Raw Meat Selection Questions

[pear2apple]

At this point I am feeding 97% NV raw frozen, and the rest is Evo Red Meat bites which they only get a few of during the day while I am at work. Otherwise they eat the NV, rabbit and lamb right now. I also will be feeding freeze-dried foods, such as Stella & Chewy's beef/lamb steaks and maybe Ziwipeak, and then some dehydrated meats. I am moving towards a kibble free diet, and I am almost there.

I am in the process of researching where to buy raw meats from and exactly how that works. I am extremely nervous to walk up to the meat counter and ask for rabbit, pheasant, etc and then I will have them wrap the meat into separate serving sizes for me. What would you suggest for the serving size of 2 ferrets just starting out on the raw meat? Apple has eaten raw chicken so he will be easy, Kiwi has never had raw meats that look like meat, I'm expecting some resistant from her.

I want to at least look like I know what I am talking about when I head into the grocery store. Most of these meats are by special order, so there will be a minimum (I assume), just not sure how much I should be ordering. Here's the link for where I am going, and what all they offer: www.dorothylane.com/Departments/Meat/index.html

I'd like to try everything but the chicken at least once, maybe not everything, but mostly everything. I'm not sure I could condone killing a kangaroo to feed my ferret, you know? But its not like a few aren't bred to be someone's meal, might as well be used by me! I'm just so nervous about this!

I don't even know which meats I should start with? In the past Apple turned down beef for hours. He eats it now, maybe without knowing, in some of his NV soups. Apple cannot eat chicken, he is allergic. And Kiwi has only eaten the NV rabbit and lamb, and duck breast dried jerky (Apple too). Not sure what to start with next.

Since I went through the trying to get Apple to eat raw with the chicken, I pretty much know how to start these other meats with Kiwi, or Apple again if I need to. Its just ordering, how much I should order, what I should try first, that I need help with. I'm sure I have more questions, but thats it for now.

Does this belong here or in the newbie section? I thought more here since I am primarily targeting raw meats to add to my raw frozen diet. Thanks guys!

[Heather]

Seems as good as any place Giuli will catch up with us eventually if we're in the wrong place
Do you have a minimum amount that you have to order? As you're not sure who will eat what and you already have one that's sensitive to a protein, I would go easy. You can order more as your guys and you figure out what is more important and what you can get locally. 'Roos are a pest in Australia and a common food for raw fed pets. My mentor from way back was an Aussie and that was her alternative to feeding chicken. In fact that was what she told me to start feeding my dog (who had a very sensitive tummy)....I then had to explain to her that 'roo just wasn't that common up here. Another common food down there is rabbit...another big pest. I did eventually try 'roo a couple of years later when Urban Carnivore actually delivered up here. I can't say that the boys were particularly fond of it but it was hugely expensive so I told them they had to eat it.
Serving sizes, that's a good question because it really depends on the ferret. I usually serve until they start to stash then I back off a little. There are days when I'm forever filling the bowl and other days when they're really not into it. It really depends on how active they are. During the summer it really depends on how hot it is. I find they eat a lot more as the weather cools off and they're putting on their winter fat.
As far as choices, I usually try to feed them what they would hunt, well relatively. Rabbit, quail, duck, chicken, turkey...Of things they wouldn't hunt (I really couldn't see them hunting turkeys but they like them anyway My guys are not fond of beef but I do have a couple of takers, they do like lamb (usually has a high fat count so good for putting on weight), elk, emu, venison. I think that just about covers the meats that I have access to. So use your imagination. I have a bonus though, if my ferrets don't like a particular protein I just feed it to the dog, he'll eat anything
ciao

[tss]

Beaver would be a good choice(nice red, fatty meat), I would stay away from bear but other then that everything else is fine. You MIGHT want to freeze the stuff for a couple weeks though, if it is really is wild it might have parasites.

ETA, I give the ferrets 3 ounces a day. Sometimes they eat all of it sometimes they don't.

[velvetfuzzbutt]

I would just star picking up the basics to try. Chicken, beef, turkey, pork(if you want to feed that), and lamb. You can do organs, whole RMB, try dark and light meat, chunks, ground..etc. It would give you a lot of variety to start with and are all are readily available most anywhere that carries meat.

If you don't hunt, I don't know how easy it is to actually find a shop or butcher who readily carries rabbit, duck, venisen, quail, or emu..let alone a Kangaroo(I couldn't do that anyway).

[pear2apple]

Thanks for the info! I don't know the minimum order yet, and I'd like the most information before I head in there. I guess I won't feel so bad feeding kangaroo then! LOL

What about bones? I think I can get them interested in eating some RMB, can I feed rabbit or pheasant bones? Can I feed the snake or turtle to the ferrets?

Right now I think they are eating about 3 NV medallions between the 2 of them per meal. I have no idea how many ounces that is. So maybe like 2oz of meat to start out with? I don't even know approximately how much meat that is, like fits in my hand?

I'm going to need to make a more reliable feeding den for the raw. I'll check out that thread, so I won't ask any questions here!

[tss]

I just use a scale to weigh their food. For easier serving I just freeze the meat in ice cube trays, each cube is a ounce.

Rabbit and phasant bones are edible, the only edible beaver bones would be ribs, rattle snake bones are probably edible and turtle bones probably aren't.

The snake and turtle meat would be fine to feed.

[pear2apple]

So I'm going to Dorothy Lane Market today to see what they have, and maybe buy some rabbit. I know they will like the rabbit because they already eat it in the NV. Hopefully there is actually some there. I also don't want to have to buy like 2lbs of it, hopefully they can spilt that up for me. Or just wrap it into smaller amounts and I can buy it like that.

Eventually I will look into buying it ground up and then making jerky out of it. Wish me luck! Last time they didn't have any rabbit, so hopefully they do this time!

[Forum Administrator]

Im going to email you a list of what you can feed. It will be on the upcoming HF website. It hasnt been copyrighted yet, so dont show it to anyone just yet Check your email.

[Forum Administrator]

Crap I dont have the files on this computer (using my b/f's compy) I'll get you the list asap.

[pear2apple]

Thanks Giuli, I look forward to reading it! I just got back and I bought some rabbit. Unfortunately they ONLY have it raw frozen (not too shabby), but its a 3lb chunk and $7/lb! So I guess its kinda ok, but at the same time, after I thaw this out, I don't want to rethaw it right?

I had them put me on a list and call me when they have the following meat in fresh so I could come in and pick it up:
Venison, Beaver, Rabbit, Pheasant

The guy at the meat counter is staring at us wide-eyed, "you eat that?" LOL NO! Then I explained that its for the ferrets and a little background about that. Still thinks I'm crazy. I don't care though, I just want the meat! But they had buffalo, veal, Cornish game hens, beef, chicken, veal, lamb, and tons of fish all available fresh! I found a frozen whole duck and some lamb. And I finally found turkey necks!! Those are HUGE! Could I feed those? They looked about 6-7" long and 2" around. I would cut them into chunks of course, but could they really eat that?

This stuff is really expensive. But I guess maybe they would only eat about 1-2 oz each in a sitting? Or is it less? I'm going to measure ounces by ice cube trays and stick 2-4oz per baggie and freeze like that. Of course, thats as soon as I can clean out my freezer. I have tons of my own stuff in there, and nowhere to add much else. Girls gotta have her frozen veggies and ice cream right?

I mean how do you balance out paying $6/lb for meat? It seems outrageous. Although all the meat at this Market is organic, free-range, hormone/antibiotic free. So I guess thats one reason it is more expensive. But just not sure I will be able to pull off affording this. I'm still going to feed the NV of course. And maybe only 1 meal a day, "dinner" will be the raw meats since I will be home to supervise and not let them stash. Then I could save money by going raw and freeze-dried/dehydrated/etc.

[tss]

You can thaw, refreeze and thaw with no problem.

The turkey necks are great, I got some marked down and chopped them into 1" pieces. The ferrets ate them just fine.

They probably would only eat about a ounce or two each. What I do is make batches and throw them all into a big baggie so all I've got to do is grab a few and thaw them.

You don't have to feed that stuff every day, maybe once every two days or twice a week.

[Forum Administrator]

Tips for feeding a chicken intolerant ferret (for cheap!)

Raw Meaty Bones:

Turkey Necks

Turkey wings (cut wing into three segments: tip, middle, end. Feed the middle portion. That bone is small and edible. Tips can be used as treats/snacks, shave the meat off the end portion of the wing and feed as a "boneless meat" that last segment of bone is too dense)

Pork necks

Small fish (if your ferret will eat them) feed no more then 1x per week. Try raw (not canned) sardines, anchovies, mullies.

Boneless Meat:

Beef/veal
Pork/piglet
Lamb/mutton
Turkey/poult
Duck
Vennison
Buffalo
(and more)

(Try finding these when they are on sale. Or try buying in bulk. Check out walmart and sams club)

Organ meat:

Beef or veal liver (only feed HALF of a "palm sized" portion)
Beef heart (only feed a "thumb sized piece")
Beef Kidney
(Can also feed thymus (called sweetbreads) and pancreas----if you can find these )

[Forum Administrator]

If the majority of the diet is made up by turkey RMBs be sure to balance it out with fattier meats on boneless days (like beef or pork).

[tss]

If you are ever able to find piglet my babies LOVE it. Every bit can be eaten too, just a few days ago Lil ate a piglet arm.

[pear2apple]

This is the other reason I was hesitant to go all meat no kibble. SO much to remember! I'm going to need to print out all the information you're sending me Giuli. I am horrible at remembering things.

Honestly, I don't think I will be able to find any of those meats at Walmart, and we don't have a Costco. Maybe Sam's Club, but I will have to wait until I see my Mom again because I can't afford to pay for a membership. I live alone after all!

It will be mostly turkey necks for the RMB, some pheasant RMB if that works too. My boyfriend hunts so he can hook me up. But it won't be much since his family eats it themselves too. Otherwise I'll stick with some other meats as they become available and then beef, lamb, and maybe pork too. If he doesn't like the pork, I'm stuck with it because I don't like it either. Hopefully it won't be this crazy expensive next time!!