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Post by acodlin on Jan 15, 2011 11:27:19 GMT -5
So my three day supply of soupies turned into a two day supply and now its not even lasting a whole day. I can't keep their bowl full! I have to refill it usually atleast twice if not three for morning feedings, they lick the dang thing clean. I have to watch because I realized some of them werent even getting to eat, even with refilling the bowl!
I'm going to get a coffee grinder or something today when I go to buy more meat. Also going to try and put a little heart and liver into their soupies with the evening batch. They had eaten it before so hopefully there wont be any protesting over it. I'm trying to decide what the next best meat should be to try and introduce. I'm thinking for Berry that I might try and buy one of those cornish hens or a rock hen and try to cut it up into a few pieces to give to her. She's doing really well with the bones. Other than the big end piece she can gnaw through the smaller part with no problem. I'm giving her the wing at night and usually letting her keep it till the next night, that's okay right? I remembered reading somewhere that raw meat can sit out longer. It's funny because as soon as she goes into her night time cage she runs for where she left that piece of meat. She usually finishes whats left over before she goes to sleep.
For the other kids I'm debating between turkey and pork, I can get both in ground form which makes it a little easier, I know its not quite as good but it'll be just a stepping stone for them.
I've been looking at hare today, thinking that might be my best option for getting any kind of odd meats/organs. I'm not seeing anything other than chicken/calf liver as far as organs at walmart. I can't buy everything they need from there (my freezer just isnt that big!) but I can buy some of the harder to get stuff and supplement it with what I buy from walmart. Is there a package you recommend trying to get over the others?
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Post by sherrylynne on Jan 15, 2011 22:50:38 GMT -5
They will quite literally eat you out of house and home for the next two months, anyway Give them as much as they will eat. As for what kind next? Mine all love both turkey and pork, so either/or should be well received. With Berry, cornish hen would be good. It will also help strengthen her jaws even more. Is she eating liver yet? Sorry- can't quite remember! If not, that would be a good next one as well. Mine were never interested in any liver but chicken, so that's what I stuck with. For the "other organ" part, you can always use things like freeze dried lung treats, etc. You *should* be able to pick those up at a pet store. Or you could order them online. They don't need much anyway. Do you have any asian/ethnic markets nearby? They frequently have the odder meats. I can't order from hare-today, since I live in Canada, so I'm not sure what all they have. I have, however, heard about their sampler package. It's got a variety of different meats and grinds, to give you an idea what would be accepted by them.
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Post by acodlin on Jan 15, 2011 23:40:45 GMT -5
I live in one of those little -blink and you'll miss it- towns so nothing other than walmart and IGA I'm afraid. Even the city where I work which is much bigger, doesnt have any ethnic type markets. If I go visit my boyfriends mother theres alot of Korean stores so I'll check next time I go. If liver is okay for now then thats what i'll work with. I am adding in liver to the soupie mix, not a whole lot to start with, and I minced up a heart and put it in the big batch.
So far this is what I have just a little over 1/4 cup of kibble 3 large chicken breasts 1 chicken heart 1/2 of a liver 1/2 of a gizzard 1 whole egg (I dried the shell, used my rolling pin and then beat the crap out of it with a meat mallet lol) 1/3 cup of water 1 tablespoon of olive oil 2 teaspoons of pumpkin
The heart/liver/gizzard are new today and I'm getting mixed reviews but I'm sure they will warm up to it, they were inhaling the last batch.
For Gizmo he's getting 1 whole chicken breast with about 1/2 cup of kibble, 1/2 cup of water and a little dribble of ferretone. He's not pleased but he's eating some of it everyday, so I figure i'll get him to where everyone else is slowly but surely.
I went ahead and bought some ground pork and I'll try her out with that this week. Do your furkids like pork neckbones? I'm sure the bone will be too big for Berry but I thought maybe later I could let her try and chew the meat off of it. I'm waiting on the hen's to thaw out and I'm going to try her on that tomarrow, hopefully I can get Church and Kodiak to eat some of it too.
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Post by sherrylynne on Jan 17, 2011 10:05:37 GMT -5
You know- pork neck is one of the few things I can't find here But by all means let her chew the meat off of it. If she can't eat any of the bone, she's still getting some good exercise and stimulation. And that recipe looks good. When you can, up the liver to a whole one. You know- Berry will enjoy gizzards as the muscle meat meal they are. They are so rubbery, it frequently even satisfies those who love to chew rubber
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Post by acodlin on Jan 17, 2011 13:40:27 GMT -5
The cornish hen finally thawed out enough that we could cut it up into pieces, she looooves the wings, I made a quick feeding den like the one in the sticky thread, it's doing the job so far, Church and Kodiak gave it a little attention.. I'm hoping the "monkey see monkey do" bit starts to kick in. It wasnt happening before because Berry sleeps in a large super pet cage on top of my dresser. The other ferrets really like to beat the snot out of her, however she keeps going back for more! Anyway because she sleeps in that cage no one was seeing her eat the meat. So hopefully now that I've got the den going they will be interested in what she's doing.
I will try to increase the liver, I just didnt want to start them out with too much, some of them are sooo picky! So next batch I'll try a whole liver. The hen had some organs in it, not sure what was what but I did save them in with my baggie of hearts so they will get some of those.
I set out a bowl of soupies lastnight before bed and it was gone this morning so hopefully *fingers crossed* they will eat this new mix and I can finally get rid of all of the kibble.
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Post by sherrylynne on Jan 17, 2011 20:41:09 GMT -5
The organ you saw in the cornish hen(if it was attached to the back) is the kidneys. As for Berry- fantastic!!! I think you are going to have to go a bit faster with her, since she's taking to it so well. Start introducing new meats(those you can get) every 3-4 days. And give her wing sized pieces of meat also. That way, she doesn't get spoiled by only wanting little pieces With the others, keep on as you have been going, decreasing the kibble, increasing the raw. Once they are all on straight raw soup, we'll start working on getting bits of real meat in there
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Post by acodlin on Jan 19, 2011 20:18:40 GMT -5
I gave berry some ground pork and she seemed to like that okay. I also have been hanging bigger pieces of the cornish hen in her cage, she's nibbling on it, maybe eating about half of what I hang in there at night, then sometimes she'll eat the rest later the next day, sometimes not.
The other kids are giving me a real headache. I added in that pork to their soupies and a whole liver I'm not sure if thats the problem or what, but hannable and dozer flat out refuse to eat the soupie. Lots of bad gizmo like behavior, spitting, gagging, fighting with me to get down. I can get them to taste it but they don't catch on like usual. All the girls I had to spoonfeed this new batch, they ate it once they got a taste but those two boys are just being bad. Auggie also wasnt real interested, he ate a few bites and walked away. I wont put the pork in next time for them but I had some trouble with Hannable last batch too. Either way SOMEONE is eating it because its gone when I get home from school. Just not quite sure whats making them refuse to eat.
*sigh* such bad little brats.
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Post by sherrylynne on Jan 19, 2011 20:28:09 GMT -5
It's change. That's what they are protesting, the brats Ok, for the ones who are doing well with it, let them have it. For the others, you'll need to take a step back for now, and go to the complete old soup for a day or two. Then start adding the new meat in by smaller amounts. Unfortunately, it looks like you are going to have some pulling ahead of the others now. Let the ones who are doing good have this soup for a couple more days, then start adding a few slivers of cut up meat into it. Maybe this big [ ]. It will give them some texture, but they still don't have to learn to chew quite yet. They'll likely just lick around it for a few days, but that's ok. They need to get comfortable with the idea. You might also wind up popping a couple of bits into their mouths for them, so they know that's where the meat belongs For the "slow" kids, we'll take it nice and easy for a bit. If these ones are pushed too hard, they tend to rebel, and refuse everything And I know whereof I speak
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Post by acodlin on Jan 24, 2011 20:35:42 GMT -5
Its been a busy few days, school is crazy, its 7 days a week for the next three weeks between work and school =/ I'm sorry if i'm a little slow to update!
Hannable just up and decided that the current soupie is just fine. He walked right up and chowed down the other day like he hadnt been throwing an absolute tantrum the day before. So thats awesome, Dozer is still not fond of it, he'd rather eat gizmo's mix. I did reduce gizmo's kibble a tiny bit and added a few tiny chunks and he's been okay, if dozer keeps eating gizmo's then maybe I'll just put those two together and try to wean them off slower than the rest. I'm adding in chunks to the current soupie for everyone and they still lick the bowl clean so it's not adding any speed bumps in our progress. I think I'm going to give them one more round of our current soupie and then try to take the kibble out and see what they do. If they refuse I can always add a little bit in, but i'm only adding in 1/4 a cup now so I'm hoping they wont miss it. They get soupies and kibble at night, I just set the soup down and let them choose and the bowl is empty in the morning. Berry is doing pretty good, she likes plain chicken but she absolutely LOVES those cornish hens, I went ahead and got some pork necks and I'm going to give her one of those tomarrow while i'm gone and see how she does. She doesnt seem to mind ground pork so hopefully its a similar flavor and she'll like it. After that I'm thinking either some kind of beef or buying a whole duck (all walmart has) and chopping that up. I've been kinda slow at introducing new meats since I havent been home a whole lot and my boyfriend has been taking care of feeding everyone. That wont change for the next couple of weeks unfortunately but I'm going to make sure my boyfriend switches out what kind of meat she gets at night for me and keeps an eye on her.
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Post by sherrylynne on Jan 24, 2011 21:15:38 GMT -5
Hey- life happens! Not to worry With Berry, just keep challenging her. She really needs that right now. Consider it stimulation for her as well. And with the different tastes and textures, it really is Keep throwing new things her way. With the others who are taking to the new soup, increase the size just a wee bit, and add less "soup" mix to it. And go ahead and slow Dozer down to what Gizmo is getting. No problems with that. If he's more comfortable with it- that's all to the good. They'll be getting their "challenge" soon enough Some simply take longer than others. If any of the others balk at something new(size, moisture content, what have you), step back a pace, then slowly increase
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Post by acodlin on Jan 26, 2011 19:46:55 GMT -5
Berry did pretty well with the pork neck bones. I think she may be able to eat the bone too, its pretty soft and not very big. She hadnt quite worked her way all the way down to the bone this afternoon and she hasnt been back in her cage yet to work on it some more. I looked into buying a duck, it has a sodium solution injected into it. Should I not try that then? I don't know if the salt would hurt them or not. It's only 10%, I think the goose is also injected with sodium solution. I got a real feeding den established made out of a sterlite container. Seems to be working, Its big enough to fit the soupie bowl in too which is great, they can see the meat next to their soup AND it keeps my dogs from eating it. My lab loves to eat it and then she promptly pukes it back up. You'd think she would learn.. but nope, she'll eat anything not nailed down, and lemme tell ya, a gallon of vomit from her belly is a pain to clean up, and I swear thats how much she pukes, its everywhere ugh. One thing though is that plastic smell on the inside, I've washed it a couple of times but it still reeks and while berry goes in to eat, the others have been more hesitant and I'm wondering if its that smell. Not sure how to get rid of it, I know it usually fades on its own after a while.. I've got some pretty decent sized chunks in the soupie, a few dime sizes pieces and alot of little pencil eraser sized ones, I don't have the time at the moment to see who's eating them but the bowl is always empty when I get home! I'll try to make them all dime sized and see how they do with that. I wish I had time to see who's eating what but the next two weeks are crazy because I have pysch clinical rotations, those will be done soon *yay* and things will be a little bit better time wise. Right now I just have time to make sure Gizmo eats and everyone has what they need for the day before I dart out the door! I miss getting to spend lots of time with my furkids but it will be worth it in the end! or atleast thats what I tell myself lol
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Post by sherrylynne on Jan 27, 2011 1:48:15 GMT -5
AS for the sterilite container, as long as they aren't chewing at the container itself(major blockage hazzard!), it's fine! The odour will fade with time. Berry is doing so well, I think we need to get her on a regular schedule with a menu, to get all her bases covered. As for the others, if they are doing well with "dime sized" soupies- get rid of the soupies other than weekly . Get those babies on regular raw meats! If need be, chop them smaller than the "dime sized", but give them some chunks to work on
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Post by acodlin on Jan 27, 2011 17:12:36 GMT -5
Well the whole soup isnt dime sized, theres dime sized chunks all throughout it, i've been trying to puree less of the chicken and add more chunks, and puree it less so its thicker.. its the consistancy of ground meat with some chunks floating in.
If im doing a menu for Berry what should it look like? How much of a heart/liver does she need since shes still only a baby. I only have chicken heart/liver but I can get calf liver. So far I know she likes anything chicken, anything cornish hen and she's eating pork necks/ground pork.
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Post by sherrylynne on Jan 27, 2011 22:47:33 GMT -5
Berry first. She needs a minimum 3 proteins. Right now, she eats chicken and pork. Start introducing her to as much variety as she'll take. If you can, try a new one every 3-4 days. That way you'll know if she has a problem with a new meat. She can follow the normal weekly diet any adult would, but maybe a bit heavier on the bone right now. A ferret's calcium needs are high anyway, so with a baby, just a bit more. So going with 2 meals a day(she can have 3 right now, no problem, just adjust the amounts accordingly)- bone in meals 9-10 meals a week, muscle meals 3-4 a week, one of which needs to be heart alone, so she gets enough. One liver meal a week, either chicken liver, or around 2 oz of other liver. With the heart and liver, she can either have them as a separate meal each, or those amounts can be split into and mixed with daily meals. With the others, if they are now taking ground consistency, just keep decreasing the ground as you increase the number and size of chunks. We'll start introducing new meats as they get more used to the new sizes.
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Post by acodlin on Jan 31, 2011 19:30:08 GMT -5
With Berrys meals she doesnt eat a whole wing or piece of meat a day. She usually eats half soupie half -whatever I put in the feeding den- I'm thinking as long as thats okay then I'll probably keep letting her have a little soupie so that she gets her muscle meat in the chunky chicken and I can mix the heart and liver in that. She wouldnt eat plain liver when I offered it to her the other day. I bought some beef liver so I'll see if she has a different opinion of that. I did offer her some beef ribs, I cracked the bone open so she could get to the marrow.. she seemed a little iffy on it, so hopefully she'll warm up to it. I've got a duck thawing to try out next.
Not much has changed with the rest, I added in more chunks to the last bunch. I went from grinding up 3 chicken breasts to 2 1/4 and the other 3/4 are chunks in the soup.. keep trying to make more chunks in there everytime I make a batch. When the duck finishes thawing I'm going to try and slip some chunks of that in there and see how they like it.
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