Feeding whole rabbit

[Gaz_1989 9,539]

Cheers lads.

 

Deffinitely answered all my questions.

[stealthy1 3,964]

In my whole life I have never seen a ferret turn it's nose up at meat that has flies or eggs on it on it, it's just more protien to them, I once watched a badger turning over road kill, only to leave the meat and lick up the maggots, I'm told they taste sweet, but if anyone wants to test the theory, then let me know how you get on ,

[The one 8,482]

Same here only meat never dry .got a fly trap each side of the huts to cut down on the flies .And as your removing the remains you can see fly eggs on it . But your cleanliness should mean you never have maggots in the hutch . .But the bucket i put the remains into is moving

[fcuktheban 140]

Same here only meat never dry .got a fly trap each side of the huts to cut down on the flies .And as your removing the remains you can see fly eggs on it . But your cleanliness should mean you never have maggots in the hutch . .But the bucket i put the remains into is moving

 

I hope you are joking. I could imagine a wall of flies coming out of that bucket in a few days. Does anyone else use flypaper in their runs? I have a tall run with the paper inside by the vents but I'm sure it would work having it outside the cages.

[The one 8,482]

Big metal bucket with a plastic lid on it ,some days i take the lid of it for a bit and feed the local birds then a double bag it and put it in the council bin ,never get flies hatching from the remains

[Kay 3,709]

Mine get fed more than they need once a day all meat , but when i fed other foods including dry i found in the summer they ate hardly anything during the day especially when its hot or humid , so i cant see the point in me adding small amounts of meat on & off during the day if its going to get sniffed & left, or dragged round & stored

 

The other thing i have found this more notable in the dogs though, is the flies seem attracted to crap thats been produced from animals fed a processed diet , I know that ferrets arnt producing the chalky deposits like my dogs do . but even so the craps a lot less in volume than it certainly was when they were fed a complete diet & unless your cleaning corners & trays out every few hours flys will be a pest

[Kay 3,709]

Yep mate, if you watch them, they scoff, sleep, scoff, sleep, scamper, scoff, scamper, scoff, sleep, all night.

It's funny cos I have this wierd thing where if I've had a couple of whiskies the night before I have to get up for a brew at about 3 or 4am or I can't sleep....I can see the hutch from the kitchen window and it doesn't matter what time it is at night, or how cold it is, my jill will always be stood at the bars looking in the kitchen (probably thinkin "what's that tw@t doing making a brew in his micky mouse undies again???" )

 

:laugh:

[The one 8,482]

If i go out and look at mine during the day when its warm there all lying sleeping at night if i go out to feed them before it gets really cool there still kipping and ive got to wake them to check them over and feed them deep sleep syndrome springs to mind more so in the older ferrets . I cant see how anybody could go out and top up there ferrets little and often unless your on the brew ??.

[rob190364 2,594]

If i go out and look at mine during the day when its warm there all lying sleeping at night if i go out to feed them before it gets really cool there still kipping and ive got to wake them to check them over and feed them deep sleep syndrome springs to mind more so in the older ferrets . I cant see how anybody could go out and top up there ferrets little and often unless your on the brew ??.

You don't have to keep going out and feeding them, you give them enough for them to keep going back to it throughout the night.

[Rake aboot 4,936]

Whole rabbits,,with the green offal removed ,,red offal left in,, frozen first to kill the bugs, an then in they go,, fur and all, supplimented with alpha dry,, and absolutely anything I find for them,, birds, squirells fish, wee drop fruit and veg sometimes,,roadkill (if it`s to ripe for me to eat),

 

ATB

[Col_c88 41]

Oh yea, forgot fish.. Mine love a bit tuna.

[sambo123 594]

Any bird, any small mammal. You dont need to fu*k about guttin and freezing or whatever. Lob it in. Ferrets eat almost everything from a carcass.

[nat 8]

Ours get fresh rabbits in summer whole usually lasts a cage of 2 2 days. And they get a defrosted ones in winter( unless there's one a ferrets had hold of and I don't want it ) with dry food.

[catchwrestler 31]

I feed dry food if it's really hot weather and there is loads of flies .

Cooler days and evenings they get rabbit heads ( my hob loves them !!! ) oily fish , turkey eggs , pheasant , pigeon and any thing else i shoot .

Any fresh meat i give them is only gutted and served with their jacket on .

[ferret100 47]

feeding with meat once at night is all good as far as cleanlyness and husbandry is concerned but ferrets have a very short digestive tract meaning they need

to eat 6 or 7 times through the day so if you dont like flies then they need a dry meal of some sort to keep them going through the day .............

just a couple of questions on that theory....I feed mine the same way, give them meat last thing at night and then the next morning take it out. My ferrets are very energetic, in great shape, great coats etc.....how can that be if I'm not giving them what they "need"?? Obviously my ferrets can only eat at night, but they're running free in the yard all day long, they spend a fair amount of time asleep but in total a good few hours playing, running and exploring in the yard. If they weren't getting enough food they wouldn't have the energy for that, surely?

 

Also, I'm assuming they have pretty much the same system as other mustelids, does that mean stoats/weasels/wild polecats etc all catch prey 6 or 7 times a day? or do they stash prey and keep going back to it?

 

I wouldn't go back to giving my ferrets dry food again if you paid me, it just makes them lethargic and prone to being overweight, and to be honest, it attracts almost as many flies as fresh meat does anyway!

With ferrets having a high metabolic rate, frequent daily feeding is not a theory, it's a fact.