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Post by Jaycee on Jun 8, 2008 17:38:47 GMT -5
I am new to the idea of switching my guys from a kibble based diet to raw. I am also in the process of trying to convince my husband that this is a good idea. One question I do have is cost. Isn't it cheaper to provide kibble, or does it run about the same? I am currently feeding mine Zupreem (with broth added to soften, of course!). My husband just bought a 30 pound bag for 40 or 50 dollars. I am not sure how long this will last us...with 7 ferrets! I am just concerned that I will end up spending us out of house and home on a raw diet...not to mention that if I do switch, my ferrets will be better fed than I!
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Post by Forum Administrator on Jun 8, 2008 17:43:53 GMT -5
Here is the answer that I posted on the ferret.com forum. I'll copy and paste it in here to get the ball rolling. Hopefully others can offer their input:
It really depends. How much do you currently spend on kibble? If you find a good local provider of your meats (such as sams club) or a local slaughterhouse, you can actually get away with feeding your ferrets for CHEAPER. More "fancy" meats, such as organic, pasteured beef will be kinda expensive, but I only feed beef once a week so a hunk of "expensive" beef actually lasts me quite a while.
With four natural fed ferrets (and on natural fed cat) I got really good about finding ways to cut costs. You get better about scoping out deals. One way to save on meat is to buy meat that is about to expire at the grocery store. Not rotten meat, just the meat that is on sale because its sell by date is tommorow. I take that home and free it right away (after dividing it into appropriate portions). You can usually get about 25% off your meat! This is how I am able to afford lamb. The meat is still technically "good", its not expired yet, but most people dont cook the meat THE DAY they bring it home. Sucks for the meat department, but its good luck for you!
Ferrets dont really eat that much meat on a raw diet (they are able to digest alot more of this food then they do with kibble) so you wind up feeding LESS food. This means lower cost (and less poop! Yeah!).
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Post by Jaycee on Jun 8, 2008 17:46:14 GMT -5
Thanks again Guili for introducing me to this site, and for all the help you have offered in the past, present and future!! As for the "less poop" thing, all I have to say is "Yea!!!" I like the sounds of that!
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Post by Forum Administrator on Jun 8, 2008 17:49:15 GMT -5
Oh, no problem. Im glad to have been a help to you. Hopefully we can get your kiddos onto a raw diet. I think you will be thrilled with what you see if they go all raw. The difference is amazing, I just cant really get you to understand what I mean by describing it on the net, you really do have to see for your self.
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Post by Jaycee on Jun 8, 2008 19:56:53 GMT -5
I am pretty much sold on the idea, now. I am really working on my husband now. I think he is starting to give and see it my way. If raw diet can help a ferret live a happier HEALTHIER life, then the switch should be worth it. Wish me luck, but my husband usually crumbles. That is partly how I have my 7 fuzzies!
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Post by jojodancer on Jun 9, 2008 13:22:14 GMT -5
Jaycee,
Not knowing the ages of your 7, you may need some of that Zupreem to help switch over to raw. I'd start now - moisten some of the kibble and mix it with chicken baby food or raw commercial frozen food. Give them that soup once or twice a day.
Next step would be to grind the Zupreem and roll pieces of meat around in it. The meat will probably have to be "kibble-sized" Then you can start putting pieces of zupreem-coated meat into a bowl with the kibble in it. Somewhere in there, start adding pieces of small RMBS...
My point is, the Zupreem won't go to waste. It's a transitioning method, and insures that your ferrets will be getting complete nutrition during this time.
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Post by tss on Jun 9, 2008 14:02:16 GMT -5
I've found feeding raw verses feeding In nova EVO is MUCH cheaper! (I feed prey model and whole prey). I get chicken on sale for $.30 or $.50 a pound and beef heart for $1 a pound (or free when I'm in the town the slaughterhouse is in), the organs I use are free, the goat I use is free and the deer I use is free. I pay $4 for 12-15 pound rabbits. What I do is cut all of it up into 1" pieces, the organs are more like puree and the deer I use is ground. Sometimes I mix goat milk and eggs in then put the mix into muffin pans then freeze them. I get the cubes out then place them in bags or old oatmeal containers, I use mini-muffin pans and 3 or 4 will feed the ferrets for a day. I also feed rabbit pinkies and mice sometimes. With the EVO I would spend about $7 for 2 weeks worth of food, I can make enough raw cubes to last a month and a half for about $5.
The poop is nice too! I used to have EVO mixed in the soup, at first when I made a new batch without kibble I got scared. There wasn't much poop at all, then I realized it was because of the lack of kibble.
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Post by ashsan on Jun 10, 2008 17:26:20 GMT -5
If you have a costco near you, you can save a fortune. They sell a thing of chicken wings (big ones) for like $13, and it has 6 wings per package and there is 6 packages per unit, for $15. What I do is cut the wings in half and give half to each ferret. One package lasts 6 days, and half the time there is leftovers. So if you have seven ferrets, the would consume about 3.5 wings a night, you would have enough to feed them for 10.5 nights, so your total cost per month would be about $40 a month for food. Much cheaper then any kibble. And organs are cheap, like $1.50 at any grocer store.
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Post by ashsan on Jun 10, 2008 17:29:07 GMT -5
If you dont the price difference at any grocery store in not much higher. And the difference when you switch in unbelievable. Their eyes, coat, smell, POOP, it all changes and looks so much better.
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