I'm currently feeding my 12 week old male chicken breasts which I cube into something like 0.5"x0.5"x0.5"; it's quite the tedious process really. That's all he's eaten since being weaned from his Mother's milk. The breeder I picked him up from did provide some dry food that he may have eaten from time to time, but since I've brought him home he really shows no interest whatsoever in it. Just for reference I do supplement the raw chicken with a Mazuri powder.
My question is regarding to his consumption rate. Sometimes he seems to eat a lot of chicken (I feed him twice a day) meaning say 1/2 a chicken breast in one sitting. Sometimes he doesn't eat nearly as much (1/4 a breast) and sometimes he just ignores the food completely. What I'm mainly worried about is if his food intake is correct for his age for him to grow fully.
Some days It feels like he only eats 1/2 as much as he did the previous day. It's possible that a lot depends on the eating time as it can vary a lot in the evening; a lot depends on when I get back from work, when I have time to cut more chicken, and when I HAVE to cut more chicken
. Nothing like going to feed him and noticing that the only chicken is still frozen in the package.
I do know when he's hungry as he tells me. And by telling me I mean he meows rather loud and constantly while following me around. I can normally tell by the type of meow when he wants food. He seems excited when I place the food down for him, but then likes to just paw around it while purring vivaciously but not really eating it much. Another problem is that I don't like to leave raw chicken sitting out for a lengthy period of time which happens if I'm leaving for work in the morning (don't have this problem in the evenings).
He's definitely curious as to what I'm eating as recently he's been moving up beside me sticking his face in my plate every time i eat. I did read about placing Parmesan cheese (?) around each piece of chicken as to coax them to eat. I'll try that possibly.
Another thing I believe is the case is that he doesn't seem to lick to "pick" at each piece of chicken. So when it starts to get sticky (which happens quite fast) he doesn't seem to make much of an effort to eat it. If I hand feed him he'll normally eat quite a bit more than if I don't. I did switch from a stainless steel bowl to a ceramic plate just this morning, but it didn't seem to help much. Maybe the cheese can help with the stickiness or I can add some water into it? Again I'm not 100% sure this is the main problem.
Thanks for any suggestions!
My question is regarding to his consumption rate. Sometimes he seems to eat a lot of chicken (I feed him twice a day) meaning say 1/2 a chicken breast in one sitting. Sometimes he doesn't eat nearly as much (1/4 a breast) and sometimes he just ignores the food completely. What I'm mainly worried about is if his food intake is correct for his age for him to grow fully.
Some days It feels like he only eats 1/2 as much as he did the previous day. It's possible that a lot depends on the eating time as it can vary a lot in the evening; a lot depends on when I get back from work, when I have time to cut more chicken, and when I HAVE to cut more chicken
. Nothing like going to feed him and noticing that the only chicken is still frozen in the package.I do know when he's hungry as he tells me. And by telling me I mean he meows rather loud and constantly while following me around. I can normally tell by the type of meow when he wants food. He seems excited when I place the food down for him, but then likes to just paw around it while purring vivaciously but not really eating it much. Another problem is that I don't like to leave raw chicken sitting out for a lengthy period of time which happens if I'm leaving for work in the morning (don't have this problem in the evenings).
He's definitely curious as to what I'm eating as recently he's been moving up beside me sticking his face in my plate every time i eat. I did read about placing Parmesan cheese (?) around each piece of chicken as to coax them to eat. I'll try that possibly.
Another thing I believe is the case is that he doesn't seem to lick to "pick" at each piece of chicken. So when it starts to get sticky (which happens quite fast) he doesn't seem to make much of an effort to eat it. If I hand feed him he'll normally eat quite a bit more than if I don't. I did switch from a stainless steel bowl to a ceramic plate just this morning, but it didn't seem to help much. Maybe the cheese can help with the stickiness or I can add some water into it? Again I'm not 100% sure this is the main problem.
Thanks for any suggestions!
