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Post by lnsybean44 on Jul 22, 2009 15:02:51 GMT -5
I just checked out the website and they have one of the $210 grinders on sale for 160 with free shipping. I looked up demos on youtube and it does grind bones and has a reverse. My dad said to give it two more days before I give up on getting my grandpa's grinder. If it doesnt show up in two days though i will be getting the sam beare grinder!
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Post by lnsybean44 on Jul 22, 2009 15:58:43 GMT -5
I will be picking up my first order of rabbit on Monday about 6 pounds for about $10. I told him to leave them intact and I will deal with the skin and heads and such, that way I can see if the ferrets will take them as treats and if not I will grind up the skin and find something to do with the heads... maybe grind the brain? He is also saving me organs from the chickens and rabbits, pelts to grind up (or try to grind), chicken feet and chicken necks... for free. And maybe a few small rabbit heads if I can handle it. He offered chicken heads but I think I would have more trouble with chicken heads tha rabbit heads since I find chickens gross lol.
I am still waiting for my order of cow heart to come in at the grocery store. They said they would call some time this week... hopefully soon.
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Post by Heather on Jul 22, 2009 23:56:28 GMT -5
I envy you  You've found an awesome deal. Good luck. Fantastic find. Keep us posted. ciao |
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Post by lnsybean44 on Jul 23, 2009 20:09:19 GMT -5
I have had a tough time getting Kenora to eat beef so I finally decided to make her a soup today. I had ground beef from the burger I was making and mixed it with water and a little bit of the ground up animal food service patties. She licked at it a bit and Im sure she will get around the eating it eventually, once she is hungry enough that is.
Do turkey and chicken count as two different meat sources or no since they are both poultry?
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Post by Heather on Jul 24, 2009 11:50:41 GMT -5
They're a different protein source. They have different nutritional values. You can also feed duck, goose, emu (the other red meat), quail.....you could I suppose get by on feeding just fowl if you wanted to. Good luck with the beef. I have a couple of little ones who just won't touch it. It's a fairly strong flavour in comparison to the poultry and pork meats.
ciao
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Post by lnsybean44 on Jul 24, 2009 13:50:52 GMT -5
Once I get my grinder (i swear I really have one coming, my parents are making me wait two more days to find my grandpa's before I just order the new sam baere one I have my eye on) I was planning on mixing some beef in with my ground chicken to get another type of meat in there. I was going to add pork to the turkey as well. I was going to make a small batch of the two meat mixes at first to make sure she will actually eat it, the added meats shouldnt be too over powering and wont be any more that 1/3 of the mix. Then some meat balls will be just chicken or just turkey. That way its kinda like having a different meal each night and she wont get bored of the ground meat.
Then I also have the chicken feet I mentioned and rabbit ears and a few other fun things for enrichment.
One way or another they will be getting rabbit (probably chunks) so they wont have just poultry.
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Post by Heather on Jul 24, 2009 23:33:46 GMT -5
Sounds great. You're doing well Sometimes you have to mix meats to get them to try new meats. I usually mix heavy what they like with very little of what they don't know, increasing it as they become more comfortable with it, until they are eating the new food. I will check with you later. ciao |
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Post by lnsybean44 on Jul 26, 2009 11:37:33 GMT -5
My heart finally came in! I am wondering what other organs I should feed. Currently I have livers but Im fairly certain that the butcher could order me other things. What else is important to have?
Edit: I was surfing around and saw the kidney, lung and spleen are good organs to add.
Edit: For my ground chicken I wanted to do about 5 pounds of chicken (whole chicken with bones), 1/2 pound of organ meat (1/4 being liver, the other 1/4 being the lung, kidney etc) plus 1/4 pound of heart. I was going to take a pound of chicken thighs, cut the meat off, grind the bones and cut the muscle meat into chunks and mix it into the ground meat before I make meat balls, that way there is something for them to get their teeth on. Lastly I was going to put 3-4 eggs into the mixture. If I add egg will it cause problems with me leaving the meat in her bowl? She usually eats within a few hours although has been known to let it sit for up to seven before digging in. I put it in her cage frozen though, if that makes a difference. Most importantly do these proportions sound right? I read that 10% of the diet should be organ meat (half of the should be liver) but I wasnt sure how to divide up the bones and meat into proportions so I planned on just using whole animals.
Are there any supplements I should add? I still cant find any taurine but I havent given up. Should I add fish oil, or any vitamins?. I was looking at a cat raw website and they suggested adding some vitamins B and E to the mix. The other option would be to make a mixture of these things and drip some on top before each meal so I know tha the oils are fresh.
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Post by Heather on Jul 27, 2009 0:02:56 GMT -5
You don't have to worry about the added taurine if you're feeding heart in your mix... that's the solution The real thing is superior to the artificial supplemental stuff anyway  . I like the sound of your recipe...it's been years since I weighed my stuff but the numbers sound about right ( I go by colour...sad I know but I've done it that way for so long  ) I usually use 10 lbs of rmb, about 2 lbs to 3 lbs of mixed offal (liver, kidney, lung and heart). Billinghurst feeds approx 15% to 20% offal, I feed a little lighter than that. Watch your guys litter box, and coats...they're the first tell tale signs. Too much organ meats will result in loose poopies. The final ingredient is 4 or 5 raw eggs...really simple and basic. I also add 1/4 to 1/2 cup of pumpkin or squash if I'm not feeding a lot of prey to supplement the lack of fur being eaten by my guys. I find that it helps settle the tummies of my IBD guys. I then place the mixed meats into 2 lbs pkgs and freeze. During the winter I supplement with marine fish oils ( I don't freeze these as the oils break down if frozen). If you feed a mixture of proteins, then you won't have to supplement. Variety being the key. Proper feeding means less supplementation  Good luck ciao |
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Post by lnsybean44 on Jul 27, 2009 6:38:34 GMT -5
Oh right, I forgot to add in that I am going to add two to three rabbit pelts. If that doesnt work then I will add the pumpkin. I will also add in a bit more organ. Right now my percentage with that mix is right around 10%, I think maybe I had better go a litter higher than that to be on the safe side. Thank you!
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Post by Heather on Jul 27, 2009 11:37:00 GMT -5
If you're going to feed the pelts...gauge how big the rabbit would be for the size of the pelt....I pelt for 1 rabbit. So what you're really creating is a frankenbunny So for 5 lbs of meat...1 pelt. Just a thought Good luck. ciao |
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Post by lnsybean44 on Jul 28, 2009 20:27:15 GMT -5
The pelts are from rabbits that were about three pounds but I will be sure to keep track of how many pounds i am putting in versus how much fur and keep everything in proportion. I have finalized my ground ratios and currently my grinder is in california and slowly making its way east . I think I will stick with using cornish hens and chicks for kenora's "whole prey" meals and chicks, mice and cornish hens for Newton, probably two meals per week to keep up jaw stength and clean their teeth. I am thinking about trying to get the boys to eat some ground too. What would be the best way to help them switch? I was thinking about mixing kibble and water into the ground meat and slowly increasing the amount of meat like you would for switching a kibble fed ferret. They eat their freeze dried but they dont love it like they loved kibble so I think kibble would be better to mix in so that they will recognize the smell and be more likely to eat it. I am also getting some venison to mix into a chicken meatball and possibly some deer organs as well once hunting season starts. The family I am getting it from doesnt use any of the organs so I can take what ever I want. Anything I should be aware of while feeding venison? I know it is a bit lower in fat than other meats. I read somewhere that pork should not be fed but there was absolutely no explaination. Is there any reason to not feed pork? |
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Post by mustelidmusk on Jul 28, 2009 23:43:45 GMT -5
The reason some people do not feed raw pork is because they fear the possibility of trichinosis, which is a paraitic infectio of the muscle meat. Trichinosis was somethng you had to worry about when pigs were literally raised on rotten garbage and freezers were not around. Today, many people feed raw pork with no issues whatsoever. Others still prefer to stay away from it. I've never heard of anyone having any problems with it. Any wild game meat should be frozen for 3 weeks. Any wild game meat in areas where specific disease are prevelent that may not be killed by freezing should be tested per recommendations by the local wild game/hunting agencies. Regading taurine, it's a supplement that's optional if you're feeding heart on a regular basis. I the meats have been frozen for quite a while, some taurine will be lost. A supplement will not hurt, but it's more of a "safeguard" than a requirement. I need to apologize for my absence...we're trying to get a software product out the door at woork right now - it's being a flaming nightmare.....the product should be wrapped up this Thusday, but we're behinnd. I'll probably lose this coming weekend as well  In the meantime, Heather is filing in and keeping an eye on you. It's actually really good for you to work with other mentors - everybody does things differently even though we all follow the rule to provide a balanced diet. The more ideas you get and the more you hear from a variety of people, the better you can arrive at a program that works well for your own situation. It sounds like you have a lot of good sources of meats I can't get all that stuff, and I obviously don't have time to chase after it...so, my brats get "TV dinners" instead About feeding the boys some meat....cool!!!! You can try moistening kibble and making a soup with kibble, water and ferretone. If you can get them eating any soup, then you can start adding a small amount of ground mat to it. Over time increase the percentage of meat. them nake the meat chunkier, etc. Some ferrets do well on the soup method. Others do better mixing the freeze-dried fraw into kibble. If your boys are eating the freeze-dried raw. You can try moisteing a bit of AFS. AFter they eatthat moistened, you an mix a small abount of the ground meat into it (mash it together to make it tough for then to pick around the new stuff. For Kenora...mot ferrets love th taste of a little salmon ol - or better yet...heavy cream (organic heavy whipping cream is best). mix some cream up with the other ground meats (like beef). feed this as a treat. Over time, reduce he amount of cream. This works well introducing the organ meats as well. Cream is pretty rich and can cause an upst tummy if too much is given, so stick with small amounts of beef/cream if you need to use much cream to get Kenora interested. Sounds like verything is going really well. Fingers crossed.....hopefully my work nightmare will be over before the weekend hits!!!! -jennifer |
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Post by lnsybean44 on Jul 29, 2009 13:11:31 GMT -5
Im sorry work is so crazy. Hopefully everything will get settled so you wont have to lose your weekend. Heather has been a great help and you are right, it helps to hear from both of you.
I will start kenora with the cream this weekend once I get Newton settled in (I pick him up friday morning!). I got her to eat a little bit of organ meat by mixing it with the AFS but I a hoping that with the ground she will get a much more balanced diet because she wont be able to pick out the organs or eat around the bone.
I will start feeding wet AFS to get them used to eating moist food and try and mix ground with that. If that doesnt work then I will try the kibble wet and then add ground. Ill play with it now that I have an idea of what to do. If all else fails I will mix in a bit of heavy cream (or should I try that before I try the kibble?).
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Post by mustelidmusk on Jul 30, 2009 23:07:19 GMT -5
Yes, Heather is WONDERFUL!!! I don't worry about you with Heather looking in. Also, I can never stress enough about talking to other people about their feeding programs. As long as you stick to the guidelines of balance, you'll find that raw feding is really flexible. I'd try the cream since most ferts love it...it doesn't take much mixed in the food either. As with any new wet food, a little dab on the nose is agreat way to get those tougues going You know, it seems to me that most ferrets really dislike the moistened kibble....sre - yo can get them to eat it if you drown it with ferretone, cream, or some other tastey oil!!! Once it's drowned, the kibble may as well be real meat For bones, remember to strip most of the meat off and feed the bones first - when they're really hungry. If they have all the meat along with the bone, the naughty little brats will pick out their favorite parts and leave the items that require a little extra work You get yor new boy on Friday?  ? Oh how CUTE!!!! I'm betting Kenora will like him . Now don't forget those pictures!!! Let me know how you like the grinder....I'd love to get one for my brats - he hard part ids finding all those organ meats. You did AWESOME with your mea suppliers!!! I think this area is too "sanitized" to be able to find the "goodies". Even the butcher shops are more like small deli's with a smaller selction of the best cuts of meats along with a lot of gourmet and specialty items. Anyway...tomorrow is Friday...yomust bereally excited Have Fun!!! -jennifer PS Yes, I will be working this weekend - again But at least i have a pay check - so far |
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