Birds as ferret food ??

[Col_c88 41]

Love giving mine pigeon in the winter or cold nights as by the time they finished with the pigeon there beds are cosy warm thanks to them using the feathers.. same with pheasent....

 

ive never fed mine crows or magpies.. one reason is cos' if i shoot any my mate gets them for the hawks.. another is because i got told ages ago they are more likely to carry diseases.. we dont eat things that eats another animal (that i can think of off the top of my head).. and very few predators do (agian, that i can think of)... however i do know loads of lads feed them and dont have a problem.. its just not something ive done.

[Carraghs Gem 1,699]

Mine quite like cull roosters, pigeon, quail, never fed corvids however despite having a plentiful supply of them from around the farm

[blond 8]

i always clean the birds i get, ie pluck and gut, also freeze it 1st as it gets rid of any bacteria the birds maybe carrying, mine love pigeon the most though

[Good Man 196]

If your feeding crows, freeze for a month first, a lot are full of nasty parasites of all sorts as i have found in the passed.

Pigeon, is far better, along with rabbit i find.

[DeepEarth 104]

i always clean the birds i get, ie pluck and gut, also freeze it 1st as it gets rid of any bacteria the birds maybe carrying, mine love pigeon the most though

Do you think they'd have their food plucked and gutted in the wild?

[patterdalejoel 669]

ferrets are incredible animals, they are wild in every apart from tameness, so can survive and eat like they are in the wild. they can handle all sorts, don't catch worms etc, so no need to freeze etc. they are not as refined as dogs so don't succumb to infections and worms as easily as ferrets havent been altered and tinkered with as much as dogs.

[derbylad1 293]

When you say pigeons lads, i hope you woodies and not feral. Feral pigeon can carry more decease than a swer rat...fact!!!

[DeepEarth 104]

When you say pigeons lads, i hope you woodies and not feral. Feral pigeon can carry more decease than a swer rat...fact!!!

Where've you got this 'fact' from? Been feeding them on ferals shot from a farm I shoot at almost solely for the past couple of years.

[Sjt657 191]

I have eaten feral pigeon !!!!! Still here .....

[patterdalejoel 669]

When you say pigeons lads, i hope you woodies and not feral. Feral pigeon can carry more decease than a swer rat...fact!!!

even if they do, ferrets are that hardy it doesnt affect them. i know someone who ate a feral pigeon that he shot and it landed in cow shit, if hes alive my ferrets will be ok

[Ideation 8,217]

Different types of ferals - farm ferrals and urban ones are a bit different.

[Ideation 8,217]

Best thing about birds, is that they have a decent fat content unlike rabbits, so are good for building weight, whereas rabbit will usually just maintain it.

[derbylad1 293]

Yeah, your mate might still be here and you might be right...the e-coli didn't affect him. but each to their own...lol

[THE GRIFF 8]

When you say pigeons lads, i hope you woodies and not feral. Feral pigeon can carry more decease than a swer rat...fact!!!

Where've you got this 'fact' from? Been feeding them on ferals shot from a farm I shoot at almost solely for the past couple of years.

Last year I chucked a ferrel in for my ferrets, never again, my ferrets ended up with mites, I had mite bites all over me and it cost a fortune at the vets to get rid of them.

[derbylad1 293]

When you say pigeons lads, i hope you woodies and not feral. Feral pigeon can carry more decease than a swer rat...fact!!!

Where've you got this 'fact' from? Been feeding them on ferals shot from a farm I shoot at almost solely for the past couple of years.

Last year I chucked a ferrel in for my ferrets, never again, my ferrets ended up with mites, I had mite bites all over me and it cost a fortune at the vets to get rid of them.

Sorry mate..i worded that wrongly. What i meant was, that there has been more reports of disease being passed onto humans by pigeon than the rat.