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Post by Celene on Feb 19, 2017 20:51:21 GMT -5
When you get a chance, can you post your menu for this week?
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Post by Deleted on Feb 20, 2017 21:35:03 GMT -5
I will do that for you tomorrow after work! Also, I got a new baby today. Little girl about 3 months old...trying to get her to eat the turkey but no luck. I figure she will eat it if she gets hungry enough, right?
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Post by Deleted on Feb 21, 2017 10:29:17 GMT -5
Meeka dug right in to her rabbit breakfast this morning!!! I'm so proud of her
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Post by Celene on Feb 21, 2017 11:56:50 GMT -5
Aww, what a cutie! I'm glad she's going straight for it. Kits are often described as "tummies with teeth" since they are growing and full of energy they are always so hungry. One thing to be aware of is that kits have slightly higher calcium requirements due to them growing, so when following the frankenprey menu where it says "7-9 bone in meals" I recommend going to the upper end of the range for 9 bone-in meals.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 21, 2017 12:37:15 GMT -5
I will make sure to make that adjustment! To be honest, they do get a lot of bone meals haha considering the grinds and the chicken wings. I'll post my menu for you tonight once I get home from work and have let the babies out!
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Post by Deleted on Feb 21, 2017 19:50:22 GMT -5
Here is this weeks menu; keep in mind, I will be receiving the box with the organs later this week and I am also in the process of phasing out the whole grinds:
Mon AM: beef chunks Mon PM: whole ground turkey
Tues AM: whole ground rabbit Tues PM: chicken wing
Wed AM: pork chunks Wed PM: whole ground turkey with duck hearts
Thurs AM: beef chunks Thurs PM: chicken wing
Fri AM: whole ground rabbit Fri PM: whole ground turkey
Sat AM: pork chunks Sat PM: chicken wing
Sun AM: beef chunks Sun PM: whole ground turkey
I will be updating next weeks menu with the organs once they come in and I can get it all set up! ^.^
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Post by Deleted on Feb 22, 2017 4:27:36 GMT -5
Meeka apparently will eat anything with no fuss! Only bad thing is I can't tell if Loki is eating any of it.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 22, 2017 17:48:01 GMT -5
Dinner tonight: turkey and duck hearts...so usually Loki picks out the duck hearts and only eats the turkey...this time I puréed the duck hearts and mixed it in!! Haha, take that stubborn ferret! Try picking out the hearts now!!
Meeka as usual dived right into the new protein (for her,anyways). Loki was eating it too (: at least he is getting his taurine now!!
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Post by Deleted on Feb 22, 2017 21:29:48 GMT -5
So Meeka had a very strange poop this afternoon...I'm posting the pic below. This is her second full day on the new diet...could it just be from the sudden switch?? Ignore the piece of pork underneath the poo...Loki loves to put his food in the potty.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 23, 2017 6:07:49 GMT -5
I got th organs in yesterday! I blended them (eventually I'd like to not have to blend them but for now, it will be easier to get them to eat it) and then I portioned out every meal baggie with 2.5oz of chicken heart, 1.25 oz of goat pancreas, and 1.25oz of duck livers. I have enough for 4 weeks if they get three organ meals a week!
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Post by Celene on Feb 23, 2017 14:28:43 GMT -5
So first, based on your posted menu you have:
- 5 boneless (muscle) meals - 5.5 whole ground meals - 3 bone in meals - 0.5 heart meals
With a total of 5 different proteins.
If feeding 5 grind meals, you would need the following to make your menu balanced: - 5-6 bone-in meals - 1-2 muscle meal - 1 heart meal - 1 liver/organ meal
So based on your menu for this week, your ferrets' diet is NOT balanced. Thankfully you have have made the heart/organ meals since then, so in order for your menu to be nutritionally balanced with 5 grind meals, you will need 2 heart/liver/organ meals per week. So what I would recommend is replacing 2 of the muscle meals with the heart/organ soup. You will also need to replace 2-3 more of the muscle meals with bone-in ones.
A balanced menu might look something like this:
- 5 grind meals (say, 3 rabbit and 2 turkey) - 5 bone-in meals (they can all be chicken for now, but it would be better if you could source an additional bone-in protein such as quail) - 2 muscle meals (one each of pork and beef) - 2 heart/organ meals
Feeding an unbalanced diet is especially dangerous for kits/young ferrets as they are growing and need a lot of nutrients. In particular, not enough bone/calcium can result in Swimmers Syndrome in young ferrets.
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Post by Celene on Feb 23, 2017 14:29:55 GMT -5
In regards to the funky poop, it could be as a result of any number of things including sudden diet change, stress, or she could have eaten something. White poops can also be a sign of too much fat in a single meal. How have her poops been since then?
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Post by Deleted on Feb 23, 2017 15:05:22 GMT -5
I will switch up their menu right now! I'll go ahead and revise the rest of the week to balance it out a little more. I will repost when finished.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 23, 2017 15:11:09 GMT -5
Mon AM: beef chunks Mon PM: whole ground turkey Tues AM: whole ground rabbit Tues PM: chicken wing Wed AM: pork chunks Wed PM: whole ground turkey with duck hearts Thurs AM: beef chunks Thurs PM: chicken wing Fri AM: whole ground rabbit Fri PM: chicken wing Sat AM: organ soup Sat PM: chicken wing Sun AM: organ soup Sun PM: chicken wing I fixed the menu starting at the FRI PM meal. Does this make it slightly more balanced?? I don't want to hurt my babies
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Post by Deleted on Feb 25, 2017 14:52:15 GMT -5
Going to the butcher today to grab whole rabbit and quail! Will they be counted as muscle meat or bone in? I will take pictures or a video of the prep I do for it to make sure the cuts are a good size
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