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Post by Deleted on Dec 23, 2014 17:44:15 GMT -5
Ok, so I sat down and figured out the numbers cost wise for this diet. It averages about $12/bag and it is a 1.25 lb bag. They will average about 2 bags a week, so about $100 a month, about what I was putting into the duk soup a month. Speaking to my husband how it was mentioned that raw is cheaper, he may consider allowing it. I would just need to know more about how much to feed, what kind of meats and organs to feed and cost wise. How time consuming is it? I can manage setting aside a day to portion everything out. Just gotta figure out how to make room in the freezer and how long stuff can stay in the fridge. Since I have them getting them used to this so quickly, I don't foresee a problem(hopefully) in getting them over to raw. Talk to me people. Would I still need to supplement? I am waiting for bone meal powder to come in that I had to order.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 23, 2014 18:14:30 GMT -5
I spend $40 per month on my two fatso ferrets that put away more than normal ferrets, and I spent $40 per month on kibble for 3 ferrets, so it has been cheaper for me. It's all about finding deals, bargaining, and the biggest money saver is buying in bulk. I bought 10-20 lbs of meat at a time to last 2-4 weeks. I saved over $100-$150+ a month doing this, when I first started I bought little bits at a time and it was nearly $200 a month, when I started buying in bulk, it dropped to under $50 a month, it seems crazy and it is, and a big part was the hearts I had to buy, once I started buying hearts at my Asian Market rather than the grocery store I saved $20+ per week. I barely have any freezer space, but what I do is cut and portion the meat, put it in freezer bags, and smoosh it back into the shelf space I do have, I fit 2 weeks worth of food on one small freezer shelf this way. I have half a fridge freezer and have several months of food stored in it. As for time, I spend about an hour making their soup once a week. It takes maybe 10-20 mins to portion 10 lbs of pork, weigh, label, bag it and put it in the freezer. I only do this every 2 weeks with muscle meats generally. I'll buy organs, muscle meat, and bone in bulk, then I don't have to do it again for weeks or months. Once fully on frankenprey you don't need to supplement, it's completely balanced. So yours are eating some of the soup recipe the forum gives? (chicken thigh, heart, liver and eggshell powder)? For your questions- How much to feed?This depends entirely on each ferret, some ferrets eat 1-2 oz a day, and some eat 5-6 oz a day. When they are on the raw soup, you weigh it before feeding and weigh after feeding, to see how many ounces they are eating each meal, this will give you your answer on how much to feed. Sometimes you need to push your ferrets and make them finsih their food though, I have to this with mine, but theyre getting pretty good at finishing their food. What kind of meats and organs to feed?You can feed anything with a face we don't out any meat, all of it is just fine. You can also feed any organs, ferrets will have their favorites though. You have to have Liver plus another Organ (ie: Kidney, Spleen, Brain, Pancreas, etc) for the frankenprey menu, but not while on the soup stage. You're a great ferrent for doing your research and providing them with proper care, and for considering raw, it can be a tough thing to decide, but it really is best for them. Let us know of anymore questions or concerns you have, we're more than happy to help.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 23, 2014 18:33:24 GMT -5
May I have a sample menu? This way I can get an idea of what to expect. I have a large Asian market 5 minutes from my house that I can go to. By example I mean meat type, which kinds to have bone in, organs and what a day to day menu looks like. As basic as possible please. Thank you
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Post by Deleted on Dec 23, 2014 19:21:13 GMT -5
Would it be possible to do some if the diet I have now with raw while I get the hang of a new diet?
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Post by Deleted on Dec 23, 2014 19:41:50 GMT -5
Sure, I'll give you my last menu I made for you to get an idea, I don't have much Bone-In types so I will cheat a little and add some extras for more variety, as a better example. The soup recipe the forum gives is balanced, what we do is make the soup thicker with every batch, then once it's at a pudding consistency you add in a few very tiny, finger nail crescent sized slivers of meat, once they are eating those, you add more, then you increase the size, then add more, then increase the size, and etc. By the time they are eating big slivers/chunks, you should have the hang of the frankenprey diet (it can take a few months to get them fully switched, it depends on the ferret though). It sounds more difficult than it is, but reading it over and over again it's cake. Sample menu- Mon AM: Half Beef Liver – Half Pork Kidney Mon PM: Cornish Game Hen Tues AM: Pork Loin Tues PM: Quail Wed AM: Chicken Wings Wed PM: Pork Heart Thurs AM: Frog Legs Thurs PM: Lamb Fri AM: Turkey Neck Fri PM: Half Pork Heart – ¼ Pork Liver - ¼ Pork Kidney Sat AM: Quail Sat PM: Rabbit (bone-in) Sun AM: Ground Turkey Sun PM: Chicken Wings 8 Bone-In 4 Muscle (1 being Heart) Half Liver + Half Other Organ Half Heart + ¼ Liver + ¼ Other Organ 2 Red Meats 8 Different Proteins This is a menu with quite a bit of variety, having 8 different proteins. The minimum is 3 different proteins, but it's really best to have about 5 at minimum I'd say, more is always better. This is an empty menu that you can work on by filling it out, we'll help you tweak it and it's great practice. Mon AM: Edible Bone-In Meal Mon PM: Edible Bone-In Meal Tues AM: Muscle Meal Tues PM: Edible Bone-In Meal Wed AM: Half Liver - Half Other Organ Wed PM: Edible Bone-In Meal Thurs AM: Edible Bone-In Meal Thurs PM: Muscle Meal (can be heart) Fri AM: Edible Bone-In Meal Fri PM: Muscle Meal Sat AM: Edible Bone-In Meal Sat PM: Half Heart - 1/4 Liver - 1/4 Other Organ Sun AM: Edible Bone-In Meal Sun PM: Muscle Meal Remember that Heart is a muscle, and needs to be one of the muscle meals. It's best to follow up an organ or heart meal with a bone-in meal, to help firm up poops because organ and heart can cause for loose poops. When making your menu you need- 7-9 Edible Bone In Meals this is the non-weight bearing bones of an animal the size of a chicken or smaller 3-4 Muscle Meal this is the part of the animal not containing bone, and heart is a muscle also Half Liver - Half Other Organ other organ is any organ that secretes, so Pancreas, Thymus, Brain, Spleen, Kidney, etc Half Heart - 1/4 Liver - 1/4 Other Organ (covered above) At least One Red Meat Meal Red meat is high in Vitamin B and is good for them, so should be at least one of their meals for the week. A minimum of 3 different proteins A protein is the type of animal, like Beef, Pork, and Chicken. It's best to have more though, the more variety the better. The type of animal the organs come from, do not count as a different protein though. I hope that helps. Do you have any questions or anything I may have missed?
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Post by Deleted on Dec 23, 2014 19:50:33 GMT -5
No that gives me a general idea. Thank you. Looks like I will start with the raw soup once I get my bone meal powder and then work on introducing the rest. Thanks
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Post by Deleted on Dec 23, 2014 19:53:13 GMT -5
What do you consider red meat?
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Post by Deleted on Dec 23, 2014 20:36:13 GMT -5
Red meat is a lot of Ruminant. So Beef, Venison, Sheep, Goats, Buffalo, Elk, and also Rabbit, Goose, Mutton, etc.
I use Beef and Lamb mostly, Lamb is expensive at around $10/lb so it'd feed every other week, Beef tends to be a strong flavor and some ferrets have a hard time accepting it, mine aren't huge fans of Beef but they love Lamb.. high class fuzzies, lol.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 23, 2014 22:46:54 GMT -5
So I start with the soup and then add small pieces of chopped meat. Do I vary that with organ pieces? Sounds like it will take some time to transition over, which is fine. Will giver time to get use to it
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Post by Deleted on Dec 23, 2014 23:00:27 GMT -5
Yes, you start with making the soup ( 8 oz chicken thigh, 1 oz heart, 1 oz liver and 1/2 tsp bonemeal powder), make it at a creamy/tomato soup like consistency. One batch will only last a couple days depending on how much they eat, so with every batch make the soup thicker, once the soup is like pudding, add in 3-4 very tiny slivers of chicken, once they are eating those good, increase the amount, then start making them bigger slowly, then when they're eating that good increase the amount, and keep doing the increasing amount, then increasing size, then amount and so on and so forth. Some people prefer to wait until their ferrets are eating bone-in meats to take them off soup, but you don't have to. My girl isn't eating bone yet but she is off soup and eats a normal frankenprey menu, just having to use eggshell powder until she is on bone, then she will be completely transitioned. So it's whatever you want to do.
It can take 2-3 months to switch them completely, every ferret is different, but out-stubborning them is key with most.
With the soup you don't need to do different organs, they are okay with just liver, heart and muscle meat soup for a few months. You can add in another organ if you want to, but it isn't necessary during the soup stage, because it is just a stepping stone to frankenprey.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 23, 2014 23:11:34 GMT -5
Shall do thank you
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Post by Deleted on Dec 24, 2014 8:44:35 GMT -5
Out of curiosity, how long will it take when they will eat the food out of their bowl instead of off a spoon? I am getting some spoiled ferrets here! This morning I actually thawed out the NV raw and didn't add water but stirred it up and they ate it off the spoon that way. My one cat is LOVING this food and quick to catch anything that hits the floor. I swear he is going to jump in the cage and eat the food.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 24, 2014 9:48:27 GMT -5
It depends on each ferret. You start by lowering the spoon into the bowl more and more, then slowly taking it out when they're lapping it up themselves.
Haha kitty likes the good stuff, cats and ferrets menus are the same on frankenprey, could start him on raw too (giggle)
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Post by Deleted on Dec 24, 2014 10:03:58 GMT -5
Really? Cats can eat the same thing? Nothing different? Wonder how much that would be in amounts they would have to eat
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Post by Deleted on Dec 24, 2014 10:17:53 GMT -5
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