and he looked at me funny but when i went back an hour later it was gone. gave him some more tonight when he started banging his bowl at me. (he does that when it is empty) and he gobbled it down too!! that makes 4-5 oz of thick soup!!! i mean scooping thick only ran it through the blender to mix about an oz of water and some pumpkin in it. I dunno if i wanna try to give him straight ground turkey tomorrow or not..... I may just make another days worth of this mixture and let him get used to this consistency. I may actually get him completely on whole prey by new years after all!!
|
|
