Sorry, there will be one more post after this one...I miscalculated.
 
Here are some of my recipes; bear in mind when I say cooked, I really mean
to a very rare state.  Generally, excluding ground up foods, the typical
contamination site for bacteria on most raw foods in on the surface.  If
you can cook the surface and leave the insides as raw as possible, you can
essentially eliminate the fears (and dangers) of E. coli and Samonella
contamination and still be able to serve mostly raw foods.  Note: some
people advocate the use of peroxide, which I haven't tried so won't comment
on it at this time.  I have also found blanching the food for a minute or
so at boiling temperatures to be effective.  If the bacterial contamination
is within the tissues of the raw meat, it generally means the meat is
spoiled, and the odor will give it away, as well as color changes.  Since
New Zealand feral ferrets and European polecats routinely consume carrion,
it suggests their immune system is more than adequate to handle the types
of bacteria associated with decay.  However, since such responsive immune
systems are generally the result of long term exposure to such bacteria,
and pet ferrets have little long-term exposures, I don't recommend serving
any meat that is suspected of spoilage or of being contaiminated.
 
Bob's Chicken Ferretisee:
Cut pieces of chicken into 1/2 by 1 inch cubes, including the bone.  Melt
some lard in a wok until it is about 1/8 inch deep, and quick fry the
chicken cubes in the lard.  The goal is to brown the outside and kill the
bacteria, but leave the inside as raw as possible.  Set the chicken pieces
aside to drain and cool.  Place in a bowl, spray some ferretone on the
chicken using an atomizer, add a half cup of ground-up kibble (use a cheap
expresso coffee grinder), then toss.  Freeze, and thaw only the portions
you intend to serve.
 
Foster's Tuna Shake:
Use a can of spring-water packed tuna.  Place the contents, including the
water, in a blender.  Add 1/8 cup heavy cream, 1 teaspoon smooth peanut
butter, and four chicken bones.  Blend to a shake-like consistency.  I
sometimes extend it with pedialyte.
 
Bear's Jerky:
Use a cheap brisket, and cut off all fat.  Slice the meat into lengths
about 1/4 inch thick, then place on a dehydrator screen.  Spray the surface
of the jerky with ferretone from an atomizer, then sprinkle bone meal
(human quality) on the top.
 
Stella's Super Soup:
Bring about a 1/2 gallon of water ot a boil, then add all the leftover bones
from your turkey or chicken dinner.  Cut up the discarded skin, giblets,
chicken fat and leftover chicken into small pieces and add to the boiling
mixture.  Boil until the bones are just starting to get soft (about 20
minutes), then add a teaspoon of chicken soup stock.  You can thicken the
soup with ground-up kibble, duck soup, or heavy cream.
 
Apollo's Gravy Stock:
This is great as is or as a gravy for other foods.  Heat some water, then
add a tablespoon of lard to the water and allow to melt.  Squeeze 4 inches
of nutrical into the mixture, add 6 drops of ferretone, then thicken with
ground-up kibble.
 
Tui's Chewie:
Buy the cheap non-flavored gellatin, and disolve in boiling water until no
more gellatin disolves (to make a supersaturated solution).  Toss in finely
chopped chicken or beef, and flavor with chicken or beef bouillon.  Pour on
a cookie tray and cut into rectangles when dried, then place in a dehydrator
for several hours until rubbery and hardened (if you like, you can use jello
or cookie molds instead of the cookie tray).  You have a very cheap
replacement for the chew weasel.
 
Carnivore Stew:
Save all the trimmings from your meat-based meals, including chicken skin,
cracked or smashed bones, giblets, fat, and meat waste.  It dosn't matter
if the meat is pork or beef, use whatever you have.  Boil until cooked
completely (still not as bad as pet food cooking).  Add whole bits of kibble
so the kibble equals 1/3 of the total volume.  If the mixture is low on fat,
add a little lard or fish oil.
 
 ___________
 
Variety is the key to an interesting diet, and even if kibble is the basic
food for the ferrets, adding novelty foods will increase ferret interest.  I
usually alternate kibble, a kibble-raw food mix, then anything else I can
think of so that each category is used every third day.  When only kibble
is being served, it is left out on a continuous basis, but with the other
foods, it is served twice a day and picked up between feedings and
refrigerated.
 
When I give treats, they are served between meals or after the evening meal.
With some of the ferrets, I give them a frozen mouse every day.
 
Bob C and 20 MO Fowl Ferting Farts
[Posted in FML issue 2338]