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Post by tss on Jun 23, 2008 14:26:54 GMT -5
I do think it is a bit bone heavy overall. I do feed bone everyday but I balance it out, the "main" meat in my ferrets diet is cut up whole chicken but on top of that I feed boneless beef, chicken pork and deer. A whole chicken or turkey has quiet a bit more then 10% of bone..
I agree with what was said about using some turkey leg meat because turkey legs are FULL of tendons. You may also look into adding some more heart, heart is extreamly high in taurine and is also very cheap. You can also use beef or pork hearts in place of chicken, I pay $.99 a pound for beef heart.
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Post by meli on Jun 23, 2008 14:38:50 GMT -5
Awesome input. Its been 2 weeks that I've had them and today is one week of raw! I gotta check out this other store by be to see how much their meat is and if it has a better variety. I'm going to go shopping for the babies tomorrow.
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Post by Forum Administrator on Jun 23, 2008 15:15:14 GMT -5
Meli, you will find that you'll develop your own way of feeding raw. Not every raw feeder feeds the same, and thats okay (not every person eats the same and you dont see people constantly dropping dead from deficiencies do you?) As long as you hit a few key things, its okay if your feeding plan varies from others.
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Post by meli on Jun 23, 2008 16:44:21 GMT -5
Ya, I understand that, but you ladies have more experience so I value your input greatly. I want my fuzzbutts to live a long healthy life and that means giving them the best of food. I'd like to take a little bit of everyones opinion and combine it. I'll see what the other store near me has tomorrow. Beef,pork and lamb is so expensive now n'days I may have trouble finding something that fits in my budget which is why I'll stick with turkey,chicken, and I'll even check out the cornish hens. Organic beef is hard to come by where I live so thats going to have to be on sale. Anywho I'll see whats in store tomorrow.
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Post by tss on Jun 23, 2008 21:11:09 GMT -5
Beef,pork and lamb is so expensive now n'days I may have trouble finding something that fits in my budget which is why I'll stick with turkey,chicken. That is one of the great things about beef and pork hearts, they are cheap so it is easier to incorperate a cheaper cut of red meat. Not sure of you have but you can always check www.localharvest.org if there are farms near you ask about getting meat, organs and heart from them. Many of those farms are all natural and organic and are willing to sell stuff pretty cheap. You can even look for slaughterhouses, there is one about an hour and a half from me. I can get any of their scraps for free, the only catch is that I've got the get them out of the barrels. When I went I got 80 pounds of stuff, it was meat, sinew, heart, lung, pancreas, liver, neck and some ribs. |
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Post by meli on Jun 24, 2008 0:08:21 GMT -5
Theres tons of farms by me. I'll have to check that out. My dad use to blend beef heart whole, freeze it and feed it to his fish daily. So its something I'm not to queezy about. I'll check that out tomorrow as well. Thanks!
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Post by Forum Administrator on Jun 24, 2008 4:45:52 GMT -5
Meli I am so proud of the progress you've made! How long have you been feeding the boys naturally? Once you've been doing it for 1 month, this thread will be moved to the new section "Newbie Archive". You will then post all your questions about diet in the other sections of the nutrition area: Raw, Whole prey, and General Feeding Questions and Discussion. You are learning fast and I couldnt be more proud! I cant wait for you to start embarking on this diet. Soon YOU will be answering peoples questions about natural diet. AND in January 2009 (when you've been natural feeding for 6 months) You will be eligable to become a holistic ferret mentor! (if you want of course  ) |
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Post by mustelidmusk on Jun 24, 2008 10:12:30 GMT -5
I feed bone daily as well - it's already in the commecial diet The wings and necks are really heavy on bone, so I agree that swapping out some of the bone in favor of meat. I'd recommend trying some different types of meat as well... lamb, rabbit, pork etc. Also, feed dark meat rather than white meat. The thighs and dark meats have more fats and taurine. I also would add... - some egg (especially yolk) - salmon oil about 6 drops per ferret per day in one of their meals...this will prep them for the introduction of occasional fish tidbits. You can also mix in a SMALL amount of heavy cream to add weight to your little one - cream is lower in lactose and high in fats, so most ferrets can handle a little mixed in their food. Start with a very small amount since the fat content may result in loose stool until your ferret gets used to the higher fat content. Keep up the good work!!! -jennifer |
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Post by Forum Administrator on Jun 24, 2008 10:23:40 GMT -5
I definitly think its best to give the dark meat, but even so I think its important to still include the white meat as well, even if its just every now and then. IMO its essentail to get a variety of parts. But I agree with Jennifer that its probably smart to feed a fair amount of dark meat (for the reasons she listed). The wings might be boney, but they have cartalidge in the wing tips, and I cant think of any other meats that provide that (except for the tiny bit on the top of the bone). So I would still include them, just mix it up and feed legs and thighs too. Jennifer's suggestion of adding a little cream can certainly help put weight on a ferret. I did this with De when she first started on a raw diet (because she was so skinny) but I weaned her off of the cream once she started to inhale the raw soupy (yay De!) Oh and yes, adding a little salmon oil can help to get your ferts used to that fishy taste. Fish shouldnt be a diet STAPLE, BUT its still a good addition if your ferret will eat it. I'd feed it about once a week if your ferts will eat it (mine wont). I like whole, raw anchovies, sardines, and salmon chunks. Mackeral is also an afforadable alternative to salmon. All the fish I listed supply good amounts of omega-3. Once your ferret is eating fish once a week, you wont have to add any fish oil to the diet (well except for when you are bribing them while cutting nails ) |
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Post by tss on Jun 24, 2008 10:52:09 GMT -5
I've been giving fish oild for a while now, I got some mullet but only Lil ventured to eat any of it. Mackeral is cheap, the King and Gulf Spanish mackeral are high in mercury but the others are much lower. www.gotmercury.org/article.php?list=type&type=75 |
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Post by meli on Jun 24, 2008 11:27:07 GMT -5
Great! Pocus is the runt as you all know so next to Hocus he's tiny! He does eat a lot and I suppose am astonished at how much he eats. I'll try the heavy cream with him. I think he needs to weight on him. How long would I keep him on heavy cream? I've been meaning to get another bowl for them to. I also want to add a feeding den to the lower part of their cage to keep them out of the litter box. I'm saving for my playpen so another cage has to wait a bit. This week I'm going to rearrange their cage so I can see where I want their feeding den to be. How do I start the mouse introduction when I purchase them? Okay off to the grocery store!  |
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Post by meli on Jun 24, 2008 14:31:26 GMT -5
Okay I picked up a huge pack of chicken drumsticks,turkey necks,wingettes,gizzards,and spilt chicken breast with rib bones. Beef is just to expensive and trying to find organic is difficult. I still have one more store to check out which I plan to come next week. I still have enough boneless beef to last this week as well chicken livers and hearts. I do have some turkey shreds as well. I also picked up a container for heavy whipping cream. They're not eating the stella and chewys patties unless they're moistoned in organic watered down chicken broth. Tomorrow is organ day  |
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Post by Forum Administrator on Jun 24, 2008 18:13:04 GMT -5
How long would I keep him on heavy cream?
Just until you see him adding some weight. I wouldnt feed it for TOO long.
This week I'm going to rearrange their cage so I can see where I want their feeding den to be.
Yay! Feeding den! Great idea! Im cheap, my ferrets use brown paper bags (from grocery shopping) as "feeding dens". They eat outside of the cage now, but they know to stay in the bag when they eat. I just toss the bags when they get ucky.
How do I start the mouse introduction when I purchase them?
Honestly, I would just cut open the mouse and play "tug of war" with them. I got my guys interested in mice by giving them a live mouse. They didnt kill the mouse, so I had Tim kill the mice. The ferrets got the idea that mice were "fun" and that you can bite them, but they had no clue how to kill them. I didnt want the mice to suffer after being batted around, so Tim quickly and humanely snapped their necks to put them out of any pain they were in. If you dont feel comfortable dispatching the mice (if your ferrets wont kill them), then maybe this isnt the method for you. Tug of war works very well, and putting meat juice on the mouse can make them "smell" familiar. Hope this helps!
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Post by Forum Administrator on Jun 24, 2008 18:18:02 GMT -5
Beef is just to expensive and trying to find organic is difficult. I still have one more store to check out which I plan to come next week. Yeah it can be expensive. If needed you could always buy online, it might be more expensive up front, but if you buy in bulk you might be able to save. Prey4Pets is a really great site www.prey4pets.com/servlet/StoreFrontI also recommend checking out the local farms/slaughterhouses. You can find some great deals that way And like Maria said, beef HEART is usually alot cheaper then other cuts of meat. You could always buy organic beef heart and give that (its a good source of taurine AND its pretty cheap) Good luck with organ meat day! Expect some tarry, runny poop from any liver. Don't worry. Its normal
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Post by meli on Jun 25, 2008 14:29:47 GMT -5
Their poops have been kinda tarry with some yellowish mucus looking stuff, but the beef they've been eating is kinda bloody compared to turkey and chicken. They're activity levels are beyond crazy! These guys get so hyper when its play time its nuts lol So I know they're not sick or anything because they eat, pee, poop, sleep and play! lol Today they're getting a handful of gizzards with a teaspoon of heavy cream, 3 chicken hearts, 2 1/2 chicken livers, they also have a left over wingette in their cage from last night which I'll remove if they haven't eaten it by the time I add the hearts and livers to their bowl. My dad use to get beef heart like crazy! I guess I'll be stuck ordering it because I haven't found any here. Sometimes living in the country bites  |
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