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Post by Celene on Apr 23, 2016 19:45:51 GMT -5
No mail? That sounds inconvenient!! If their poops are too soft you should increase bone intake, but it they're stabilizing that's good When you get a chance, can you post your menu for this week?
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Post by Deleted on Apr 28, 2016 22:10:32 GMT -5
It's extremely inconvenient, I can't even get packages. It makes everything harder.
Right now it's pork for muscle, chicken wings for bone in, and organ soupie. I've been trying to keep to that schedule you first posted, and I think I've been doing well. Although I did somehow miss a day, not even sure how I managed that.
Early next week is finals week, and I have a final project due tomorrow, so I'll be back Wednesday.
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Post by Celene on Apr 29, 2016 12:16:49 GMT -5
I'm guessing if you can't receive any packages that makes getting a Hare Today order difficult! I would say that you're getting close to graduating from the mentoring program, however there are a couple small things we need to sort out first: - What size chunks are they eating for pork and chicken wings? If you could either take a photo, or just describe the size (i.e. whole chicken wing, cut into 2-3 pieces or just chopped right up).
- Variety: ferrets need a very minimum of 3-4 different proteins each week. At least one should be a red meat if possible, as red/dark meats are higher in iron and some B vitamins. The red meat thing isn't a hard requirement, however it's mostly to ensure a variety of nutritional profiles. (For example, chicken, turkey and quail are all different proteins, however they are all nutritionally similar so it's not as much variety as, say, chicken, rabbit and beef.)
If you could perhaps find some turkey necks and reintroduce ground bison into their menu that would be great! If you fed 7 "true" bone-in meals of chicken wings/turkey necks, you could also feed 2 meals of pork and 2 meals of ground bison (you could add a little eggshell powder to the grind if their poops were getting too soft) and that would be a well-balanced menu
In order to graduate, you will also need to post a menu to be approved, as well as complete a "final exam" which sounds scary but truthfully won't be much different from the little quizzes I've been giving
Good luck with your project and exams!
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Post by Deleted on May 7, 2016 2:25:58 GMT -5
The mailing problem was finally taken care of, I reminded my landlord the other day. Sounds good! For pork it's about the size and shape of a pinkie finger, I can get a picture tomorrow. Chicken wings are whole, they like to eat in from both the wing tip and shoulder, haha. This week has been beef chunks instead of pork, I can just switch between them for more variety. Okay, I'll try again to get Booker to eat the bison. They don't seem to care much for ground meat, though. Pocky is the only one that really eats it. Turkey necks? Do they come in packs like chicken wings? At the grocery store or should I look elsewhere? All done with finals! I actually slept for 2 days, I was so tired. Basically just woke up to feed the fuzzies.
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Post by Celene on May 7, 2016 22:55:04 GMT -5
Congratulations on your finals being done!
Turkey necks are usually packaged at the grocery store similar to chicken wings. One thing to keep in mind is that turkey necks are quite bony (have a pretty high bone-to-meat ratio) so I would not feed more than 2-3 meals per week of it, and maybe stick at 3-4 muscle meals per week to account for that.
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Post by Celene on May 12, 2016 16:29:04 GMT -5
How is everything going? If you are feeling confidant with raw feeding and the frankenprey diet let me know and I'll see what I can do about getting you graduated from the mentoring program
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Post by Deleted on May 14, 2016 19:47:19 GMT -5
Sounds good. Yeah, I'm pretty confident with it, I've just been focused on getting a job lately to be able to make rent. I don't think I've ever seen them packaged. Are they at most grocery stores?
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Post by Celene on May 15, 2016 9:34:05 GMT -5
I have seen them at quite a few of the big grocery stores, usually packaged in the same area as wings or liver. Final Exam 1. What is the main important nutrient found in liver?
2. List 2 good sources of taurine.
3. About how long is a ferret's digestion time?
4. List 3 organs aside from liver.
5. Give 2 examples each of muscle meat, edible bones, and organs.
6. Are leaner meats better for your ferret or fattier meats?
7. Is it best to feed the egg whites, egg yolk, or the entire egg?
8. Bonus Question: How many ferrets does it take to change a lightbulb?Final Menu Please post a final version of your weekly menu for review. Please include the protein, and whether it is a bone-in meal or muscle meal. For any "mixed" meals (say, of liver and organ) please include what percent of the meal is each. Monday AM: Monday PM: Tuesday AM: Tuesday PM: Wednesday AM: Wednesday PM: Thursday AM: Thursday PM: Friday AM: Friday PM: Saturday AM: Saturday PM: Sunday AM: Sunday PM: Thanks and good luck!
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Post by Deleted on May 19, 2016 1:34:36 GMT -5
Let's see if I can do this without a refresher course. Haha
1. Hmmm... I believe that was a vitamin... Vitamin A comes to mind.
2. Heart and tongue!
3. I believe that was approximately 4 hours, I remember that from feeding kibble.
4. Kidney, pancreas, brain
5. Muscle: rabbit, beef Bone-in: chicken wings, quail body Organs: heart, kidney
6. Fatty! Fat = energy!
7. I remember that one is okay for them to have (I believe it was whites) and the other had something that needed the other to break down so it needed to be limited. The general consensus seemed to be to mix them and feed both (in case of picky eaters that only eat one). Entire egg, final answer!
8. One. Any more and it would turn into a jumping race!
I'm doing this based on memory from October, I felt like it would be cheating to refresh my memory.
Final menu: Monday AM Bone Chicken wing, whole Monday PM Muscle Beef, large chunks Tuesday AM Bone Chicken wing, whole Tuesday PM Muscle Beef, large chunks Wednesday AM Bone Chicken wing, whole Wednesday PM Organ Soupie, 50/50 heart/liver Thursday AM Bone CGH, cut along bones Thursday PM Bone CGH, cut Friday AM Bone Chicken wing, whole Friday PM Organ Soupie, 50/50, extra heart chunks, small Saturday AM Bone Chicken wing, whole Saturday PM Muscle Lamb, ground Sunday AM Bone Chicken wing, whole Sunday PM Organ Soupie, 50/50
I've been trying to keep muscle meats with 2-3 muscle meals in a row for Booker, to give a better chance for him to eat it. He's been losing weight and only eating chicken wing/bone.
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Post by Celene on May 19, 2016 12:17:49 GMT -5
Let's see if I can do this without a refresher course. Haha 1. Hmmm... I believe that was a vitamin... Vitamin A comes to mind. Correct!2. Heart and tongue! Yes!3. I believe that was approximately 4 hours, I remember that from feeding kibble. Yes! (About 3-4 hours on average)4. Kidney, pancreas, brain Yes!5. Muscle: rabbit, beef Yes! (although bone-in rabbit would obviously count as a bone-in meal) Bone-in: chicken wings, quail body Yup! Organs: heart, kidney Technically heart is considered a muscle meal, although you did list 3 really good examples above 6. Fatty! Fat = energy! Yup!7. I remember that one is okay for them to have (I believe it was whites) and the other had something that needed the other to break down so it needed to be limited. The general consensus seemed to be to mix them and feed both (in case of picky eaters that only eat one). Entire egg, final answer! It is definitely best to feed the entire egg, you are correct. However, if you ARE going to feed only one or the other the yolk is best. Egg whites contain avidin which binds biotin, and can eventually lead to a biotin deficiency over time. However, egg yolks contain more than enough biotin to "cancel out" this reaction. Further, egg yolks contain lecithin which helps break up fats that bind hairballs and prevent them.8. One. Any more and it would turn into a jumping race! Hehehe, good answer I'm doing this based on memory from October, I felt like it would be cheating to refresh my memory. Final menu: Monday AM Bone Chicken wing, whole Monday PM Muscle Beef, large chunks Tuesday AM Bone Chicken wing, whole Tuesday PM Muscle Beef, large chunks Wednesday AM Bone Chicken wing, whole Wednesday PM Organ Soupie, 50/50 heart/liver Thursday AM Bone CGH, cut along bones Thursday PM Bone CGH, cut Friday AM Bone Chicken wing, whole Friday PM Organ Soupie, 50/50, extra heart chunks, small Saturday AM Bone Chicken wing, whole Saturday PM Muscle Lamb, ground Sunday AM Bone Chicken wing, whole Sunday PM Organ Soupie, 50/50 So it looks like you have 8 bone-in meals, 3 muscle meals, and 3 50% heart, 50% liver meals (equivalent to 1.5 meals of each) so that's bang on! You also have 3 different proteins (since chicken and CGH technically count as the same meat) which is good, although I do *highly* suggest you keeping working on trying to source another bone-in protein as soon as possible. This is especially important as ferrets can develop sudden chicken sensitivities so they need to be used to eating other bone-in meats in case that happens. Eventually it would also be much better if you could do the organ soupies 50% heart, 25% liver and 25% other organ.
I've been trying to keep muscle meats with 2-3 muscle meals in a row for Booker, to give a better chance for him to eat it. He's been losing weight and only eating chicken wing/bone. I wouldn't necessarily suggest this approach (3 muscle meals in a row) as Booker might get really loose poops. If he isn't eating his muscle meats you can leave the same meal in his cage for an extra 12 hour period until he gets hungry enough to eat it. You can also try "bribing" him by topping it with a yummy treat such as salmon oil or egg yolk, or hand feeding the meat to him.
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Post by Celene on May 19, 2016 12:26:34 GMT -5
Btw, if you want to have a little fun and REALLY put your raw knowledge to the test, one of our admins made a huge quiz as a sort of game - even other mentors didn't get 100%! Feel free to try it but it's totally optional: Our Big Bad Test
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Post by Deleted on May 19, 2016 19:05:18 GMT -5
So I passed?! How about if I do the muscle meats with bone meal to help his poops?
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Post by Celene on May 22, 2016 13:09:27 GMT -5
Sorry for the long delay! After the final menu all of the mentors and admin must look it over and make suggestions/recommendations.
The biggest concern with your menu that everyone shares is how chicken-heavy the menu is, and we would also like to see at least one more protein each week (like, if you could do chicken, beef, lamb and pork every week). One way to accomplish that is you can replace a few of the bone-in chicken meals with a muscle and bonemeal to make a sort of fake bone-in meal until you can get your Hare Today order. If you could tweak your menu and repost that would be great! One example might be 3 muscle meals, 2 muscle + bonemeal meals, and the remaining 6 bone-in half chicken, half CGH.
Thanks! The general consensus was that this would suffice until you can get more bone-in sources, but either making a special order through a butcher shop or online order from Hare Today should be a high priority.
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Post by Deleted on May 30, 2016 13:07:09 GMT -5
I'm sorry, too. I actually lost my job and needed to scramble to find a new one. :/ But I had a bit of luck and I have one that starts in July! I understand, I'll buy beef and pork more often. I can update my menu tonight
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Post by Celene on May 31, 2016 9:54:48 GMT -5
Sorry to hear about your job! I look forward to seeing your updated menu.
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