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Post by Deleted on Mar 7, 2014 0:34:50 GMT -5
I bought gizzards that was supposed to contain heart, and I only found one. I have all of the other ingredients.. Liver, chicken meat, eggshell powder, but no heart. Should i add the a gizzard into the mix? Or should i wait to find hearts? I have checked everywhere for them and can't find them, I will just have to keep looking! Also, If you don't grind the eggshell powder enough will it harm them or back them up? Mine doesn't seem to be a powder at the moment.. The pieces just won't get any smaller! And I hope its not like a faux pas around here to post a lot of questions, because thats all I seem to have!  Thank you! |
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Post by Heather on Mar 7, 2014 1:45:52 GMT -5
don't add the gizzards to your blender. They will rocket around it like little missiles destroying your blender. If you cannot get hearts, buy some taurine and add that to your mix. Have you got a mortar and pestle? This will help powder your egg shells. I resorted in the end to getting a cheap coffee grinder and using that for my egg shells. Powders them beautifully (thank you Sherry  ) And there is no limit to the number of type of questions you can ask. That's what we're here for. ciao |
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Post by Deleted on Mar 7, 2014 10:07:02 GMT -5
Please don't ever worry about asking questions Everyone loves to help and you know how people love to share knowledge. Hearts are the biggest problem to find, for those of us who are not in a big city. I used dried hearts, until I could find fresh hearts. I also bought the Tyson package of gizzards and got just the one heart. There are online providers (MyPetCarnivore and HareToday) and try calling butchers in your nearest big city. We had to drive to Nashville for ours. The hearts provide Taurine, which is essential for ferrets. Gizzards don't provide the needed Taurine (I believe they have a little Taurine, but are not considered a good enough source). I think my coffee grinder was $9.00 at Walmart, and I only use it for eggshells. It really works well, for making the powder. |
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Post by bitbyter on Mar 7, 2014 11:54:04 GMT -5
Another option if you cannot find heart or taurine powder (health food store or body building shop) is raw tongue, NOT the cold cuts version (beef tongue is really high in taurine). Mind you, if you are having issues finding heart you are probably not going to find tongue. Also keep in mind they don't have to be chicken hearts. You can use beef or pork.
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Post by msav on Mar 7, 2014 12:03:47 GMT -5
actually, I can find beef tongue in every supermarket in my town. Only 2 placed have beef heart. Only issue with tongue is, it is the whole tongue (quite large) and it is twice as expensive as heart (at least in my town)
this all depends on what is in high demand in your town.
thank you though, I have been meaning to ask about beef tongue but never got around to asking. I may pick some up and add it to the organ mix
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Post by bitbyter on Mar 7, 2014 12:16:38 GMT -5
I wouldn't consider heart or tongue organs. We classify them as a muscle meat as you can't overfeed heart or tongue like you can other organs (the vitamins found in organs can be dangerous in high enough concentrations). The reason heart is REQUIRED in their diet is to ensure they are getting enough taurine. So basically heart / tongue is a required muscle meat. Not an organ for the purposes of the raw diet menu.
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Post by msav on Mar 7, 2014 13:43:15 GMT -5
yea, was not thinking this morning. I don't know why I typed organ.
But if they like tongue and it is good for them I will add it to the mix.
BTW I throw gizzards in my blender all the time. But I also don't have the average household blender. If you guys have a vitamix or a blendtec. You guys can throw anything you want in it. I threw whole chicken legs in mine and it made Chicken Mousse out of it. Not a bone fragment in sight.
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Post by gfountain on Mar 7, 2014 17:50:32 GMT -5
So just to clarify, tongue is an acceptable alternative to hearts? I can get tongue at my local Walmart, but I've not found a single store within 100 miles that carries hearts.
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Post by bitbyter on Mar 7, 2014 19:01:33 GMT -5
in my opinion yes. It is even higher in taurine than heart.
Beef Heart 625 mg per kg
Beef Tongue 1752 mg per kg
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Post by bitbyter on Mar 7, 2014 19:13:10 GMT -5
fish is also pretty high in taurine.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 7, 2014 21:42:56 GMT -5
Thanks!!!
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Post by Awaiting Abyss on Mar 7, 2014 23:14:35 GMT -5
fish is also pretty high in taurine. Any kind of fish in particular? |
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Post by bitbyter on Mar 8, 2014 8:02:51 GMT -5
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Post by msav on Mar 8, 2014 17:37:00 GMT -5
Would those numbers be the same for pork tongue, I found some today at the Asian market.
,
Sent from my V972 Core4 using proboards
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Post by bitbyter on Mar 8, 2014 22:18:25 GMT -5
Probably not msav. Taurine is higher in muscles that are used all the time. Cows are ruminants (chewing all the time) so their tongue is constantly working. Pigs are not ruminants so generally only use their tongue when eating a meal. Lamb / Sheep / Goat / Bison tongue would probably be similar to Cow as they are all ruminants.
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