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Post by Jackie on Jan 25, 2011 10:51:52 GMT -5
So what is the ratio of muscle/bone/organ/roughage that a ferret needs? There seems to be a couple different ones, and of course it'll probably vary somewhat between each ferret. I mainly just want to make sure I'm feeding enough bone.
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Post by sherrylynne on Jan 25, 2011 12:28:46 GMT -5
I think the main difference would be the calcium. Ratios seem to be about 15% bone, 10% organ, and 75% meat. Fiber should be no more than 5% of the total, at the outside. This will be dependent on the individual ferret's needs. Some seem to need more than others.
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Post by Jackie on Jan 25, 2011 13:32:36 GMT -5
Okay so going by that, I'm trying to calculate how many boned meals I should be giving a week.
These calculations are for two 2 lb female ferrets that consume approximately 3 oz a day.
Per ferret: Total oz eaten a week: ~21 oz (3 oz a day) 15% of 21 oz is: ~3.2 oz of bone a week
For both ferrets: Total oz eaten a week: ~42 oz 15% of 42 oz is: ~6.3 oz of bone a week
Here are some bone amounts of common raw foods
chicken wing 46% bone chicken leg 27% chicken neck 36% turkey neck 42%
So here is a potential feeding schedule:
Mon: chicken wing (2.8 oz bone, 3.2 oz meat) Tuesday: muscle meat (6 oz meat) Wednesday: turkey neck (2.5 oz bone, 3.5 oz meat) Thursday: muscle meat (6 oz meat) Friday: chicken leg (1.6 oz bone, 4.4 oz meat) Saturday: organ day (2.1 oz liver, 2.1 oz other) Sunday: muscle meat (6 oz meat)
That gives a total of: 6.9 oz bone (16.4% of bone) That only has 6 meals of boned meats, but still reached the 15% no problem. I did this math with 8-9 meals, but was getting bone ratios of 20-25%.
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Post by sherrylynne on Jan 25, 2011 14:07:48 GMT -5
That's odd! The bone in does usually need to be 8-9 meals per week, but I 've always been under the impression that would work out to 15% on average Oh well, math's never been my strong suit
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Post by Jackie on Jan 25, 2011 15:20:15 GMT -5
Yeah, I didn't expect these results either. Now, I'm sure it varying greatly with each piece of meat/cut of meat. Not every chicken wing has exactly 42% bone.
I was kinda disappointed, because my girls enjoy chicken wings so much, and I wanted to feed them more often.
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Post by katt on Jan 25, 2011 17:28:47 GMT -5
That's odd! The bone in does usually need to be 8-9 meals per week, but I 've always been under the impression that would work out to 15% on average Oh well, math's never been my strong suit It depends on what types of meals you are feeding. A chicken wing is about 50% bone and 50% meat (varies a little by wing, and where it was cut, but average), and if the wing is the majority of the meal, then that meal is almost 50% bone. That then needs to be balanced out by another meal(s) with more muscle/organ and less bone. A mouse on the other hand is already balanced. I often balance it out by having a few days with no bones. Like maybe 1-2 times a week (so every 3-4 days) just because the bone-in meats I feed right now (chicken wings, turkey necks) are pretty heavy on bone in the bone:meat ratio. If I feed say a whole chopped Cornish Game Hen though, then I don't need to do that as the bone:meat ratio is much more balanced. I hope I am making sense here... Jackie - I am not totally sure if mass is the best way to calculate the ratios or not since bone and muscle have different masses and densities, etc. I never really thought about it though... Sherry - thoughts?
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Post by Jackie on Jan 25, 2011 18:29:55 GMT -5
All I did is take a chicken wing and weighted out 6 oz of meat. I used 42% bone for chicken wings. So if I have 6 oz total, then 2.8 oz of the total weight is bone. I repeated this for chicken legs and turkey necks. Not sure how to factor in the difference in mass between bone and muscle meats.
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Post by sherrylynne on Jan 25, 2011 23:32:14 GMT -5
Jackie - I am not totally sure if mass is the best way to calculate the ratios or not since bone and muscle have different masses and densities, etc. I never really thought about it though... Sherry - thoughts? Ummmm....math? ?
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Post by Heather on Jan 25, 2011 23:36:29 GMT -5
Ferrets require a very high calcium/mineral level. Intact even more. I don't know what the technical breakdown is but no matter what it is, it's going to vary from ferret to ferret. Remember the decision to state, 4 or 5 days of bone, 3 or 4 days of meat and one day of organs is a guideline, that is all. If your little one requires more bone then feed more bone. Remember if they were in the wild, they would gorge on meat if they found a carcass, returning often and finally eating bone and starting to hunt once more. Those bonus carcasses would be rare and even if found would be more bone than meat (the larger carnivore would have eaten most of the treasured pieces). They would eat this while supplementing their diet with smaller prey (mice, voles, rats and rabbits) ciao
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