Frozen Ready Meals

Over the last couple of weeks I have been trying to work out the best size portion of rabbit to feed the ferrets without too much wastage. I started off by just putting in a gutted rabbit but found that even with four of them, there was still too much left over in the morning. (I feed in the evening to reduce the flies, and then remove what is left in the morning).

Tonight I shot two rabbits, and after gutting and checking the carcase for any disease, worms etc, I cut them into three sections. The back legs, the saddle and the front legs. The head I removed, some people feed the heads but I don't think there is enough meat on it for them and don't bother for now.

This means that two rabbits gives me six days of food, not bad for 32p if I'm shooting well, more when I miss.

Come winter when I can start ferreting properly, I should be able to stock up with quite a lot of 'frozen ready meals'. Just need to defrost one every night and they can feed on proper healthy natural food.

I do keep some James Wellbeloved complete feed as an emergency backup but try not to use it. Some people swear by it and it is supposed to have everything that a ferret needs, but I feel the natural way is better. Watching them tucking into a rabbit and crunching on the bones, or fighting over half a leg is completely different to them nibbling on some crunchy biscuits out of a bag.