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Post by halblingefrau on Jan 8, 2011 16:57:14 GMT -5
Ok, so I have kind of a silly question. It is MUCH cheaper for me to buy bone in meats, so I buy a lot of chicken thighs/wings, game hen, etc. Can I cut the meat off the bone to give on my "muscle meat only" days? I tend to feed a lot of gizzards for muscle meat only meals since I don't often get de-boned meats.
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Post by sherrylynne on Jan 8, 2011 17:32:46 GMT -5
You certainly can, although the more variety you can add in the better. And no- it's NOT a stupid question Another meat to keep in mind you can do that with easily is turkey! Buy a small, whole turkey, wing tips, neck, and ribs are bone in, and just cut the rest off for muscle meats
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Post by halblingefrau on Jan 8, 2011 18:17:20 GMT -5
Yeah my kids are poultry freaks, so I just vary it up with different kinds of birds. Occasionally (once a week or so) they get beef or lamb or pork. But Chicken, turkey, and cornish hen make up the bulk of their diet.
I saw a goose at the store the other day but it was pretty pricey. I wanted to get it though. Maybe if I see a good sale.
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Post by katt on Jan 8, 2011 18:38:33 GMT -5
You could also then save the bones for bone days. Say you want to feed pork but you want them to get bones to gnaw on, they can have pork meat and poultry bones!
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Post by josiesmom on Jan 19, 2011 22:06:11 GMT -5
Why the trend for boneless days? Hack up the poultry or rabbit carcass up into pieces about 1 1/2 x 2 inch square plop the hunk into the bowl ( I offer the equivalent of these sizes two per ferret per meal) and boom! Meal served! THEY choose if they eat the bone or not. Mostly they do. Chicken wings get separated at the joints. A good set of poultry shears will prove the handiest tool for cutting. Currently I am using a set from Farberware. Make sure the tang and blade are one. IOW the handles arenlt simply plastic pieces riveted to the blades. They won't hold up to the pressure of cutting through the backbones or turkey necks. Give your ferrets bone with every meal and every day. Let their systems sort out their dietary needs.
Cheers, Kim
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Post by sherrylynne on Jan 20, 2011 0:58:02 GMT -5
Unfortunately, some won't regulate themselves. I've got one who would eat no bone given her choice(she even just eats the meat off wings), which is why they get commercial raw daily now. And then at the other extreme, there's one tiny girl who would eat nothing BUT bone. A good balance for new transitions is 8-9 bone in meals, and 4-5 plain muscle meats. That way, they can also get more variety in their meals, for a better coverage of nutritional bases. For example, whole prey costs me a small fortune. I can, however, get things like elk and bison quite reasonably.
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Post by mjohn143 on Jan 20, 2011 9:37:46 GMT -5
What kind of commercial raw do u use?
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Post by sherrylynne on Jan 20, 2011 10:12:39 GMT -5
Urban Carnivore, a branch of Carnivora- www.carnivora.ca/ I think you can only get this one in Canada, but not certain.
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