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Originally Posted by Lady of Yorkies  No, I just put them in with enough food to last them all night but I do see that all are at the bowl before I walk away. I free feed. The youngest we have are 7 weeks old, the oldest who are having problems are 11 weeks old. Once they get past 4 months they do fine and not all of them have low blood sugar problems. Usually just the ones who are going to be tiny. Sylvia |
I do pretty much what you do once the pups are no longer nursing. There always seems to be one or two that either aren't aggressive enough to get their share or eat too slowly to get enough. I keep a tight eye on mine at this stage and will pull the slow eaters and feed them separately. I keep mine in the bedroom at this time so I can keep a close eye on them. Usually, the slow eaters will start eating well enough to feed them all together after a few days. If you have a big litter, it can help to split them up between 2 x-pens, having the slow eaters in one and the better eaters in another. If it's just one pup, it's easier to just pull that one at least twice a day for a separate feeding. They are eating from the common bowl but just not getting enough for all their nutrition so a supplemental separate feeding will help head off possible hypoglycemic episodes. Also, I limit the playtime of the younger ones. They can run themselves down just playing hard.
Hope this helps....Jim