meat grinder q's

[b2dg3r]

so I'm looking into the northern industrial meat grinder #12. It's gotten very good review but I'd like to know if it can do what I want it to, so If anyone has this model I'd love some input.
see, I'd tried the franken prey with mixed results. Yes, they ate it, but she lost weight and got sick--could be a coinsedence or maybe I did it wrong. but, I'd like to try again. One of the problems I had was them dragging it about the house, and having too many left overs. What I was thinking of doing this time was creating a ground diet from mice and rats of various ages, sometimes rabbit from the aisian market, and franken prey chicken, or maybe whole chicken if I find a small one. I could store the raw ground in ice cube trays, making perfect portions for my little guys. They can't drag it about so my mom would be happy. Is this machine up to grinding these types of bones? do I have to cut things into small chunks or can I toss a whole rat/mouse in?

and what kind of juvie/pinkie/hopper/adult rat/mouse/chicken ratio should I use?
I would also continue to feed freeze dried raw for knawables.
Does this sound alright???

on second thought I might not do mice/rats. They are spendy.

At the store they have whole freyers for cheap. I just wonder which bones they machine will hack through and which I'll have to pick out. But they don't always have whole birds, so I'll have to piece stuff together. I figure a ratio of one heart to two wings to some extra meat with a qizzard and a little liver is about right to make a whole...
As for beef, which part is 'cheap'. I think I read that the beef should be cheap. Is that the lean part or fatty part, or does it really matter?

[Heather]

I can't help you with the grinder...I've had a couple of raw students who have purchased grinders but to be honest, I can't remember which product it was, I don't believe they were northern. They used to be one of the top a few years ago but I'm not sure they've maintained their capabilities to do heavy grinding. The idea is to look closely at how much plastic components does it have? What horsepower is the motor rated for? Is it easy to clean? and are the parts ready and available if something goes wrong? You might also try doing a search with grinders being one of the key words....they've been discussed before.
I feed a mix of frankenprey, ground, commercial ground, and whole prey. It covers all the bases and keeps my guys healthy and happy. You really should feed a minimum of 3 different types of proteins. As far as using whole chickens, yes go for it .... my hand grinder handles everything, except maybe some of the heavier thigh and leg bones in the bigger chickens.
You need the fattier cuts of beef meat or any other meat for that matter. Your ferrets need the fat, that's where the major part of their calories come from. If you put in too much fat you will see seedy poops it's a matter of trial and error until you get to know what each of your little ones can deal with.
ciao

[justahannah]

I make my own frozen ground mix (frankenprey style) and just use an old metal hand crank grinder I picked up from Goodwill for a few bucks. It handles most chicken bones and anything smaller just fine...sometimes it'll hang up on thicker thighs (like Heather mentioned) but if I break the bone in a few places with a meat mallet it'll go through a lot easier. I also use the coarsest attachment to reduce resistance and I like that it makes the meat and bone chunks roughly pea-sized so they still get the benefits of chewing small pieces, it's not completely mush.

[sherrylynne]

One of my students uses the one from Northern Tools. Said it handles wings, thighs, etc. with no problem.

[b2dg3r]

so I did end up getting the grinder...
it handles chicken wings without a problem, but I am hesitant to try anything larger. the only issues I have with the grinder is that some of the metal parts are super prone to rusting... ugh. mainly the plate with the holes that the meat gets pushed through--whatever those are called.
anyways, been on ground frankenprey raw for about a month. everyone is gaining weight nicely. I was afraid of them loosing weight because last time I tried going raw they weren't eating enough.
shaker in particular needs the raw frankenprey soup because he just doesn't have the strength to eat anything that isn't soupy. old senile blind deaf wobbly man... but I love him. hate who ever tossed him out of a car but now I am off subject.
Stella definately likes to chomp though, so I give her wing tips and small chuncks of ckicken meat to keep her happy. even Anabelle likes chunks. She's a youngun so she didn't really have any issues with the diet change. every time I make a new raw batch I have to convince them it's food again. basically hold the spoon to their mouth and scruff until they start licking. and they they are like--oh, this is still food! funny critters!

[sherrylynne]

If you want to stop it from rusting, wash and dry it thoroughly, then rub a bit of vegetable oil on it before storing
With stella- try offering her the middle bones from the wing. Just cut between them lengthwise, and offer them.

[b2dg3r]

I did do the washing and drying the first time--second time I used the dishwasher--but I get I let it sit in the soapy water for a tad too long--which wasn't that long. Touchy stuff!
I think I will offer Stella the middle wing. I think she'd enjoy that.