Frozen Day Old Chicks

[Malt 379]

Nearly totally usless for food value just a egg in a bit of fluff okay for a odd treat or feeding one day out of seven

How do you work that one out?

 

 

They are just out the egg and killed never had time to build muscles etc so whats there food value NONE plus the fluff can irritate the ferrets throat

The ferret uses the feathers as roughage, and they can extract nutrients from every part of there prey, like all obligate carnivores.

[Funfuret 1]

They are just out the egg and killed never had time to build muscles etc so whats there food value NONE plus the fluff can irritate the ferrets throat

 

 

What's so essential about lots of muscle? They shouldn't get too much muscle meat anyway.

 

If you look, you'll see chicks have all the usual organs (heart, liver, etc). Probably a bit short on bone so yes they shouldn't be feed exclusively (nothing should be) but at least they provide a range of tissue types.

 

If you're worried about the feathers than just wet the chicks before giving them to the ferrets.

[crow wing 0]

They are just out the egg and killed never had time to build muscles etc so whats there food value NONE plus the fluff can irritate the ferrets throat

 

 

What's so essential about lots of muscle? They shouldn't get too much muscle meat anyway.

 

If you look, you'll see chicks have all the usual organs (heart, liver, etc). Probably a bit short on bone so yes they shouldn't be feed exclusively (nothing should be) but at least they provide a range of tissue types.

 

If you're worried about the feathers than just wet the chicks before giving them to the ferrets.

 

Many in falconry..myself included feed quite a lot of DOCs..mainly throughout the summer..I feed them every other day.. ie one day chicks the next day rat..next day chicks and the next day rabbit..or pigeon..quail etc..so DOCs provide the staple within a varied diet..

 

A few years back in falconry it was deemed that day old chicks were lacking in nutrition..vitamins etc..but then there was some research done..a prominent avian vet Ian Forbes was involved..and it was considered that DOCs are not in any way lacking..having a good range of vitamin and calcium..pro rata to size of course..aand this is now generally accepted as being true..

 

Although I fly a hawk I aint an expert on nutrition and anatomy therefore can only go by what our leading lights tell us..and likewise re the ferrets and nutrition and anatomy..I feed a couple of DOCs..plus rabbit and plus pigeon and also some dry cat food..my hawks and ferrets are in good fettle..as are the guys ferrets and hawks I hunt and hawk with..we pretty much do likewise of each other..

 

Personally I think DOCs are ok if fed within a varied diet..but would'nt dream of feeding them and nothing else..variety is the spice of life so they say..and re the cost..luckily we order over three thousand between a few of us which offsets the delivery...which is free after 3000..they work out about £6 per box of 200..thats from honeybrooks..the link to which I think someone posted earlier..

[andy s410c 59]

I,ve fed day olds to my 2 jills since i got them from 8 weeks old however they do have a varied diet.My 2 are a picture of health so for me day old chicks must have some nutriton within them.I remove the egg sack as to much egg can promote baldness, well according to the books it can......

[crow wing 0]

I,ve fed day olds to my 2 jills since i got them from 8 weeks old however they do have a varied diet.My 2 are a picture of health so for me day old chicks must have some nutriton within them.I remove the egg sack as to much egg can promote baldness, well according to the books it can......

 

 

I agree Andy..I remove some of the egg yolks but not all...I squeeze the yolk sac out of every other one fed..

[crow wing 0]

really? baldness?

 

 

Hello mate..the yolk is very high in cholestorol and that is the only reason I chose to eliminate some of it..the hawks like to eat it and so to do the ferrets..but as I said I half the yolk intake and squeeze the sacs out of every other one fed..whether this does any good I cant say for sure..but too much cholestorol cant be any good for anything..I am not saying that what I do is right for everyone..but it is how I do it..and so far so good no side effects after a decade..

 

Also..mink farmers use considerable amounts of DOCs to feed their stock..whether they de yolk all of them or some of them or any at all is another question and I aint sure..but bearing in mind mink are bred for one thing..their fur..I hardly think they would use DOCs if baldness was a side effect of feeding them..

 

I would think that if someone experienced baldness and at the same time as feeding DOCs..that this may be purely coincidental and the cause of baldness is perhaps non related and a result of something else..I know one or two who feed a lot more DOCs than I do and no side effects..

 

In regard to nutrition value..from what I have read in Falconry books and mags etc..a whole DOC is more nutritious and has a higher calorific value pro rata to weight than rabbit meat or chicken..as in rabbit leg or say chicken leg or breast..just the flesh..without offal which obviously increases the vitamin and nutritional value.

[crow wing 0]

really? baldness?

 

 

Hello mate..the yolk is very high in cholestorol and that is the only reason I chose to eliminate some of it..the hawks like to eat it and so to do the ferrets..but as I said I half the yolk intake and squeeze the sacs out of every other one fed..whether this does any good I cant say for sure..but too much cholestorol cant be any good for anything..I am not saying that what I do is right for everyone..but it is how I do it..and so far so good no side effects after a decade..

 

Also..mink farmers use considerable amounts of DOCs to feed their stock..whether they de yolk all of them or some of them or any at all is another question and I aint sure..but bearing in mind mink are bred for one thing..their fur..I hardly think they would use DOCs if baldness was a side effect of feeding them..

 

I would think that if someone experienced baldness and at the same time as feeding DOCs..that this may be purely coincidental and the cause of baldness is perhaps non related and a result of something else..I know one or two who feed a lot more DOCs than I do and no side effects..

 

In regard to nutrition value..from what I have read in Falconry books and mags etc..a whole DOC is more nutritious and has a higher calorific value pro rata to weight than rabbit meat or chicken..as in rabbit leg or say chicken leg or breast..just the flesh..without offal which obviously increases the vitamin and nutritional value.

 

 

Can I just say further to this...thank f**k for DOCs..they havent been around in the quantities they are now for that long..before that they used to be incinerated until a new market in pet food was found for them..and as I said I have used them for a decade and appreciate their availability..

 

Before this..in the summer when all the rabbit etc was gone from the freezer..all sorts of brands of tinned dog and cat food were tried...dried dog and cat food was nowhere near as nutritious and palateble as it is now and never considered an option..so baldness was the least of my worries..I was more concerned with the ferrets getting irritable bowel syndrome or severe indegestion or acute gastroentiritis or worse lol...

[ferretville 69]

DOC have done my ferrets no harm at all and i will continue to use them as they bloody love em atb FV

[The one 8,399]

Found this on James Mckay's Ferret keeping video i knew there was a good reason for not feeding day old chicks

 

They lack calcium and that can cause hypocalcemia and this effects the bone growth so if they are fed to pregnant or nursing jills then the young can be totally deformed and cant walk around properly and they don't have feathers it is fluff and it can aggrivate the mucus membrane in the throat.

Edited April 19, 2008 by The one

[Kay 3,709]

Found this on James Mckay's Ferret keeping video i knew there was a good reason for not feeding day old chicks

 

They lack calcium and that can cause hypocalcemia and this effects the bone growth so if they are fed to pregnant or nursing jills then the young can be totally deformed and cant walk around properly and they don't have feathers it is fluff and it can aggrivate the mucus membrane in the throat.

 

i cant see any harm if there fed as part of a varied diet but i wouldnt feed them as a staple

[stubby 175]

maybe thats why Im losing my hair, ate too many eggs as a kid

 

seriously, have used DOC's myself to feed BOP'S and ferrets and have never seen a down side to it, a varied diet is the spice of life

[crow wing 0]

Found this on James Mckay's Ferret keeping video i knew there was a good reason for not feeding day old chicks

 

They lack calcium and that can cause hypocalcemia and this effects the bone growth so if they are fed to pregnant or nursing jills then the young can be totally deformed and cant walk around properly and they don't have feathers it is fluff and it can aggrivate the mucus membrane in the throat.

 

But if you read David Bezzant's book he feeds them..Is Mckay not talking about feeding solely DOCs ?? ..because on that basis I would perhaps agree that a pregnant jill or nursing jill would need an extra supplement..that goes without saying..in fact personally I would only feed DOCs as part of a varied diet for anything..even though it may be a substantial part of the diet..it is not the whole diet..

 

In the colder months when rabbits are below ground...and it is cold on the North Pennines where I do my ferreting and hawking..the ferrets we use are worked hard and run through some big deep warrens on these fellsides..they are as fit and healthy as any ferret you could see...likewise my hunting pals..the ferrets lack nothing in terms of energy etc..all look well and work well..and all pretty much fed the same year round..a varied diet of DOCs..rabbit..some feathered meat pigeon etc and some dry food..in the summer months mainly DOCs and dry food..

[The one 8,399]

Just reading some of the back posts on here i wasn't sure if some folk where using them as a odd treat or the main part of there ferrets diet but i wont use them .Ive a freezer full of rabbits and when i get near the bottom i will top it up by lamping and the odd crow or pigeons from a days decoying

[Kay 3,709]

I dont think people could afford to feed them as a staple unless you only have 1 ferret or maybe 2 , if you say feed 3 a day on average per ferret

[The one 8,399]

Some folk might think there okay feeding them in the evening during the summer time compared to dry food probably works out about the same price wise