Why No Pork?

[Blackdog92 2,047]

What is the reason you shouldnt feed ferrets pork?

 

Ive always been told no to so i never have and never thought about it much.

 

Im curious to see what peoples theorys behind it are.

[TOMO 26,120]

A lot of pork products are preserved in salt,,,same for dogs,,,it's the salt rather than the pork,,,,

 

Fresh pork not preserved is good dog food....

 

But pork isn't somthing a ferret would naturally feed on,,,stick to small mammals birds ect

[The one 8,475]

Too much salt as said As said stick to stuff you would think they would catch in the wild and you wont go wrong

[Fat-Ferret 857]

A fellow told me one time he could get all the pigs he wanted for his dogs

 

But pigs are too salty!!

[gerjan 7]

I've gof an opportunity to get fresh heart, liver lungs and kidneys from a few pigs. As they're not preserved would it be save to feed?

If not I'll tell the guy I only take his cow organs.

[low plains drifter 10,471]

Don't know if there is any truth in it, but we never fed our ferrets any pork, as it was said to damage their brains, this was back in the early 1990's

[The one 8,475]

I would take them I never knock feck all back the heart and kidneys should be fine the lungs mine eat sparingly the liver once a week , and if the ferrets won't eat them I would give them to my dogs and then boil them up after they got fed up of the lungs raw

[gerjan 7]

Was given it before but it wasn't much pork, chopped it up and mixed with beef organs.

I believe total was 10kg. This time I'll be getting it from 6 pigs and probably 2 cows, might get fewer liver because some people want it as part of their half pig deal. I'm lucky not many people eat organs here.

Cutting up the lungs was pretty awkward.. started tearing them after a few because it felt real weird cutting them blood filled spunges up. At first they are big and squishy, after you put the knife in it makes an creepy sound, deflates and squirts blood/fluid all over the counter top and walls...

 

Haha my mother was really happy...NOT

[comanche 2,989]

Pork has a reputation for going "off" quickly. Supermarket-bought pork might not be as fresh as one likes to think and having been trapped in a plastic wrapper full of dormant bacteria might be more liable to give a ferret a bad time than a bit of well refrigerated stuff straight from an abbatoir cold store.
I've fed dead piglets and only last November my ferrets had a day feasting on a pig's head from one of my animals.
Bits of liver,lights and odds and ends in small amounts have never had an ill-effect on my ferrets but I don't risk allowing them to store pork products in the nest for as long as I would a squirrel or rabbit.
Processed pork ,as said ,often contains salt. Pork(unless its been made into bacon) shouldn't be saltier than any other meat but I have been told rearing pigs without access to constant water can result in a salty taint to the flesh .
I'm no expert but feeding pork from a known source as a small part of a mixed diet and not letting any uneaten meat lay about in the cage once meal time is over has not given me any problems.

Edited March 8, 2016 by comanche

[gerjan 7]

Makes sense that pigs without constant water become saltier to me. Been told that pigs can't sweat so all salt in their body has to go through kidneys and blatter wich won't work properly without water. The pigs I'm getting are raised on grass, scraps, corns and grains so they haven't eaten pig pellets. Pellet feed often contains an high percentage of salt. For this reason I won't even worry about feeding small amounts of kidney.

Last time I also been given calf tongue, had to boil it for 2-3 hours before it was soft enough for the buggers to eat. In my opinion the tongue and hearth are good organs to feed because muscles are full of protein.

[ZeusPolecat 185]

As the guys have said, salt. Fresh road kill is a great way to keep your ferrets going (Herbivores, some omnivores). Loads of pheasants around my area.