chicken tonight

[darren m 1]

been feeding my jill who as week old kitts on dried food with some bits of rabbit ( fresh )

any way ran out of rabbit last night , cant get to shoot any till weekend .

 

so i,am wondering is it ok to feed a lactaing jill raw chicken instead .

also have some cooked ham if thats any better .

 

thanks

[gibby 0]

Short answer, yes. Give them as natural a cut of chicken as possible, i.e. with the bones in and skin on. Chicken wings or legs would probably be best.

 

Long answer: I have been giving my ferrets raw chicken wings/drumsticks (as well as a couple day old chicks) for the past week having run out of rabbit. I have dry food for emergencies but have only fed it once, months ago, and decided that I would rather go to tescos and buy a couple trays of chicken than feed dry food to my jill who has just had kits. They seem to love chicken. But Im hopefully going out shooting tonight if its dry (even though Ill miss the football ) to replenish my stocks of rabbit .

 

Also, I would say chicken is much prefereable to cooked ham, I personally wouldnt feed cooked ham.

 

Hope this helps,

 

Gibby

[jonathan 0]

i wouldnt give them ham but most meat if its raw is ok and if its fresh

[danielt 1]

You can get a decent tray of chicken wings for around £1. I buy two trays and bag the wings in small numbers, to defrost and feed the ferrets.

[Hob&Jill 258]

Why wouldnt you feed ham? Genuine question....

[ferreterno1 0]

i personally wouldnt give them dry food if they have young, ive got two litters at the moment and the being reared on rabbit and chicken whole (fur and feather) i also have a unlimited supply of wood pigeons if i run out

[darren m 1]

thanks all - chicken it is , until i can get out to bag a bunny .

 

what about raw egg , is this good or bad for the feeret .

 

any reason why ham could be bad for them .

 

i also feed james W B . thought this would be ok especially while shes got young uns , nutrients etc .

must say though she does not look too good at the moment , very skinny and tied looking .

should i add in some supplement .

 

thanks again .

 

Darren .

[gibby 0]

thanks all - chicken it is , until i can get out to bag a bunny .

 

what about raw egg , is this good or bad for the feeret .

 

any reason why ham could be bad for them .

 

i also feed james W B . thought this would be ok especially while shes got young uns , nutrients etc .

must say though she does not look too good at the moment , very skinny and tied looking .

should i add in some supplement .

 

thanks again .

 

Darren .

 

No "supplements" will be as good as a diet based on raw fresh meat, period.

 

And I know james wellbeloved is one of the better ferret foods available but I still wouldnt feed any dry food personally, especially while my jill was nursing. Get some raw chicken wings and put say 3 in and check the next morning to see how much is left and go from there. Basically allow her to eat as much as she likes as she has herself and her kits to nourish. Remove any thats left (if any) the next day and feed fresh stuff the next night. Perhaps think of some whiskas cat milk as this may help her bulk up if shes lost her appetite but other than that try to feed mainly meat rather than dry

 

And regarding the ham, I think its cured somehow, dont like the idea of it. Also ferrets dont just need the meat they also need roughage such as bones and fur/feathers/skin. Not much of that on a joint of ham

 

Hope this helps

 

Gibby

[micky 3,325]

Why wouldnt you feed ham? Genuine question....

i read an article in the shooting times about 40 years ago ,the writer [tower bird ] said you must never feed ferrets preserved meats ,or butter ,as the salt would kill them,

micky

[darren m 1]

thanks Gibby - gonna defrost a few chicken legs for the morning .

what do you think to raw egg .

 

cheers

[Guest Bigbob]

A egg once a week is ample any more and you might end up with a bald ferret

[jonathan 0]

Why wouldnt you feed ham? Genuine question....

i read an article in the shooting times about 40 years ago ,the writer [tower bird ] said you must never feed ferrets preserved meats ,or butter ,as the salt would kill them,

micky

ye that one reason i wouldnt feed them ham just in case