Considering whole prey

[msav]

My 3 young ferrets have been on raw for about a month now.  I am not liking the loose stools. Seems the only bones I can get them to eat is game and chicken, turkey. I tried to give them quail and they chew the legs and wings off and that is all.  

also, I have called all over my area and cannot find any other organs other than liver and heart. I even called some meat processing plants. They want me to commit to like 200lbs of the stuff. 

I went to petsmart and bought some frozen adult mice. $16 for 4. (wow, what are they gold plated) they bleu scarfed one down within 2 min. I has to soak Taz's mouse in chicken juice before he would eat it. 

Last weekend I went to the feed store and the live adult mice (hoppers) were $2 each. (still pretty pricey) I bought 6.

Taz played with the mouse for about 2 min. then the mouse bit him and then it was over in 3 secs. Bleu did the same but he cried like a little baby when the mouse bit him, again it was over in 2 secs after the mouse bit him. Mogwai extinguished the mouse in under 30 secs.

Taz 2nd mouse was killed in under a 30sec, and the same for Bleu. They did not get bit, they leaned that those thinks bite and not to mess around. Mogwai did the same as the first time and was done in under 30 secs. 


I am wondering if whole prey is easier to make sure they are on a balanced diet, I know it may be more expensive but I think it would be worth it as I think it will give them more consistent poop. It seems it may be easier to get multiple protein sources with whole prey. 


I just placed an order for some whole prey from rodentpro.  They have a sale on large adult mice for .35 each.

I also bought chicken, quail and rabbit. I am proud of myself as I filled my shipping box 100%

My big question is If I am feeding a whole rabbit with multiple ferrets, how do I make sure that all of them get some of the organs? Mogwai loves liver, Bleu loves heart. (that is the first thing they go for) I know with a mouse they each get one but larger prey is what I am concerned about.

Is there any benefit to the ferret to have live over frozen? 

[Heather]

Feeding live has its limits....mice are about all you can feed live, safely. Prey feeding is much more expensive as you're discovering. When you're feeding larger prey, like rabbits balancing becomes an issue again because ferrets being the lazy little sods they are will only eat what they like. When I feed larger prey like rabbit, I save the heart, lungs and liver, weigh it out and supplement with other organs so that they still get their allotted offal amounts. It's close though, depending on the age of your prey, you might be able to get away with it, depending on the number of ferrets you're feeding. I find that I still have to feed this as an organ meal, so that everyone gets their equal share and the correct amount. Rats, mice and other smaller rodents are easier and often can be fed just as is and are entirely balanced. Also remember that when feeding prey, that adult is better and pinkies are treats. Choosing a variety of ages covers all your nutritional blocks.
ciao

[goingpostal]

Bones from only game hen and chicken is fine, a lot of people can only use poultry for bone in. Liver is the main organ you need, a lot of people have a difficult time finding anything else and if you can get heart as well that is the basics covered.

Whole prey is ideal if you can afford it, it's not going to get more consistent poops. I feed about half the week of whole prey, quail, guinea pigs, chicken, rats, mice, you have to keep in mind with the larger prey they are going to eat the organs first, then the meat usually. Raw poops are not kibble poops, a big firm kibble type log is not going to happen. Right now my 2 are separated so each gets one mouse, rat, small quail or guinea pig. Larger sized prey I chop in half and each ferret gets a piece. On big rabbits/ducks I remove heart and liver and feed separately to ensure each gets some, otherwise my female would only eat liver and the male would only eat heart.

[msav]

I have no problem finding beef and chicken heart and liver.

I think that sounds like a good approach. I can do 3 days out of the week whole prey, mice,rat,guinea pig. The 4 days out of the week I can do bone in poultry and rabbit.

will the whole prey 3 days a week be enough organs?, or will I need to add more?. I will have all the organs from the rabbit so I can give that to them as well.

I also read that rabbit hearts and organs do not contain any taurine. Does that really count then?


Nice to know about the poops. That makes sense. if the food is dry going in then it will be somewhat dry coming out, since the meat is wet then it should be somewhat wet coming out. It just seems to take forever for the poop to firm up after a liver and muscle meat feast.

[goingpostal]

Rabbit has less taurine than some other cuts but the heart/organs should still have plenty of taurine as they are heavily used, the only concern would be if you are feeding only rabbit meat. With a variety I wouldn't be worried. I still feed a small meal of liver and a meal of hearts weekly to my crew.

this is an example of an average week around my house, I feed a bit more bone in than recommended because most of the prey I usually feed has very small bones
day 1-quail, 8/10 week old split in two, or one 3-6 week old per ferret
day 2-2 small adult mice per ferret
day 3-1 medium guinea pig per ferret, or a larger one split in two
day 4-small rat per ferret, plus a meal of poultry hearts
day 5-game hen bone in piece, liver
day 6-rabbit or duck bone in
day 7-turkey gizzards or other boneless cut, chicken wing

[Sherry]

Feb 14, 2014 19:20:27 GMT -5 goingpostal said:

Rabbit has less taurine than some other cuts but the heart/organs should still have plenty of taurine as they are heavily used, the only concern would be if you are feeding only rabbit meat.

GROUND rabbit has been proven to not have enough taurine. No studies have been done with whole meat rabbit.
It could be that a rabbit heart is too small in ratio to the entire body when ground. Or it could be the grinding itself reduces the taurine levels.
But either/or- more than one protein is essential to meet all nutritional requirements.