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Post by spiritualtramp on Oct 2, 2008 12:36:25 GMT -5
Well, that separation technique worked for all of two days before I switched it back because of protest poops... but now I'm feeding Diesel and Pilot about 15 minutes before I mix up the boys' meals, so they get started on eating whole portions/bones before they have access to the nicely chopped up stuff.
Ranger and Tank are having a hard time eating chunks of red meats. They will do chunks of chicken, turkey, and even lamb and duck, but beef or organs, no way, that has to be pureed or ground - but they will gladly eat it either way. I can't figure out what the adversion is or how to curb it. Any suggestions?
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Post by tss on Oct 2, 2008 12:45:06 GMT -5
Well, with another person that I'm mentoring the exact oppisite was happening. The ferret wouldn't touch chicken.. Try putting chicken (or other meat they like) and beef or organ chunks in with chicken, the beef will end up smelling like chicken... You can even use the meat drippings from thawed chicken, duck, turkey, ect. Let it sit in the fridge to "marry" for a couple days.
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Post by spiritualtramp on Oct 6, 2008 13:10:00 GMT -5
Thanks for the tip Maria, I'm trying that, still no success, but I will give it some more time.
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Post by Forum Administrator on Oct 15, 2008 14:41:51 GMT -5
How are things going Erinn?
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Post by spiritualtramp on Oct 20, 2008 8:35:44 GMT -5
Still not really eating chunks of organ or red meat which is discouraging. I tried marinading in chicken juices, no luck. It's confusing because they all love Pingford's Red meat formula, and they will eat is ground or pureed, but the chunks, even teeny tiny ones, are a no go.
Help???
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Post by tss on Oct 20, 2008 20:04:45 GMT -5
What red meat are you trying? Have you tried different cuts? Beef isn't really a must as long as you feed atleast a minimum total of 3 meats like chicken, turkey, pork, duck, rabbit, ect. It may just take another cut of beef, like a cheap fatty cut or even heart (beef heart can make up your whole beef allowment).
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Post by spiritualtramp on Oct 23, 2008 10:56:09 GMT -5
I've tried a few different cuts, all of it is ignored when chunked but eaten when pureed or ground. I've been feeding beef heart once a week - that was the only beef product that got any sort of progress. Pilot will eat the heart chunks, and I caught her and Ranger sneaking bits out of the bowl and stashing them. Can I just continue to puree/ground the beef when feeding that? What I've been doing is pureeing the beef on beef days and then cutting up chunks of chicken and mixing that together.
Duck, pork, chicken and turkey are all readily accepted in any form. Haven't tried rabbit yet but have been looking for local resources for buying some.
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Post by tss on Oct 26, 2008 20:26:53 GMT -5
Sorry I didn't get to this sooner.
I don't see a problem with feeding fresh pureed beef, you can't feed bone in beef anyways so it doesn't make a lot of difference. On the beef days you can also add some heart chunks too.
Is everyone eating meaty bones and organ now?
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Post by spiritualtramp on Oct 27, 2008 9:32:20 GMT -5
Yep everyone is eating meaty bones and organ now - I tried lamb yesterday and everyone LOVED it!
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Post by tss on Oct 27, 2008 11:55:54 GMT -5
Good! I tried lamb a couple days ago and mine went insaneo over it!
It you will post your feeding schedule we will see about getting you graduated.
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Post by spiritualtramp on Oct 27, 2008 15:08:43 GMT -5
Sure!
Monday morning: chicken liver
Monday evening: beef heart (pureed with beef)
Tuesday morning: cubed chicken breast with ground pork (bonemeal sprinkled over)
Tuesday evening: same
Wednesday morning: chicken (either bone-in breast or wing segments)
Wednesday evening: cubed chicken breast/ground pork
Thursday morning: cubed chicken or turkey breast with ground turkey (with bonemeal)
Thursday evening: turkey necks/chicken wing segments/or other boney chicken parts, ground turkey on the side.
Friday morning: ground beef (with bonemeal)
Friday evening: ground beef
Saturday morning: ground beef (with bonemeal)
Saturday evening: chicken legs or back
Sunday: wild card day! Duck, lamb, buffalo, venison. Looking for rabbit (might try NV frozen.)
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Post by tss on Oct 28, 2008 9:50:39 GMT -5
It looks pretty good! And just a tip, if you go to a butcher of slaughterhouse they can give you bone powder from their saws.. It's like really fine saw dust but it isn't steamed or cooked like the store bought stuff.
I'll PM Guili and get her in here.
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Post by Forum Administrator on Oct 28, 2008 17:45:23 GMT -5
Okay, I like the *variety* in the schedule, but I would like to see some changes in the *form*. I'd really like to see you work towards swapping out the ground pork, turkey, and beef, and replace it with CHUNKS of meat. Grinding can reduce nutrient quality, and it removes the "teeth cleaning" aspect of the raw food. Here is your schedule:Monday morning: chicken liver Monday evening: beef heart (pureed with beef) Tuesday morning: cubed chicken breast with ground pork (bonemeal sprinkled over) Tuesday evening: same Wednesday morning: chicken (either bone-in breast or wing segments) Wednesday evening: cubed chicken breast/ground pork Thursday morning: cubed chicken or turkey breast with ground turkey (with bonemeal) Thursday evening: turkey necks/chicken wing segments/or other boney chicken parts, ground turkey on the side. Friday morning: ground beef (with bonemeal) Friday evening: ground beef Saturday morning: ground beef (with bonemeal) Saturday evening: chicken legs or back Sunday: wild card day! Duck, lamb, buffalo, venison. Looking for rabbit (might try NV frozen.)[/quote] I'd like to see something a little closer to this:Monday morning: Per ferret: 1 raw chicken liver w/ whole raw egg (including shell) OR one raw chicken neck Monday evening: beef heart (pureed with beef) Tuesday morning: Chicken raw meaty bone (thigh, wing, leg, or bone-in breast) Tuesday evening: CUBED raw pork (you may add bone meal or crushed eggshell if you want, but its not necessary) Wednesday morning:Cornish game hen (its like a little chicken) Wednesday evening: CUBED raw pork (you may add bone meal or crushed eggshell if you want, but its not necessary) Thursday morning: Large hunks of raw turkey thigh, breast, wing, or leg meat (cut the meat off the bone, do not discard the stringy tendons and ligaments, these are good for your babies) Thursday evening: Turkey necks (the meatier the better) you may also add a little ground turkey on the side Friday morning: ground beef (with eggshell or bonemeal) I would also add a few squirts of fish body oil or Vivify. I dont care for ferretone, I like MEAT-BASED oils that are free of preservatives  ) Friday evening: ground beef* (I would say feed chunks, but I know your babies arent that into red meat) Saturday morning: ground beef Saturday evening: Chicken raw meaty bone (thigh, wing, leg, or bone-in breast) Sunday: wild card day! Duck, lamb, buffalo, venison. Looking for rabbit (might try NV frozen.) Note: if you try the NV dont get chicken, turkey, or beef, get a flavor that you dont feed during the rest of the week, so you increase variety) Look that over and see if that seems do-able. I'd like to see them eating more whole, raw meaty bones, and less ground food. You can feed ground foods, I would just recommend feeding a little less ground in the diet, to increase nutrient availability and teeth cleaning benefits. |
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Post by spiritualtramp on Oct 29, 2008 14:30:07 GMT -5
I'll be trying that, just trying to clear out the freezer right now  Apparently I over-bought the ground oops! I'll try to get some more rmbs into their diet though. I have been giving them Pingford's poultry and red meat alternatively on Tuesdays and Thursdays, too; and some homemade 'tone (because Ferretone freaks me out) a few days a week as well. |
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Post by Forum Administrator on Oct 29, 2008 18:07:19 GMT -5
The pingfords and the home-made tone are perfectly acceptable additions to the diet.  PS- Its always good to have ground, raw meat in your freezer. You never know when someone will need to eat it (ie if they get sick). I really like Hare Today, Gone Tommorow ground raw meats, because they contain meat/bone/organ. After you get through this batch of ground meat, it might be a good idea to purchase a few tubes of the ground hare today. This is just a suggestion though, and by no means do you HAVE to do it. So your babies WILL eat the whole raw meaty bones though, right? Because if they will eat them, and then you'll be ready to graduate, because I know in the future you'll add more RMBs, but if they are still having trouble eating whole rmbs, then well have to hang onto you for a bit longer. |
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