Laneta requests more info on feeding chicken necks.

Hi Laneta! Welcome to the meat eater's world! While some folks would
recommend feeding cooked meat - I for one would recommend NOT feeding
cooked chicken necks. As a treat cooked meat is O.k. but cooked chicken
necks can create the possibility of bone ingestion issues. unless you
boil the necks to death (literally falling apart) offering cooked bones
for your ferret to ingest can create a risk for the ferret. Besides the
fact that cooking the meat destroys many nutrients; heating the bones
will alter their density and suppleness; the heat causes them to become
more brittle - especially dry heat which makes them splinter more.
Boiling the raw meaty bones to fall apart consistency MAY create a
softer bone that crumbles very easily - but this crumbly bone could
be gulped down and create issues.

The idea behind feeding chicken necks is to offer them in RAW hunks -
this makes the ferret chew and gnaw on them to get to the meat between
the bones which very nicely gently cleans their teeth, exercises their
mind, jaws and paws and allows them to gnaw off pieces of the soft raw
bone in pieces they can easily swallow and digest.

a normal chicken neck is usually around 3 to 5 inches long. some come
with the skin on and a fair amount of fat - this is perfectly o.k.
to feed to the ferret, but they may not eat ALL the fat so I'll trim
some of the fat off and boil this into the soup mix - or to use as a
porridge base mix. the larger necks I'll cut into halves or thirds and
offer the cut piece to each ferret.

Offering a caged ferret a chicken neck at night can alleviate the
middle of the night rattles - or can offer them an all day chew while
you are at work. The sinews and cartilage in the necks offer superb
nutrients for the ferret's own joints. Their isn't a LOT of meat on a
chicken neck but their is enough to offer some supplemental nutriton
to their diet.

Turkey necks offer the same benefit as chicken necks except that they
are bigger and offer more meat. The L-Tryptophan in the turkey MAY
also help calm a ferret too( L-Tryptophan in turkey is one reason why
so many folks feel the need to take a nap after a big thanksgiving
dinner). So a turkey neck may make a great night time snack for a
caged ferret!

There is absolutely nothing wrong with offering any other parts of
the "bird" to your ferret - but the same approach to heat and bones
applies! It is PERFECTLY safe ( and superbly nutritious) to offer the
ferret a RAW meaty bony item from any part of the bird!

Offer the ferret items portioned out to a similar size as a large mouse
or small rat to ensure the item gets eaten completely. If the ferret
begins stashing the pieces - cut back on your portion sizes or the
quantity of offerings. I offer my raw fed ferrets two meals per day
and sometimes a snack before bedtime.

If you use chicken necks primarily as a natural tooth brush and
pacifier that's o.k - but if you intend on venturing further into the
wonderful realm of raw feeding your tiny carnivore the natural diet
they are designed to eat - please check out:

http://holisticferret.proboards80.com/index.cgi
http://ferretopia.proboards51.com/index.cgi
yahoo groups Natural Ferrets

Feeding raw/natural is a bit more involved than offering hunks of raw
meat, and certainly more involved than scooping out kibbles - but the
benefits are safe, healthy and simply amazing! When handling the raw
items use common sense for yourself - hand washing, clean cutting
utensils and surfaces etc. Bacterial concerns are NOT an issue for
normal NON-immune compromised ferrets.

Cheers,
Kim

[Posted in FML 6606]