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Post by Deleted on Sept 11, 2015 14:25:47 GMT -5
I will as soon as I get home from work. I am on my way out the door. I will post a menu around 11 pm. It will be an example that I have just done this past week because I interchange foods so much just so that they don't become picky ^^
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Post by Deleted on Sept 11, 2015 14:37:09 GMT -5
No rush
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Post by Deleted on Sept 12, 2015 11:59:48 GMT -5
Menu for three ferrets. One adopted 1 1/2 year old female and two 2 1/2 year old males. The hearts and organs are cut up so they can be evenly and fairly distributed to each kid Mon Am:chicken chunks (thigh) egg shell powder 3 oz Pm:beef chunks 4oz Tue Am:pork chops in bone cut up 5 oz Pm:pork chop chuncks 3oz Wed Am:chicken thighs in bone cut up 5 oz Pm:chicken hearts and liver 3oz Thur Am:steak cut up in chunks with egg shell powder 5oz Pm:catfish chunks 5 oz(they looove catfish!) Fri Am: pork kidney 3oz Pm:chicken thigh chunks+ chicken hearts 3oz thighs 2 oz of hearts Sat Am:half Cornish game hen cut up (in bone) Pm:other half of Cornish game hen Sun Am:beef liver and chicken hearts 1oz of liver and 2 oz of hearts Pm:chicken drumsticks in bone x2 I was kinda in the dark as far as portions and how much plus how often so be easy on me x.x
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Post by Deleted on Sept 12, 2015 13:43:58 GMT -5
Hello Jordan I hope all is going great with you and your family. How is your daughter doing? Has she started a preschool yet? Sveta will take the lead here, so let's wait for her to come online and offer her opinion of your menu. I'll follow behind her and put my own two cents in. What will also help will be if you could post a dangling picture of Kyubi, Bubba and Athena along with their weights. Let me give you a little basic info on the Frankenprey menu. The Frankenprey menu is designed to mimic eating whole prey and is carefully balanced to provide all the important nutrients that a ferret will need. Here is an example of the menu and definitions and proteins sources are listed. Monday am: edible bone in meat Monday pm: edible bone in meat (or muscle)* Tuesday am: edible bone in meat Tuesday pm: muscle meat Wednesday am: edible bone in meat Wednesday pm: heart Thursday am: edible bone in meat Thursday pm: edible bone in meat (or muscle)* Friday am: edible bone in meat Friday pm: ½ heart + ¼ liver + ¼ other organ Saturday am: edible bone in meat Saturday pm: muscle meat Sunday am: edible bone in meat Sunday pm: ½ liver + ½ other organ Edible bone in meat: is just that, meat with bone included. It is not bones with just a bit of meat on them (ie: most of the meat removed). If you fed bones like this you will throw the balance of the menu off. Below is a list of good bone sources.
chicken: any / all, quail: any / all, rabbit: any / all, turkey: necks, ribs, and wing tips, duck: neck, ribs, and wing tips. pork: button bones, rib ends, cornish game hen: any / all.
Any commercial frozen raw with 10% to 15% ground bone. Any freeze dried raw with 10%-15% ground bone.
*These two meals can be either bone-in or muscle meat depending on the consistency of your ferret’s poop. Dry, chalky and firm you should reduce the bone-in meals and feed muscle meat instead. Loose, unformed and overly liquid, increase the bone-in meals. Poop Patrol will tell you alot about the health of your three ferrets.
Do not change the menu beyond these two optional meals or you could affect the nutritional balance of the diet. Muscle meat: any Heart meat. Chicken (including gizzard), turkey, duck, lamb, goat, beef, Cornish Game Hen (counts as chicken), venison, elk, basically any meat (unaltered such as smoked, pickled or injected with salt) without bone.
*Heart is considered a muscle meat but is absolutely necessary as it is their primary source of Taurine. Lack of taurine in their diet can lead to eyesight problems and other issues. Organ meat: Liver, kidney, thymus, pancreas, reproductive organs, lung, brain, basically any part of the body that secretes. Fat is an important part of a carnivore's diet as this is where they get their energy. Fat equals energy for ferrets. It works for them in the same way carbs do for humans. Make sure to pick fattier cuts over leaner cuts when buying your meat (thigh vs. breast, shoulder vs. tenderloin, etc) The nice thing is that fatty cuts are less expensive than lean cuts.
Variety For optimal health a minimum (more is preferable) of 3 different proteins need to be in the diet. At least one of the minimum 3 proteins needs to be something other than: chicken, rabbit, cornish game hen or fish.
A Red Meat meal like Beef will ensure enough Vitamin B and Iron. We want to get you familiar with what animals provide which sources of nutrients and vitamins. Because each animal protein offers different nutrients, we want a nice variety.
Chicken is a common allergen or intolerance. For that reason, we want to keep a menu from being too chicken heavy. We can talk about signs of an allergy or intolerance a bit later.
Mine love fish also. Roamy loves shrimp and they all love cod. I haven't tried catfish yet but I will. How are they doing with eating bone? Can all 3 handle the bones in the CGH? :wave3: Stef
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Post by Deleted on Sept 12, 2015 15:23:50 GMT -5
That was a lot to read @.@ I am still not sure if what I am doing is right. I give plenty of bone in meats and hearts. I literally take the thigh and cut it bone and all into chunks.They do pretty well with bones so far. They love porkchop bones a lot.I will take the pictures again. How often do I need to take them? Bubba is in need of a vet appointment unfortunately.. He has been losing hair and even though he eats the most looks thin..-sigh- what proteins should I be giving the most ie beef,pork,lamb? I do not have access to rabbit or something exotic really and I would rather like to stay away from commercial raw as I don't trust the 5% veggie and fruits.I have noticed great differences in my ferrets (other than bubba)
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Post by Deleted on Sept 12, 2015 15:51:13 GMT -5
I am having difficulty posting all pics on one post x.x
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Post by Deleted on Sept 12, 2015 15:52:48 GMT -5
Athena
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Post by Deleted on Sept 12, 2015 15:53:44 GMT -5
Athena
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Post by Deleted on Sept 12, 2015 15:55:11 GMT -5
Kyuubi
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Post by Deleted on Sept 12, 2015 15:56:41 GMT -5
Kyuubi
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Post by Deleted on Sept 12, 2015 15:58:04 GMT -5
Bubba
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Post by Deleted on Sept 12, 2015 15:59:39 GMT -5
Bubba
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Post by Deleted on Sept 12, 2015 16:03:30 GMT -5
This is what most of their poops look like. Thought I'd add that in. I will give weights a little later .
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Post by Deleted on Sept 12, 2015 16:19:32 GMT -5
Hi again Jordan. :banana: When I post this, I will do some editing, so give me a few minutes first to edit before you respond, please. The first pictures that I asked for are to give us an idea of their weight and if they look healthy. We'll ask you to post as often as possible and give us their weights once a week. Here are the basic requirements of what we ask from you: To help us make sure your ferret is doing well during his switch, a picture from above showing his body shape clearly would be appreciated bi-weekly, but is not essential.
You are required to post every second day during the "soup" stage of the transition. From the "sliver" stage, through to large chunks, you will be required to post a minimum of every 3 days. Once you hit the large chunks, once a week will be acceptable.
If you wish to post into your thread more often, that will be MORE than welcome The above are simply the minimum requirements so we can help with sticky spots, and not have to "catch up" to where you are presently at.
Failure to post as required will result in your switch coming to a standstill and will result in two warnings before being dropped from the mentoring program. If something comes up, and you need to be away, please contact your mentor letting her know how long you will be absent.I didn't tweak your menu because I was waiting for Sveta. She is in Canada and there is a time difference. I don't want to keep you in suspense, so let's look at your menu. First, we never want a menu to be very chicken heavy. You have some nice variety in your menu. Chicken is a common allergen/intolerance. When a ferret has an issue with chicken that can lead to further digestive problems like IBD (Irritable Bowel disease). It's difficult because we need them to have smaller bones like chicken so you want to find other good sources for bones. They need 7-9 bone in meals in one week. I'll post your menu in bold and make comments in Italics. As far as portions go, the average grown boy will eat 3-4 ounces in one day. The average grown girl will eat 2-3 ounces a day. They eat more in the winter and less in the spring. They will also eat a little more during their switch because they are making up for lost nutrients. If your 3 have left food on the plate, they are full. If they eat it all, they have either stashed it and are full or they need to eat more. So with one female and two boys all over the age of one, expect them to eat roughly 8-10 ounces a day. Here is your menu: Muscle meats are in purple. Bone In meats will be in blue and organs in green. Mon Am:chicken chunks (thigh) egg shell powder 3 oz
This is a muscle meat. 3-4 meals a week will be muscle meat meals.
Pm:beef chunks 4oz
This is also a Muscle meat. Beef is high in Iron and Vitamin B. They should have one Red meat meal a week.
You want to learn how to look at the meats as either Bone In meals, Muscle Meats or Organ meals.
Tue Am:pork chops in bone cut up 5 oz Pm:pork chop chuncks 3oz
Pork chops and bone are a Bone In meat. What size pork chop bone are they eating?
Wed Am:chicken thighs in bone cut up 5 oz
This is a Bone In meal. They seem to be handling larger bones very well. That surprises me but it's great. Are they eating the whole bone?
Pm: chicken hearts and liver 3oz
[/font] Here is an Organ meal of Liver and a Muscle meal of Heart. You want one Organ meal of Liver plus Heart. It should also include another Organ. Organs are hormone secreting organs like kidney, spleen. thymus, brains.
Thur Am: steak cut up in chunks with egg shell powder 5ozPm: catfish chunks 5 oz(they looove catfish!) That's great that you are dusting the meats with egg shell powder for calcium. Both of those meals will count towards a muscle meat meal.
If you can pick up some bonemeal powder then that will be even better. The NOW Brand is a good one. You want human grade without any added sweeteners. Bones provide additional important nutrients. They also help clean teeth, improve jaw and neck strength and build healthy muscles from eating whole bone. So, they need their Bone In meals.
Fri Am: pork kidney 3ozThis is an organ meal. It should be half liver and half pork kidney. Liver is full of vitamin A. We limit that to five percent of what they eat in one week. The other organ is also five percent. I'll show you the math a little later.
Pm: chicken thigh chunks+ chicken hearts 3oz thighs 2 oz of hearts This is a muscle meat meal. You can configure your menu to suit your schedule as long as the nutritional requirements stay balanced. In this case, we already have too many muscle meat meals.
Sat Am: half Cornish game hen cut up (in bone) Pm: other half of Cornish game hen These are Bone In meats. Cornish game hen is a very good choice.
Sun Am: beef liver and chicken hearts 1oz of liver and 2 oz of hearts This is your second Organ meal. It needs one other organ.Pm: chicken drumsticks in bone x2 This is a Bone In meal. You said they are okay with most of the drumstick. The knobby end part may take some time to learn to eat. I was kinda in the dark as far as portions and how much plus how often so be easy on me x.x
[/b] It looks like they need more ounces for their meals based on the numbers you showed. What we want to work on is getting more Bone In meals and getting another Organ. We also need to fine tune the organ meals and make sure there is enough Heart. You're doing quite well for doing this on your own. A few tweaks and some nutrient lessons and you will be on your way. :wave3: You're a good ferrent and your little ones will be healthy and happy. :thumbsup:
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Post by Deleted on Sept 12, 2015 16:39:57 GMT -5
We cross posted. Let me go look at Bubba, Kyubbi and Athena's pictures.
Athena is very beautiful. She looks like my Roamy. Her mask will probably change shape when winter comes. She looks nice and healthy. She has a bit of a pear shape but will become lean and more muscular on raw.
Bubba also looks like my Roamy.
He looks a bit thin to me but it could also be due to his body having some pear shape from kibble. How long has he been off kibble? You should be able to feel his ribs but not see them. He should not have a waistline. He is two years old, right?
Kyubbi is a very handsome boy. He looks like a whippet body type. He looks nice and healthy. He looks like my Juliet.
Their poo picture looks like a bit like a kibble poop. Do they also get some kibble in their diet?
Read through all of that and let's give you a break. I also need some dinner and to make some dinner for my five.
:wave3:
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