weaning

[darren m 1]

the kitts are 4 weeks old today , the jills moved them all into the bottom half of the cage ,( may be its cooler or she was worried about the ramp them falling etc ).

 

Any way there eyes are still closed but there on the move , i,ve notice a few of them eating the jills meat ( mince beef , chicken ) , so they must have started weaning .

i need to know what combination of foods to give them ( have got dried JWB , raw chicken , mince beef , liver , rabbit ).

does it need to be mashed up blended etc .

will they still be getting liquids from the jill .

 

any suggestions welcome thanks

[Kay 3,709]

the kitts are 4 weeks old today , the jills moved them all into the bottom half of the cage ,( may be its cooler or she was worried about the ramp them falling etc ).

 

Any way there eyes are still closed but there on the move , i,ve notice a few of them eating the jills meat ( mince beef , chicken ) , so they must have started weaning .

i need to know what combination of foods to give them ( have got dried JWB , raw chicken , mince beef , liver , rabbit ).

does it need to be mashed up blended etc .

will they still be getting liquids from the jill .

 

any suggestions welcome thanks

 

They should munch on rabbit now ,mince sounds ok, they wont bother much with the dry food & she should still be feeding them, why not get a water bottle & hold it to there mouths & encourage them to take water that way

[mole catcher 1]

get yourself some lactol kitten milk, mix it a little on the weaker side than for kittens and soak some dry ferret food in it to make a warm porradge, both kits and jill will love it as suppliment to there food stuffs. this also helps bring the jill back to form health wise

[darren m 1]

just rescued one that was chokeing he had a too bigger piece of chicken stuffed in his gob along with a few shavings , lucky i happened to look in .

i think i,ll get the blender out , dried food porridge sounds a good idea .

got a few packs of ox heart in freezer , would this be ok or too rich .

 

thanks again

[mooster 1]

Mine enjoyed dried food soaked in milk then mashed up when it was soft.

[darren m 1]

right the dried food soaked in lactol is going down fine , and i,m putting mince beef on the other dish , there water in a plastic chicken type feed thingy , and a small bowl of lactol milk . how does that sound ?.

questions --

how do you get the kitts to take the water , will they just find it ,

 

when will the mum stop supplying the milk

 

At what age will they be able to have a whole rabbit carcass to munch on

 

THANKS AGAIN .

[gibby 0]

At what age will they be able to have a whole rabbit carcass to munch on

 

THANKS AGAIN .

 

Mine are 4 1/2 weeks old and have been munching on whole rabbit carcasses for the past week or so I would say. Even though there eyes are still closed. Not fed them anything but meat and they seem to be doing ok.

 

Not positive about the answers to your other questions though.

[Guest MOLLY]

Mine started to blindly drag themselves out of the nesting box to find the meat. The 3rd litter are still too small yet.

Going to attatch a water bottle to the front of the hutch tomorrow to see if they will start to drink, and depending upon what their new owners are going to feed them, some might be homed by next week

 

 

 

MOLL.

[darren m 1]

molly -- how old are the kitts in the pic .

is the jill still feeding them .

 

Gibby - same question is the jill still feeding them .

 

my jill still has plenty of milk in her udders / teats , when will she stop producing .

 

thanks all

[gibby 0]

The jill is still feeding them as far as I can tell, I think she will probably continue to do so for at least the first week or so after them opening there eyes but not positive on that. Each litter/parent is different though.

 

I would also like to hear any replies on when the jill will likely stop feeding the kits.

[MikeTheDog 153]

Liquidiser

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited June 14, 2007 by MikeTheDog

[Guest ARTEMIS]

FANTASTIC weaning pictures everyone!

 

I read (as I don't have real ferrets yet!) that they keep feeding from the mother even though they are eating solids for a few weeks...

[MikeTheDog 153]

FANTASTIC weaning pictures everyone!

 

I read (as I don't have real ferrets yet!) that they keep feeding from the mother even though they are eating solids for a few weeks...

The greedy little fecks take what they can but usualy give up on the milk at four to five weeks, or should I say the jill preferes them not to take draught...

 

 

 

 

Edited June 14, 2007 by MikeTheDog

[Guest MOLLY]

molly -- how old are the kitts in the pic .

is the jill still feeding them .

Two of them were 5 wks yesterday, eyes opened about 3 days ago.

The others were 4 wks last Tuesday.

Ones not in the pic were only 4 wks yesterday.

The jills are still feeding, it will be a bit confusing for the jills with there being 3 of them together and the difference in ages of the kits.

MOLL.

[mooster 1]

About the milk...I've weaned two litters and in my experience it's the age old reply to these questions...just let nature take it's course.

Just look at all the books and tv programmes giving advice on how to wean baby humans,but when was the last time you met an adult human or animal that had not learned to eat solid food?