[Posted in two parts -- combined here. BIG]
Hello, well, raw chicken IS ferret food, unless you meant kibble foods.
>From: Rick Roller <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: Raw Chicken vs. Ferret Food?
>
>I have a question concerning this subject of feeding your ferret raw
>chicken? I am not in practice of it nor do I really support it. I have
>my mopinions about feeding Domestic Pets any raw meats.
>
>It was recently brought to my attention by someone who asked to board a
>ferret with us. He said he got it from the advice from someone on the FML.
Hello Rick!
Yes, it was me that he is referring to. I started my gang on some raw
chicken to get them used to it before my kit from Amy Flemmings came.
However, there are some few things that I feel that needs to be cleared up.
I do not feed them the raw chicken as itself. Because most (or all?)of
the bacteria live on the surface of the meat, you can kill them off by
boiling the meat in water, cooking the outside while leaving the inside
raw. This is what I did and then miced it up and put it in a zip-lock
bag a few hours before I came over to drop my ferrets off.
Since ferrets are true carnivores, feeding them only kibble, IN MY OPINION,
is not the best way to provide their dietary needs. Granted, the higher
quality ferret and kitten foods are good, but is it enough to give the
best? I am not preaching what you should feed your ferrets. I am only
stating why I feed mine the foods that I'm feeding them. Kibble is great
for the days that you are too busy to be home to feed your ferrets.
Many people feed their ferrets dead or live mice, which I can not bring
myself to feed, however I must admit that it is probably the best all-round
food for ferrets. I read in one of Bob C's postings which I feel will help
explain some things (I am going to paraphase it from memory here).
Someone once asked what was the best food to feed cats. The answer was
*mice*.... but who would want to buy a bag of mice to feed their cats?
I also didn't just feed the raw chicken based solely on advice from someone
on the FML, I also did my research. Raw meat does not cause any behavior
changes in ferrets toward people, it is just food (and more healthy at
that, in my opinion) that my ferrets eat. They don't hunt this meat. They
do not exhibit any aggressive behavior. Even with the new kit, he is not
aggressive with me (LOL, except if I try to get in the way between the
chicken and him because he LOVES the stuff).
Now, before someone thinks that raw chicken is going be the sole food, that
wasn't my plan because a diet of just raw chicken meat is not enough. I
mix in the raw chicken with the chicken gravy just prior to every feeding.
I also feed kibble from time to time and change brands often to get them
used to a wide variety of foods. Hamburger is also fed sometimes (since
hamburger and chicken in the gravy are grinded up, you have to cook
throughly to kill off the possible harmful bacteria)
>I would appreciate someone filling me in on the reasoning behind such a
>thing. Especially with the deseases associated with raw poultry these
>days. I would like to help track down the source of this information and
>where this idea comes from.
With my research (sorry, I didn't document what I found, since it was only
for personal knowledge) and also I found Bob C's Diet 101 series to be very
informative and helpful. You can look it up in the archives. This is what
you should do:
1) go to the URL address (at the top of every FML mailing)
2) click on "search the archives"
3) enter "Bob C: Diet 101" under "the subject is or contains"
You will get the list of all 20 parts of Bob C's excellent and informative
postings. I also want to add that this is not the dry scientific readings,
it is entertaining and will open your eyes on many things.
You can do what I did, print them all out so you can sit and read it.
You can also refer back to it later so it is a MUST HAVE for your ferret
library. The printed info is quite thick but it's well worth it.
To Rick: I will take my Bob C's Diet 101 package to Kinko's today before I
come to pick up my ferrets and make a copy for you. This will help answer
many of your questions you had.
To Bob Chuch: Great work! It sure made my questions about ferret diet
needs more clear without having to go through all the boring and scientific
information (you did the leg work, thanks!) And also may I have your
permission to post your Diet 101 series on my website after dressing it
up a bit (spelling corrections, etc) but nothing else?
To everyone: if you have some information that you found that shows why
ferrets should NOT be fed the foods that I am feeding mine, I would
appreciate you sending that to me so I may learn more.
--
Ferrethill and the Fab Five
Soda-Pop (lover boy)
Mocha (perfect princess)
Cheswick (chubby irresistible-to-tickle boy)
Foodstamp (playful boy with sharp teeth)
Choco-Sin (new baby hob, to be registered as DAF Chocolate Sin of
Ferrethill)
********************************************
* "Real men play with their weasels!" *
* *
* http://home.earthlink.net/~ferrethill/ *
* *
* IQC number: 35125920 *
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[Posted in FML issue 2749]
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