Ok I'm going to just blend the hearts & eggshell tonight for puree taurine/calcium. I really don't want to backtrack to kibble and bones/muscle aren't up to edible speed yet for her. Gotta get it in her somehow!
At the market I couldn't find another chicken organ. I really want to do chicken long enough to see it agrees with her, but I bought the next best option which is lamb kidney. I'll add that too to the puree as I doubt she'll eat it.
What's the best way to smash wing bones? I took a hammer to them but it wasn't a good enough smash session I think. I didn't want to wreck my counter. I think I'm doing it wrong.
Scale isn't here yet
Amazon sent shipping notice with an estimated arrival of 2/24. Until then I've been guesstimating weight at around 1.5oz at a time. She's had some egg yolk too
Kat is absolutely darling. You have a Tummy with Teeth, and she will eat quite well. She's too young to imprint on her food and that will make feeding her easier.
To smash up chicken bones, I use a cleaver. Remember that Bones are the Non Weight bearing bones of an animal the size of a chicken or smaller. Quail, cornish game hens, chicken wings, duck wings, rabbit are good examples.
Here is a before picture of smashed quail:
Here is after. I smashed it with the cleaver and then used scissors to cut tinier pieces:
Kat is so young, you want to make the pieces tiny.
When you get a chance, pick up a cutting board. I use a red plastic one and since I'm dealing with raw meat, this cutting board is only used for the ferrets.
@julesalot has given you a very good overview of the Frankenprey menu. Since you like skipping steps and you have a baby, I would go ahead and put her on the Frankenprey menu, but tailor it to her size. Rather like feeding a toddler. Make your pieces small and easy for her.
Pick up a package of gizzards. They are great for building jaw strength and will help keep her teeth clean.
Cut the gizzards into small long pieces like this: ########
At night, I would put a chicken wing, smash it once lengthwise and twice across it. Also put a small dish of tiny slivers in a dash of water. The slivers should be about the size of your fingernail crescent. She will need access to food all the time. She's going to eat alot.
If you want to build a basic menu, I'll look it over and we can tweak it, if need be.
I would also continue to give her the basic soupie recipe once a week. If Kat stays use to the soupie, and has a little illness, she will be use to soupie and it will be easier to get nourishment in her.
Julesalot went into the basic menu. I'll give you an idea and you can suit it to your schedule and how she eats.
Monday:
Bone In: smashed chicken wings
Muscle meat: chicken or duck gizzards
Tuesday:
Muscle meat: Heart is a muscle meat, so she will get a full meal of heart. You can even puree a couple and make a gravy and then pour it over some tiny pieces.
Bone In: Quail
Wednesday: Organ Day
Liver plus another organ.
Liver should add up to approx five percent of what she eats in a week.
Organs are the secreting organs, so think in addition to liver, kidney/brains/thymus/spleen/pancreas
Her P.M. meal should be Bone In:
Organ meals will make for loose poops and bone will help firm them up
I would suggest Cornish game hen
Thursday:
Bone In: Cornish game hen
Muscle meat: Gizzards
Friday:
Bone In: chicken wings
Muscle Meat: ground beef or ground turkey or even ground pork. You can whip up an egg, add a bit of warm water and pour this over the ground meat. An egg is very good for her.
You also want one meal of red meat a week (as a minimum). It's high in Iron and Vitamin B
Saturday:
Organ Day:
Liver plus another organ plus a half meal of heart
Bone In: Quail or this would be a good day for soupie.
The average female will eat 2 ounces in a day. A Tummy with teeth will eat alot more. She's growing and needs alot of food. She will slow down before she eats you out of house and home.
I'm not expecting that she will eat all of this on her own. You will want to sit with her, hand feed her if she needs it. Patience and persistence is the key to success.
The soupie recipe is balanced. So, if you find that she is eating well and everything that you offer her, she will be ready to move to Frankenprey. Then it becomes important to follow the guidelines, so that she is getting a balanced menu.
If Kat decides that there is a flavor that she doesn't like, try holding her and running it under some warm water.
Keep offering it to her until she takes a bite or two. Beef for example is a strong flavor. Lamb is a nice red meat, but it is also a strong flavor.
One tiny note: You know about drying the eggshells and then grinding them up, right?
Any questions, so far?
You've given everyone on the forum (especially me) baby fever. So, could we please have some more pictures.
:wave2: You're doing great so far.