|
|
Post by lnsybean44 on Oct 5, 2009 13:51:05 GMT -5
Alright here it goes, as follows the commercial raw is a mix of Stella and Chewy's lamb, chicken or duck and AFS chicken or chicken and beef (I usually mix one AFS patty with one and a half stella and chewys). The ground is ground whole prey from Hare Today and the organs include everything but the digestive tract from Hare Today or venison once it starts coming in. The RMB and muscle meat is usually chicken but occasionally I get lamb or veal cheap and venison during deer season or ground beef or ground turkey. Depending on price they get rabbit occasionally too as RMB.
Monday
Am- Ground Hare Today
PM- RMB
Tuesday
Am- Ground organ meats
PM- Muscle meat
Wednesday
Am- Commercial Raw plus 500 mg taurine and one capsule salmon oil
PM- RMB
Thursday
Am- Ground hare today
PM-muscle meat
Friday
Am- Commercial Raw plus 500 mg taurine and one capsule salmon oil
PM- RMB
Saturday
Am- Ground Hare Today
PM- Whole prey rats or mice
Sunday
Am- Commercial Raw plus 500 mg taurine and one capsule salmon oil
PM- Muscle meat
|
|
|
|
Post by Heather on Oct 6, 2009 0:18:12 GMT -5
Sounds good to me. Are both your guys eating this menu? This is awesome, it didn't take your new little one very long at all. If they're both eating this I will post this to Giuli to see about getting you and your boys graduated   . ciao |
|
|
|
Post by lnsybean44 on Oct 6, 2009 6:09:52 GMT -5
So far he has eaten everything except the hare today, I am still working on ordering it  hopefully monday I will get it. But he loves the chicken and commercial raw, he loves ground turkey and he will eat ground beef. I am having trouble getting the to eeat organs which I am going to try the ground mix. |
|
|
|
Post by mustelidmusk on Oct 6, 2009 8:28:57 GMT -5
This looks good to me as well...on the days that no bone is fed and you're feeding the ground organ meats , you can add a couple of large pinches for ground eggshell if you find the stools are messy from the organ-only meal. The fiber will help with this. I swear that ferrets produce cement in their poops when they eat liver - that poop i so hard to clean once it dries. Many Thanks to Heather for stepping in at the end of your mentoring - she's been feeding raw meaty bones/prey for over 11 years, so she's really a wonderful mentor to work with!!! You need to be proud of yourself as well...switching is not easy even if your ferrets readily accept the new foods.... you've worked very hard to sort through all the options to arrive at a diet that will be healthy for your ferts and work for you as well. Have fun, and I'll be watching for your thread to soon be moved to the archives for graduates!!! -jennifer |
|
|
|
Post by lnsybean44 on Oct 6, 2009 14:08:00 GMT -5
Thank you both. I am loving feeding raw. Not only do the fuzzies love it and it makes them alot softer and more playful, it keeps me engaged every single day. They always get morning and evening cuddles when I feed them. It so much more "together" than just tossing kibble in the cage for them.
I have been giving them a few ribs when I feed organs now but I am not really noticing a change in poo because, like i said, they dont really eat the organs like they should. If they dont eat the ground organ mix my plan is to mix half organs/half hare today ground for two days. So that the one ground organ day is split up and somewhat disguised. If I really need to, they will get an extra day of salmon oil or baby food on top or the organ mix to get them eating. Newt will do anything for salmon oil and baby food. Luxo isnt very food motivated.
|
|
|
|
Post by Heather on Oct 6, 2009 16:01:16 GMT -5
That's a great idea. It's how I feed organ meats I have too many little fuzzbutts who don't like to eat their liver...so it gets ground up into the stuff they like. They eat it that way. I also don't have problems with messy poops either. No, you've got the right idea. You have learned well ciao |
|
|
|
Post by mustelidmusk on Oct 6, 2009 22:38:27 GMT -5
I always mix organ meats with other stuff to avoid the ement poop thing . The only organ meats my brats really like are the chicken hearts. They like a little bit of the liver if it's a small piece and it has some other flavor on it as well. Otherwise, I had better bury the organs if they're going to eat them   -jennifer |
|
|
|
Post by lnsybean44 on Oct 14, 2009 13:51:01 GMT -5
Luxo is doing great. No hare today still since my check didnt come  but he is eating the commercial raw and RMB/muscle meat like a champ. I have been buying organs at the store and mixing it into the commercial raw and neither of them are picking it out. But I cant the variety of organs I would like (mostly liver and heart). I am getting deer meat this week. Is there anything I should watch out for when feeding deer? Are deer organs okay to feed? I can get those in massive quantities but I want to make sure they are safe. Luxo got a bone stuck on his tooth for the first time ever and my roommate didnt know what was wrong so the poor little boy had a bone stuck until i got home around two and they told me he was acting funny. I checked and he doesnt have any cuts to his gums or any other stuck pieces. |
|
|
|
Post by Heather on Oct 14, 2009 14:56:21 GMT -5
I feed deer all the time....all I can say is if you're concerned ask what are the parasites that are in the area that you're getting your meat. Freezing destroys most parasites, so you should be able to just make sure that it's been frozen for a couple of weeks. I don't think my guys have ever had anything but frozen venison, the only fresh they get is farmed. I've had the bone stuck in the back molars thing a number of times with my guys. I found one of the little ones sound asleep with their mouth wedged open....I removed the bone and she quietly curled up and went back to sleep. Nicodemus seems to be particularly prone to this. I don't know if it's because of some abnormality of his teeth or if he really is as thick as he looks (poor wee soul) and just can't figure out how to get the bones out (he's a bit of a pig too ) but I've pulled more bone chips out of his teeth than anyone else in the businesses. Most of the furkids seem to figure out how to remove these chards. ciao |
|
|
|
Post by Heather on Oct 18, 2009 17:14:37 GMT -5
Giuli has just got back to me. I've copied her answer to me here, just get back to me with the answers and we will get you and your little ones graduated **Sorry it took so long to respond to this. It was a crazy week. The schedule looks great. Alot of variety, which I like. I only have one question, is the stella and chewy's frozen or freeze-dried? I would prefer she feeds frozen over freeze-dried, but if she does feed freeze dried make sure she reconstitues it with water or low sodium chicken broth. Otherwise it looks good to go and I'll graduate her once you pm me her answer** ciao |
|
|
|
Post by lnsybean44 on Oct 18, 2009 17:26:10 GMT -5
It is the freeze dried. I do reconstitute it and I usually add a dollop of chicken or tukey baby food, then I mix in half of their organ allotment (twice a week). I still havent gotten my paycheck so I called around and found a store in east hartford that carries kidney. So on organ days they have been getting chicken or beef liver (50% of organs) with beef kidney and some heart. I have been supplementing taurine because they both will not eat as much heart as I would like. This also means that I have not gotten any hare today ground yet . So I revised my schedule around for the time being until I can get some ground in. MondayAm- Muscle meat PM- RMB TuesdayAm- RMB PM- Muscle meat WednesdayAm- Commercial Raw plus 500 mg taurine and one capsule salmon oil plus organ mix (kidney and heart at the moment) PM- RMB ThursdayAm- RMB PM-muscle meat FridayAm- Commercial Raw plus 500 mg taurine and one capsule salmon oil PM- muscle meat SaturdayAm- Muscle meat PM- Whole prey rats or mice (adult) SundayAm- Commercial Raw plus 500 mg taurine and one capsule salmon oil plus organ mix PM- Muscle meat For muscle meat I have been giving beef, chicken, lamb and veal (mostly beef and chicken but some deer during the hinting season!) and for the RMB I have been giving chicken and some turkey (when I have turkey they also get turkey on muscle meat days). I am hoping to get paid at the end of this week in which case I can send my order out next week but the company I work for has been a royal pain in the butt with their pay schedule and according to them are still paying out for august! But I didnt start until September so I am behind. I hope this doesnt mess up too much. I essentially just mixed the organs in with the commercial raw days and made it a RMB day and made the three ground into muscle meats. The only things I was thinking is that maybe there should be one less RMB day but at the moment poop looks good. Luxo is still having some runny poop but he has only been totally raw for two weeks now and with each day his poop is looking better and better. Generally on the RMB days they are getting chicken ribs with a good amount of meat still attached or wings and thighs. Other RMB i have are cornish hen and occasionally turkey ribs and rabbit parts. My last question is about fiber. Since they are only getting one meal of whole prey, until I get the ground raw with fur in it. I know pumpkin is comonly added so soup so should I add a smidge to the commercial raw? |
|
|
|
Post by Heather on Oct 18, 2009 22:51:29 GMT -5
I hate when that happens  I posted an answer and it didn't post  I wonder where all those lost answers go to....I'm not the only one who's been left swearing at the computer I would add some pumpkin or squash to your commercial blend unless they already have some veggie matter in their blend. Some companies actually make their blends in this manner. I've just finished posting your answers and updated menu to Giuli, so hopefully you will hear in the next couple of days . ciao |
|
|
|
Post by lnsybean44 on Oct 18, 2009 23:03:15 GMT -5
Sounds good. I will take a look into it and see what AFS and Stella's put in their foods. I can try and get my hands of fur and skin again to add in but Im not sure how much I will be able to get or if they will eat it.
|
|
|
|
Post by Heather on Oct 18, 2009 23:24:30 GMT -5
I think the veggies are the easier of the two components. I find that my guys are not as fond of chewing down on empty skins unless they've recently cleaned them out. I thought they hadn't eaten the rat that I gave them yesterday (it was missing it's head, feet and tail) but when I picked it up it was entirely empty, just the skin. It was still very moist though, so I left it. I noticed that Lady "B" had it later and stashed it in a sleep box but it was getting smaller so I've left it until tomorrow to see how much is left. Even though my guys get fur about every other night (mice or rats) I still add the pumpkin (that's what they're getting right now because it's easy to get  ciao |
|
|
|
Post by Forum Administrator on Oct 19, 2009 10:10:33 GMT -5
Everything looks to be in order here. Now that you've completed the switch and had your feeding schedule reviewed, its time for you to officially graduate from the HF Mentor program and for us to retire this thread to the "newbie switch archive"!  No one (yourself included) will be able to post in this thread anymore once its been moved to the archive. Please begin posting your diet-related questions in the "whole prey" "raw" or "general feeding questions and discussion" area. We encourage EVERYONE that is archived to continue posting. Feeding a natural diet is a learning PROCESS, there is much to learn after making the switch. There is always lots to learn, and lots to share with the newbies on the site. If you feel comfortable offering the newbies advice, then by all means go ahead. The more help we can get, the better. If you'd rather lurk and not post, thats cool too, its just always nice to have our graduates stick around. We (your mentor and I) will run a detailed "check up" with you (via PM or email) at the 3 month, 6 month, 9 month, and 1 year anniversary since "going natural" just to make sure all is going well and that you arent having any issues. Congrats on all your hard work and on your graduation!!! |
|
