I am not going to debate which way of feeding is better. I, for one,
think that a nutritionally sound diet can be provided for ferrets in
a variety of ways, and there is no one correct way to feed ferrets,
other then to offer a diet high in animal sources of protein and fat.
So, instead, I will offer some information about different feeding
techniques. I will leave it up to the individuals to decide which
method of feeding works best for them.

Feeding a raw diet can be expensive, and also takes a certain amount
of experience and knowledge if it is going to be done properly. Many
people do not like feeding whole prey animals. This is probably the
best way to feed a raw diet, though. Ferrets are carnivores, not
meat eaters. Feeding only meats will deprive the ferret of important
nutrients. Muscle meat has little in the way of minerals important to
a balanced diet. To provide complete nutrition, organ meats and bones
are necessary.

I have tried numerous times with out any luck to get my ferrets to eat
chicken wings and legs. They will nibble the meat off the bones, but
will not eat the bones. Yet, if I give them a frozen and thawed chick
or mouse, they will happily devour it. So, since I can not get my kids
to eat the raw meaty bones, I can not use that route.

There are commercially prepared raw diets that are available to people
who want to feed raw, but do not like to feed prey animals. These
usually come in a frozen pattie form, and include the whole animals
ground up. And, while the big chain pet stores usually do not sell this
type of food, there are many small animal boutiques that do, and in
some cases it can also be ordered online. The brand that I use is from
Nature's Variety, but there are a number of brands now available to
choose from. Just be sure when buying a commercially prepared raw food
that it is made mostly from animal sources and contains bones and organ
meats as well as muscle meats. Here is a link to the Nature's Variety
web site, incase anyone is interested in learning more about this
brand.
     http://www.naturesvariety.com/raw

For those who want to feed a non commercial but cooked diet, it is
again important to include bones and organ meats in the mix. Generally
people who go this route do so to try to avoid bacterial diseases like
salmonella. It is important when cooking foods to not over cook them.
Cooking does remove some of the vitamins and minerals, but proper
cooking will destroy less then 10% of the nutrients. Many people who
feed cooked home made diet par boil their meats. This is also good
for the bones. Over cooking bones can cause them to be brittle and
splinter, while par boiling them will help to prevent that.

I used cooked meats as a treat for my kids. I will cut up a cooked
boneless chicken breast, and hand out the pieces as a treat. This is
a healthy treat, in addition to being something my ferrets love.

There are many kibbles now available, and not all are created equally.
I try to choose kibbles that contain no grains, and have meat and
animal products as at least 4 of the first 6 ingredients. For people
who feed kibble, learn to read the labels. One of the links I gave the
other day provided some excellent information about reading labels,
and what to avoid and to look for. Here is the part I am talking about.
Again, this was written to apply to dogs, but what is bad for dogs is
also pretty much bad for ferrets. Dogs are carnivores, although not
obligate carnivores, and can process plant matter better then ferrets.
But, plant matter that is of little or no value to dogs will be of even
less value to ferrets.
     http://www.petsynergy.com/overview.html

Avoid any artificial coloring, flavoring or preservatives especially
Ethoxyquin, BHA and BHT which can cause liver problems and cancer.
Animal Fat does not necessarily mean good quality oils, and can be
by-products of animal processing, so be sure to look for specific
oils like Flaxseed Oil or Salmon Oil.

Avoid the following ingredients:

Beet Pulp which has too much sugar and fiber and is a poor filler.

Beef Tallow comes from the tissue of cattle in the process of rendering
and is low in linoleic acid, which is needed for skin and coat health

Corn and Corn Gluten Meal which is the dried residue from corn after
the removal of the germ, it causes the kidneys and liver work overtime
and Corn is thought to be the #3 common cause of food allergies in dogs

Rice Bran which is the outer coating of the rice kernel, with little
of the starchy part of the germ and is basically floor sweepings. Rice
Gluten is similar to corn gluten with little good nutritional value.

Sorghum is the ground grain of the sorghum plant and it is low in
digestibility

Soybean Meal is the product obtained by grinding the flakes which
remain after removal of most of the oil from soybeans by extraction.
It is "a poor quality protein filler and one of the main causes of
allergy of dogs.

Wheat and Wheat Gluten - filler and highly allergenic.

Any other filler that you don't know the name of!

Good Things to look for!

Food Grade ingredients

Organic ingredients

No by-products

Meat based not fillers

I would add to the above 'cold processed' as a good thing to look
for. Cold processed foods have more of the natural nutrients still
available. Wysong is one manufacturer that uses cold processing on
most if not all of their foods.

Kim has mentioned the use of freeze dried meats, and this is another
good food source. I use commercially prepared freeze dried meats that
include bones and organ meats in the pieces, but as Kim has mentioned,
it is possible to freeze dry pieces of meat yourself.

There is another commercially prepared food that seldom gets talked
about - canned foods. Until recently, there were no canned diets on
the market that I felt were adequate for a ferret, but there are some
recent additions that I have been impressed with, and now use. Both
Wysong and EVO have a canned meats line that is 95% animal meat, bones
and organ meat. Merrick has a new line of canned meats that is 100%
animal sources and moisture. I do not use these as a main source of
food, because feeding only canned foods will cause an unhealthy tartar
build up on the teeth. But, I do feed my kids canned meats once or
twice a week.

My own personal philosophy is to feed the ferrets something they like
that provides them with the nutrition they need. I have 2 ferrets that
will only eat kibble, and while I have tried to get them to eat other
foods, I do not feel the need to force them to do so. I also have 2
ferrets that will only eat prey, and cooked or canned meats. Again, I
do not feel the need to force them to eat other sources of food. Most
of my kids will eat any of the food sources I have mentioned, although
kibble is low on the list of preferred foods.

There is a lot to be said for variety. Kibble is always available to
all my ferrets. And, they all know that at night, they will have a
source of prey available, but not what the prey will be. My 2 hobs are
out when I am fixing the night time meal, and they will actually run
around me while I am preparing the food dishes. When I go to the ferret
room, they run ahead of me, and when the barrier is removed, they run
into the cage room and climb into their cages to wait for their dinner.

In the mid morning, I give them something else. It might be a raw
commercial meat, or a canned meat. Occasionally I will feed a meal of
cooked chicken breast, but this is an infrequent meal, since it is not
balanced, do to the lack of bone or organ meat. I use freeze dried meat
and cooked meat mostly as a treat.

But, my point is, there is always variety. They never know exactly what
they will be getting. They always will go and look to see what is in
the food dish, because they are curious to see what it is. I think this
is a good thing.

Danee DeVore
ADV - If your ferret hasn't been tested, you don't know!
For more information visit:
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[Posted in FML 6062]