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Post by sherrylynne on Sept 4, 2008 18:59:07 GMT -5
OK, tentative schedule.
AM PM
Monday: Pork chunks chicken wings
Tuesday: Beef chunks turkey neck
Wednesday: Raw frozen lamb Raw frozen lamb
Thursday: Organ meats Cornish hen
Friday: Chicken thighs Beef chunks
Saturday: Raw frozen bison Raw frozen bison
Sunday: Chicken legs Pork chunks
I am assuming there is enough calcium in this that they don't need the eggshell, other than with egg as a treat.
By the way, they love raw egg yolk, and Lucrezia and Vincent love the raw white. And NONE of them like the ground meat anymore!
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Post by sherrylynne on Sept 4, 2008 19:24:14 GMT -5
Interesting experiment. I just put a half(disjointed) chicken thigh, one in each feeding den. I'll let you know how they've done with them in the morning! Prior to this, they've only had cut-up meats(other than wings).
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Post by mustelidmusk on Sept 4, 2008 19:39:28 GMT -5
Ferrets are too silly!!! I don't think they even know what they like. A word of warning about egg white: Egg white, especially when fed without yolk) can result in a biotin deficiency. If you choose to feed egg white, I'd mix a little the yolk in with it and feed it only very occasionally. I feed my one egg yolk per week - split across my 4 ferrets. I don't even feed the whites. I separate the yolk out, and some some white remains with the yolk since I'm not terribly meticulous separating out the yolk. The schedule looks good, I'll have Giuli check it out since she'll have a better feel for for the balance. SHe may want to see a little more organ meat making sure that some of organ meat includes liver. It's so exciting to be working on your schedule!!!! For a real appreciation on what you've accomplished, here's what you need to do...once you graduate, sit back with your favorite glass of wine or beverage and read through your entire thread - I'm sure you'll get a few laughs from it  , and you'll be so proud of your babies as well  -jennifer |
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Post by Forum Administrator on Sept 4, 2008 21:58:31 GMT -5
SHe may want to see a little more organ meat making sure that some of organ meat includes liver. Jennifer, you know me too well  But other then adding in the liver 1x per week I think it looks good I'll give you another day or so to get them adjusted to the schedule, see if there are any "speedbumps" and then you'll be ready to graduate! I agree with Jennifer, you should read though this thread, its always fun to see how far you've come. |
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Post by sherrylynne on Sept 5, 2008 7:51:39 GMT -5
Thanks, everyone! I'll go shopping tonight, and make sure I have everything for the week, and start on it first thing tomorrow. And the experiment last night with the thighs? Had to cut them up  . They still aren't too sure what they should be doing with them. I'm trying to teach them to tear it up, but it goes slowly. I am cutting in bigger chunks, though, so they have to chew each piece longer  . We'll get there yet though! |
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Post by sherrylynne on Sept 5, 2008 17:33:45 GMT -5
One other question I just thought of today. If the raw frozen is meat, bone, organ(ie: heart, liver), should I be feeding heart, liver, kidney, or tripe during the week? The raw frozen I picked up is just meat, bone, organ, and does not have a nutrutional analysis on the package. I grabbed Blue Kat Buffalo, and BK Lamb. This is a new company out of British Columbia(I prefer to support semi-local if possible), and their nutritional analysis is not up on their website yet, either.
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Post by Forum Administrator on Sept 5, 2008 20:16:47 GMT -5
Yes Hare today is a company that sells ground meat/bone/organ mix. I asked if I should feed a little extra organ once a week and they said "yes, that would probably be a good idea". I would apply that same info to all ground meat/bone/organ mixtures. Feed ONE organ meal 1 day per week. On "organ meat day" I advise feeding a small chicken neck or whole egg (including shell) as an additional snack to add some fiber to the diet. Honestly, I think its good for dogs, cats, ferrets, to have a "lean" day once a week, where they are given a smaller amount of food then they eat during the rest of the week. I make this "lean day" "organ meat day". So on that day my kids each get 1 liver, 1 heart, and 1 thumb sized piece of beef kidney. They also get a small chicken neck (1 each) and that is it. Then the next day they get their normal amount of food. I find this helps them to "clear out" any hidden stores of stashed food (and yes, your ferret *probably* has one even if you don't know it ) it also makes for less runny poop all over the house (organ meat day can cause runny poop. Less food= less runny poop all over my carpet). |
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Post by mustelidmusk on Sept 5, 2008 21:11:41 GMT -5
Hi! I did some digging around, and I found ths... Red Dog meals for dogs contain 75% meat mixture and 25% vegetables. The meat mixture contains 10% organs - 5% heart and 5% liver. Blue Kat meals for cats contain 98% meat mixture and 2% vegetables. The meat mixture contains approximately 30% organs - 20% heart for dietary taurine requirements and 10% liver for Vitamin A. The cat meals also contain wild salmon oil and free-range egg yolks. These ratios and ingredients are recommended by veterinarians who promote raw around the world. www.reddogdeli.com/products.html#3From what I read and from the sources sited by BK, I feel they offer a high-quality diet. And GOOD FOR YOU for supporting your own country. If Americans were that conscientious, perhaps our country wouldn't be quite as"effed" up as it is right now  I buy local when I can unless I absolutely cannot afford it. Anyway, t looks like you have some great options in Canada. STick with the cat diets that include bone. (The dog diets have too much veggie for a ferret, but the cat diet is great. You can feed treats on the side, but the product is a diet - it's complete EXCEPT for the non-bone formula, which they tell you about. So, you can feed this balanced diet along with any other balanced diet exclusively. (A few raw treats here and there are fine but not necessary....) That's the approach I take. If you want to feed half Blue Kat and half raw, that is easy to o well..... you can feed Blue Kat in the morning and follow the "4 days raw meaty bones-two days meat chunks, 1 day liver/organ meats" for evening feedings (or swap Blue Kat in the PM, RMB in the evening). It gets very difficult to balance out if you decide to substitute Blue Kat one day per week in your current schedule. That will not work if you adhere to a 7-day schedule since the balance of rw wll be "off" for the non-commercial diet. Does this make sense??? -jennifer |
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Post by sherrylynne on Sept 5, 2008 22:49:30 GMT -5
So, let me get this straight. If I feed BK in the AM, I should substitute RMB in the evening for BK? It might just be that I'm tired, but this is what I understand from what I read.
And to let you know, I decided, what the heck, start the diet tonight. This would be turkey neck night, but they are still frozen, so I tried organ meat instead. Total failure. The only one to touch it was Lucrezia, and that was just to stash it. Even scruffing and putting some in the mouths of each fert did no good. They just spit it out. I mixed beef kidney, tripe, and chicken hearts. I guess it will take a bit longer before they willingly accept organ meats!
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Post by Forum Administrator on Sept 5, 2008 23:00:13 GMT -5
Some ferrets just dont like liver. You might have to blend it up and mix it in with some pre-made raw. Dont throw in the towel yet, but just know that you DO have another option if they continue to refuse it.
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Post by mustelidmusk on Sept 6, 2008 10:43:13 GMT -5
I was probably confusing - still working 12-14 hour days, andIm going in to work today as well (Saturday)  Here's an example of what you migt want to do... Monday am - BK complete diet Monday pm - raw meaty bones Tuesday am - BK complete diet Tuesday pm - meat chunks Wednesday am - BK complete diet Wednesday pm - raw meaty bones Thursday am - BK complete diet Thursday pm - meat chunks Friday am - BK complete diet Friday pm - raw meaty bones Saturday am - BK complete diet Saturday pm - Organ meats Sunday am - BK complete diet Sunday pm - raw meaty bones The key is the balance of the RMB/meatchunks/organs meats. You need to maintain the following balance for the RMB diet - * 4 parts RMB * 2 parts Meat chunks * 1 part organ meats, including liver This keeps the percentages balanced across 7 days of feeding. If you chose to feed BK both morning and evening on any given day, the convenient 7-day schedule would be disturb the balance of the RMB diet. That being said, the RMB approach does have the disadvantage of having to stick to a plan. You can feed a balance for raw meaty bones every day - but you would have to provide 4 parts raw meaty bone, 2 parts meat chunks, 1 part organ meats every day. Part of the difficulty with this approach is that some ferrets will avoid eating their share of the stuff they like the least because they can be "full enough" to remain picky. As you can see, the raw meaty bones approach can result in imbalances if ferrets are eating selectively. This is part of the argument against raw meaty bones. To get around this issue, some people grind/mix their raw meaty bone recipes, which makes them similar to the premade commercial diets. (But you get to chose he cuts and quality of meat) Feeding a compete/balanced diet ensures balance across every bite/meal. Also, the liver is mixed in. This eliminates the extreme variety of foods that ferrets need to learn to eat for the RMB diet. The down side is that the teeth are not a clean. I clean my kids' teeth about 4 times per year. I do it myself, and there's very little plaque at all with no gum problems. I periodically provide araw meaty bones as treats to help with the cleaning. All feeding regimens have pro's and con's. Whole raw prey is the best from a health/balance perspective, but it too can be difficult to feed. It's very important tha I'm amking sense here, so please let me know if you have any questions about this. -jennifer |
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Post by sherrylynne on Sept 6, 2008 16:25:51 GMT -5
But if they are getting organ meats once a week, as well as BK complete diet 3X a week, and meat chunks most days, wouldn't that also fit the balance requirements? I am still somewhat confused about the RMB bit. When they get thighs and legs, they are quite large, and have a lot of meat on them. Also, since I'm still having trouble getting the kids to eat the BK, since it's ground(they've decided they no longer like ground ), I don't want to stress too much on it as of yet. I did rework the schedule to the following: Monday: am pork chunks pm ch. wings Tuesday: am beef chunks pm ch. legs Wed: am BK complete pm quail Thursday: am organ meats pm cornish hen (ferrets eat better than I do ) Friday: am BK complete pm ch. thighs Sat. am beef chunks pm turkey necks Sunday am BK complete pm ch. legs |
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Post by sherrylynne on Sept 6, 2008 16:38:28 GMT -5
Almost forgot! I also got some frozen whole smelts(small size) for snacks for them. I figure give them once or twice a week???
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Post by sherrylynne on Sept 6, 2008 20:04:00 GMT -5
Not quite as ready to graduate as I thought. It doesn't seem to matter what I do, I CAN'T GET THEM TO EAT BONE! If I give them a wing tip, no problem, they will even crack the middle part of the wing. Other than that, nothing! I gave them the turkey necks tonight. If I cut some meat off, no problem. Other meat chunks, no problem. And playing with it does no good either. They play, they stash, they leave it. And that's it. But no bone. Any help/ideas would really be appreciated!
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Post by Forum Administrator on Sept 6, 2008 20:40:53 GMT -5
The key to get a ferret eating bone is to keep them from filling up on JUST the meat on the bone. In the case of thighs this means cutting some of the meat off the bone, so they dont' get full. Also, you can fast them for 4-6 hours and then offer a raw meaty bone. I find that taking a chicken wing, cutting it into 3 segments (at the joints) and then cutting the segments vertically (thus splitting the bone in half lengthwise and exposing the marrow) can help.
Hang in there, getting a ferret to eat bone can be a struggle but you'll get there. They just need to learn HOW. I would give them JUST chicken wing segments (no BK ground) for the next few days and hopefully they will get the hang of eating them.
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