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Post by bitbyter on Apr 22, 2013 0:22:00 GMT -5
I cut just about everything into pieces about half the size of of my thumb but that might be too large for your girls at this stage. You can smash the bones with the back of the cleaver for a few weeks until they get their jaw strength up to snuff.
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Post by bitbyter on Apr 22, 2013 1:09:12 GMT -5
Someone just posted about this place for whole prey in Australia (they will ship to Tasmania. Those prices are really high though (as least for over here) and I thought Canadian prices were bad (those prices are about twice that of Canada and three times as high as in the U.S.). www.doarodents.com.au/homeI'd see if you can find any other companies (I couldn't with a quick search but I'll keep looking). UPDATED: Apparently that company is one of the cheapest in Australia.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 22, 2013 2:17:14 GMT -5
oh wow... well, that be a good source but i'm not sure what i'd need and how much... nor how to prepare it... my girls have never tasted mice or rats or anything...
i wonder if i bought my own quail and mice if it's permitted to breed them for the purpose of giving them to my fuzzies? i don't know how to find that out...
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Post by bitbyter on Apr 22, 2013 7:05:01 GMT -5
Not sure about quail (never heard of anyone breeding those themselves) but you can breed mice / other rodents. I do think it's illegal to give them to the ferrets live in Australia though so you'd have to make a kill chamber. I actually don't buy whole prey quail anymore as I found the feathers make too much of a mess. The quail I buy are from the grocery store and are already dressed. I'll post a picture shortly but I'm off to work.
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Post by bitbyter on Apr 22, 2013 10:21:31 GMT -5
So this is what a quail looks like from a retail store: You usually get 6 or 8 in a package (in Canada a package of quail are usually ~$9.50 to $12.50 depending on where you by them or if they are on sale) For my girls I usually chop up half a quail with something else or use a whole quail for a days feeding.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 22, 2013 20:49:41 GMT -5
woah it looks huge!!!!!!! I will look into getting some. So I weighed their meals yesterday... but i realised a slight hiccup... I'm weighing it as a whole because i leave it in the bowl in their cage, i put 3oz in their bowl and it was empty roughly six hours later... but there is two ferrets so it's not really and efficient method :/ Panda and Sable just horde it if i give it to them outside the cage, but they eat inside the cage, so i tried putting one in the cage to eat and leaving one outside... but instead they both just went straight to bed soooo.... i need guidance sorry for being a dummy also is it better to use a meat pulveriser to smash bones or just cut them with a cleaver?? sorry for not being online much... my man's grandad passed away last night after being in hospital for a few days... we're all very sad... so my posts may be a little less common for the next couple of days, but i will do my best to post often... sooooooo..... Panda appears to be eating the bigger chunks so next batch i will make them bigger again buying bulk today and freezing food too... So i was thinking maybe ten necks and ten wings and aim for half a neck and half a wing each per day for now just to see how they go. opinion? and i'm not blending anything in the next batch so it's just gonna all be chopped up. Still using; 8oz gravy beef 2oz lamb heart' 1oz lamb kidney 1oz lamb liver 1/2 tsp pumpkin 1/2 tsp eggshell powder 1 egg yolk Anything i should add to it? i was thinking of trying to get some turkey... something... from the supermarket, will let you know what i find, if you say it's not good i'm sure the doggies my mum has will eat it also i was wondering if you think i could/should attempt a mouse or rat? i'm sure i could handle chopping it a bit, do you think it'd be a good food?...
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Post by bitbyter on Apr 22, 2013 21:56:02 GMT -5
woah it looks huge!!!!!!! Sorry, I didn't think to put anything in the shot for scale. They are about the same size as an iphone.I will look into getting some. So I weighed their meals yesterday... but i realized a slight hiccup... I'm weighing it as a whole because i leave it in the bowl in their cage, i put 3oz in their bowl and it was empty roughly six hours later... but there is two ferrets so it's not really and efficient method :/ You need to weight the bowl and zero out the scale so that you are only weighing the food. Then put the food into the bowl and you will know how much food you are giving them. The goal is the feed them and have a bit left over when you go to feed them again. That will give you a solid number on how much they are eating.Panda and Sable just horde it if i give it to them outside the cage, but they eat inside the cage, so i tried putting one in the cage to eat and leaving one outside... but instead they both just went straight to bed [image] soooo.... i need guidance [image] sorry for being a dummy Just leave it with them. They will eat when they are hungry. For example, I gave mine whole chopped Guinea Pig when I got home from work. They ate about 1/4 of it and then I pulled it after an hour (back into the fridge). I'm just about to go to bed so they are both going into the cage for the night with the rest and it will probably be gone in the morning.also is it better to use a meat pulveriser to smash bones or just cut them with a cleaver?? You can smash bones with the side or back edge of a cleaver as well as chop, you can only smash bones with a mallet so you can spend money on both or just buy the one , your choice.sorry for not being online much... my man's grandad passed away last night after being in hospital for a few days... we're all very sad... so my posts may be a little less common for the next couple of days, but i will do my best to post often... Yeah, I guessed something was going on from your FB post. Not to worry, I totally understand. At least you got some luvin from your fuzzbutts.sooooooo..... Panda appears to be eating the bigger chunks so next batch i will make them bigger again buying bulk today and freezing food too... So i was thinking maybe ten necks and ten wings and aim for half a neck and half a wing each per day for now just to see how they go. opinion? Sounds good but as I said before, we really need to get the weight of how much they are eating nailed down.and i'm not blending anything in the next batch so it's just gonna all be chopped up. Still using; 8oz gravy beef 2oz lamb heart' 1oz lamb kidney 1oz lamb liver 1/2 tsp pumpkin 1/2 tsp eggshell powder 1 egg yolk Anything i should add to it? i was thinking of trying to get some turkey... something... from the supermarket, will let you know what i find, if you say it's not good i'm sure the doggies my mum has will eat it We really need to get them eating bone in meals as their staple. This was great as a soup and gateway to raw but now that they are eating solid food we need to concentrate on bone in meat meals, muscle meat meals and organ meals (or organs spread out through the week). I'll try to do a video or take some pictures tomorrow of how I feed to give you a better idea.also i was wondering if you think i could/should attempt a mouse or rat? i'm sure i could handle chopping it a bit, do you think it'd be a good food?... You could give it a try but at the prices you are facing in Oz for whole prey I'm not sure it would be a staple for them. Probably a treat once or twice a month (or more if you can afford it). Whole prey is of course the best thing you can feed them (naturally balanced and the fur is present) but again, expensive where you live.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 23, 2013 4:13:21 GMT -5
i have good news! my local supermarket sells chicken thighs with bone in them and chicken necks, and my butcher sell duck giblets which is apparently part of the throat (?) so i got a pack of those. i'm not sure if they have bones in them so they are likely muscle meat i assume??? I'm trying to work out the best diet to feed them based on what i can locate, like do i keep giving them their current menu or should i switch bits out? What do they actually need per week on a weight basis of each type? (sorry if i've asked this already lololol I am able to get chicken frames (i think they are chicken breast frames or something lol) from my supermarket as well as chicken wing tips and chicken thighs with bones and chicken wings i can also get chicken drumsticks. so that's a lot of bone so let me know which of these you would recommend and do you know what a duck giblet is? lol like... what kind of meat? organ, muscle or bone in meat??? umm..... i can obtain quail if required but i would prefer to avoid it if possible because it's a tad far to travel often and i can only get them in 12 packs at most, so blah but i will keep looking for a more local source. let me know whether you think i should certainly get them. I'm happy to do whatever you say is best I'm happy to give them a rat or mouse per week if they are expensive, so at least one meal will be great, but i will try to adjust my budget so they get it 2-3 times per week or whatever you recommend, i'm happy with one per day just let me know what's best. so when it comes to weighing their food do i aim to give them extra? i assume i zero off the bowl and, say it weighs 5oz and there is 2oz left over, i let you know they are eating 3oz per meal? sorry for the bad example lololololololololololol i think that was all i needed to mention for now... so do i keep all the current stuff i'm feeding them in their diet or do i switch some bits out for bone chicken bits? i'm so excited to have found some good sources!!! at least i hope they are...
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Post by Deleted on Apr 23, 2013 5:53:29 GMT -5
Hey, you'll never believe what i just found at my local butcher!!! so excited!!!!!! so, i can get a six pack of quail for $22.95, wow, cheap as!!! i can also get *inhales deeply* duck feet, whole turkey (dressed), whole duck (dressed), chicken feet, chicken liver, rabbit (previously mentioned), chicken/lamb/pork mince (i'm unsure of additives), duck tongues and chicken giblets!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! so, lemme know, including my earlier list, which foods you would recommend mostly for my girls, as previously mentioned i would prefer to avoid rabbit if possible, but i figured i would mention it anyway just so you know my options.. i will go to petbarn tomorrow and inquire about mice, is there a particular age i should aim for??? and should i smash it with a tenderizer??? still need to locate a cleaver lol, what i found was a carving knife i think so excited for this!!!! eagerly awaiting your reply telling me how to be a good mumma ^_^
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Post by bitbyter on Apr 23, 2013 11:35:23 GMT -5
Ok, here are some videos of my feeding process: Please excuse the messy cage (tomorrow is cage cleaning day). It is one of the few downsides of raw feeding. The cage gets much messier with raw food than kibble. As you can see, Socks was hungry. Wilma, not so much. She ended up stashing a few pieces (which I'm going to have to find later if she doesn't eat them) and then just left the cage to play.
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Post by bitbyter on Apr 23, 2013 12:23:22 GMT -5
Hey, you'll never believe what i just found at my local butcher!!! so excited!!!!!! so, i can get a six pack of quail for $22.95, wow, cheap as!!! Sounds expensive to me but then again I have no idea what food prices are in Oz. If you get them eating them they are a great bone in meat.i can also get *inhales deeply* duck feet, whole turkey (dressed), whole duck (dressed), chicken feet, chicken liver, rabbit (previously mentioned), chicken/lamb/pork mince (i'm unsure of additives), duck tongues and chicken giblets!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AWESOME , I'm glad you finally found a good variety of stuff. I've never feed duck tongues but they may be a good treat as I believe duck tongues actually have a bone in them. Whole turkey and duck would be a lot of work to break down yourself and take up a lot of freezer space but meat is always more economical when you buy in bulk and have to cut it up yourself. Duck feet and Chicken feet are good treats for them to gnaw on but that is about it (not much to them). Chicken or Turkey Giblets are a staple around here as they are a dark meat and very tough. They help in cleaning their teeth by massaging their gums. Think of bones as tooth past (actually cleaning tartar) and giblets as the brush (massaging the gums, helping to remove stuff from between their teeth).so, lemme know, including my earlier list, which foods you would recommend mostly for my girls, as previously mentioned i would prefer to avoid rabbit if possible, but i figured i would mention it anyway just so you know my options.. i will go to petbarn tomorrow and inquire about mice, is there a particular age i should aim for??? and should i smash it with a tenderizer??? still need to locate a cleaver lol, what i found was a carving knife i think [image] Always try to buy adult or young adult whole prey, any younger and they are more of a treat as they aren't nutritionally complete (to young to have fully nutritional bones and organs).so excited for this!!!! eagerly awaiting your reply telling me how to be a good mumma ^_^
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Post by bitbyter on Apr 23, 2013 13:03:02 GMT -5
So if I remember correctly what you have available. This is what I would suggest you purchasing for your various meal types:
BONE IN MEATS: Chicken Wings, Chicken Necks, Bone In Chicken Thighs, Quail, Turkey Necks (if they can order them for you).
Chicken wings are a good source of bone, fat and have some meat on them. Chicken necks tend to be high in bone, low in fat and meat. Thighs are good for fat (as long as they have skin) but not as good as wings, have some bone and are high in meat. Quail are a good balance of bone and meat (little fat). Turkey necks are high in bone, decent for meat, low in fat.
MUSCLE MEATS: Lamb Heart, Chicken, Turkey, Duck, Lamb, Beef, Pork, etc.
You have to make sure you are feeding enough heart per week (2 oz per ferret per week). I tend to add a bit to a few meals over the week as it can make for nasty poops if used as a whole meal. Also make sure the chicken and pork you buy isn't "enhanced" with a salt solution (if it is, it should list "salt" or "sodium" on the package somewhere).
ORGANS: Lamb Kidney, Lamb Liver, Chicken Liver
2 oz of liver per ferret per week, 2 oz other organ per ferret per week. As with the heart above I tend to add organs to several meals throughout the week to avoid nasty poops. See if your butcher can order some other organs for you for variety (spleen, testicles, sweetbreads, etc)
SUPPLEMENTS: pumpkin, taurine powder, eggshell powder or human grade bone meal, pulverized freeze dried liver treats.
If you are not feeding whole prey then each ferret should get a 1 tsp of cooked pureed pumpkin each day or every other day. Increase this to 2 tsp during shedding season. Taurine powder is a good thing to have on hand just in case you cannot get hearts for some reason (you can buy it at health food stores). Eggshell powder or human grade bone meal is good to have if you've got a lazy eater who sometimes eats around the bones. If you cannot find liver, most pet stores have freeze dried liver of some type as dog treats. You can pulverize these and use them like shake and bake on any meat you give them. I had to do this for a while as fresh liver was causing issues for one of my girls (she is over that now).
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Post by Deleted on Apr 23, 2013 19:46:25 GMT -5
What do you mean by a staple?
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Post by Deleted on Apr 23, 2013 19:51:28 GMT -5
When you list the muscle meats you just said chicken, turkey etc.. Does this mean I choose a couple of them or do I get them all???
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Post by bitbyter on Apr 23, 2013 19:57:46 GMT -5
In that context I was referring to: Bone in meats are the main thing you need to be feeding (they are your staple / regular food), then some muscle meat and the standard amount of organs.
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