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Post by Deleted on Aug 12, 2015 11:31:30 GMT -5
At the moment more whole prey is too expensive, but I try to add more. The "naturally balanced" is just about the amount of bone in. It's basically a front leg and back of a rabbit, nothing else. I order from a german shop. (Haustierkost.de) Some of the meals will be switched with chicken necks. I add bone meal to everything except the 2 muscle meals. The stools looking fine. :-) Sherry : Could you or another mod change the thread title or is it easier to start a new one? My current title is a bit misleading...
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Post by FireAngel on Aug 12, 2015 13:48:11 GMT -5
Thread name changed for you. You can edit the name yourself by going to the first post in the thread and editing that. I can understand needing to be economical, I just wanted you to be aware getting too into grinds with them may cause issues when you are ready to move further with their switch.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 12, 2015 14:12:46 GMT -5
Thank you :-)
I know, I tried several times, but Tapatalk only said "error"...
Is it enough to add necks once a week or should it be more often to avoid it?
Mom bought me some whole chicken carcasses and cut it into larger chunks. This should be something good to chew on. :-)
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Post by FireAngel on Aug 12, 2015 14:31:24 GMT -5
I would add the necks and any meaty bone pieces as often as possible and try to keep the grinds to an absolute minimum, like maybe twice a week at max and space them a couple of days apart. I hate TapTalk! I actually just open the browser on my phone now if I need to, to use the forum.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 28, 2015 2:01:56 GMT -5
Sorry for being quite for some time. I´ve already changed their menu a bit. I add following meals: - Big chunks of chicken carcasses, some cuts have bigger, fatty pieces of meat and other are more ribcage. I mix them equally. - Big chunks of rabbit with bone in. I´ve just cut the whole rabbit into meal sized portions. The rabbit was skinned and gutted, so don´t count as “whole prey”. - Chicken drumsticks. - Increased the amount of chicken necks in the menu. That’s my last week’s menu: (am meal / pm meal) MO Mice (whole prey) / Rabbit grinds (bone in) TU Chicken carcasses / Beef grinds (bone in) WE Beef organs (grinds) / Rabbit (bone in) TH Chicken necks / Beef organs (grinds) FR Drumsticks / Rabbit chunks (only muscle) SA Rabbit grinds (bone in) / Beef grinds (only muscle) SU Beef organs / Chicken necks I know, there is still a lot of grinds included. But I´ll lower the amount. My big freezer is full with prepared meals, I have to reduce my stock first. The kits eating bone happily. So I don’t have to worry about them getting to lazy to eat bones at the moment. The first drumsticks were a full success. They love munching them away and eat most of the bone. But it ends with relatively loose stools… I hope, it was just because drumsticks were new to them. All the best Jenny
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Post by Sherry on Aug 30, 2015 15:40:26 GMT -5
One thing I would prefer to see in there is some more heart. I am assuming the grinds contain heart, but do the "organ grinds"? If so then a half meal of heart would be plenty
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Post by Deleted on Aug 30, 2015 15:49:22 GMT -5
Oh, I don't write that down... The organ meals are 50% heart, 25% liver, 25% other. Is this okay? I feed 3 meals like that.
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Post by Sherry on Aug 30, 2015 15:59:01 GMT -5
yes, that is fine thanks for clarifying!
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Post by Deleted on Aug 31, 2015 15:32:41 GMT -5
My kits were hungry, I had to feed 3 meals on Monday. So I'm one meal ahead of my plan. What kind of meal could I add on Sunday PM? I don't want to ruin the balance...
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Post by Deleted on Sept 1, 2015 13:49:49 GMT -5
I'm so proud of my wee boys and happy, that I made the decision to feed raw. At first I would like to feed 50/50 raw and kibble, start reading and made up my mind. My boys never eat a single kibble.
They're doing so well on raw. They're munching their bones with a lot of joy and literally dive into organ meals. I can serve whatever I want, they'll eat it. Only beef with (I don't know what it's called in English)... this kind of stomach, stinks to h*ll... This is the only meal which they don't eat up. I'm fine with that...
I love the moment, when I prepare a meal and the boys getting nervous :-)
But I have to train myself, not to freak out with every poop, that differs from the last... My first ferrets were on full kibble diet and never had a poop out of norm... And it's crazy, how obsessed you get with poop... Crazy ferret lady... Can't tell it to normal people ;-)
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Post by Deleted on Sept 2, 2015 17:00:22 GMT -5
Made a GIF of Junior enjoying his chicken carcasses :-)
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Post by raynebc on Sept 2, 2015 17:52:23 GMT -5
NOM NOM NOM...
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Post by FireAngel on Sept 2, 2015 18:03:48 GMT -5
So cute! So what is their current menu and I have a pop quiz for you too if you don't mind.
1.) What are some good emergency taurine sources if you run out of heart? 2.) How can you tell if your ferret is getting too much or too little bone? 3.) Give 2 examples each of muscle meat, edible bones, and organs.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 3, 2015 6:36:10 GMT -5
Thank you :-)
First the pop quiz!
1) Red Bull of course… No, just kidding. I could go for tongue or brain. In case of emergency I could go for taurine powder, but would be my last choice.
2) Their stools vary with the amount of bone. Too much bone would cause really firm, hart stools or in worst case could cause constipation. Too less bone cause loose stools.
3) Muscle meat: Chicken, beef, rabbit
Edible Bone: Any bones from e.g. chicken or rabbit.
Organs: Liver, Kidney.
Now my actual menu:
Notes: Heart and Organ is 50% beef heart, 25% liver, 25% kidney as grind.
I still feed a lot of grinds as bone-in meal. I reduced the amount, but still have a lot in the freezer. With the next order I will lower the amount of grinds some more and will feed more “true” bone in meals. Luckily my boys eating whole bones without any fuss.
MO Whole prey Mice (adult)
MO Bone in Chicken (Drumsticks)
TU Bone in Beef (Grinds)
TU Bone in Rabbit (Front leg)
WE Heart + Organ See note
WE Bone in Chicken (Necks)
TH Bone in Rabbit (Grinds)
TH Heart + Organ See note
FR Bone in Chicken (Ribcage with good amount of fatty parts from the lower back)
FR Muscle Beef (Chunks)
SA Bone in Rabbit (Front leg)
SA Muscle Rabbit (Chunks)
SU Bone in Beef (Grinds)
SU Heart + Organ See note
Bye :-)
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Post by FireAngel on Sept 3, 2015 7:34:17 GMT -5
Looks good! Maybe when you order next you can get some duck necks or something, if he is having no issues with eating regular bones it would definitely be best to increase those and decrease the grinds. If you have enough to increase them now until your next order you can maybe skip the grinds all together and just get wings and necks and whatever for him. Of course I do mean for you to still use the grinds until they are gone, I certainly do not want anything to go to waste. What is your final diet goal for him?
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