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Post by Deleted on Aug 4, 2015 11:20:22 GMT -5
First off, hello to all! It's a beautiful day to be a ferrent isn't it? I was hoping I could wait to doing a whole transition till I have a mentor, but my little noodles have a hankering for the meats. Beef, turkey and chicken boneless meat as well as turkey liver and heart have been what they have tried and devoured so far. They even had a egg yolk last night which was gone in a flash of fur. Stools were a little more loose but nothing to be too concerned with(I found the poop chart, amazing by the way!). I was going to start them out with a soup, but, they've been eating meat so well i don't know if I need to or not. I do have some made and stored in the freezer just in case, and also for sick days. Oh and I also do own a meat scale, so I can weigh out proper portions for them. I'm thinking of devising a menu for them, that way this Friday I can go up to the butchers and get everything they would need.
My mock raw meal plan:
Monday AM - Chicken Wing Monday PM - Chicken Wing
Tuesday AM - turkey/duck neck Tuesday PM - turkey thigh (de-boned) or lamb (boneless)
Wednesday AM - Chicken Wing or duck/turkey neck Wednesday PM - Chicken Heart
Thursday AM - Chicken Wing Thursday PM - Duck Neck
Friday AM - Chicken Wing Friday PM - Turkey Thigh (De-boned) or lamb (boneless) Saturday AM - Duck/turkey Neck Saturday PM - Beef Tips
Sunday AM - Chicken Wing Sunday PM - ORGAN DAY! liver and kidney. (Either one of turkey/chicken duck, and the other pork)
Now I'm sure this could use modification, I called up my butcher, and local supermarkets and they don't have rabbit or anything. So I have to do some more searching, I don't know why rabbit is deciding to be difficult to find around me, or maybe I'm just looking in the wrong places.
Any suggestions, comments or concerns would be greatly appreciated. I am a new ferrent, so I do have much to learn. I just figured I could start prepping now because it seems that my guys are more than ready to dive right in. Remember those who fail to plan are planning to fail, and I will not be a failure haha. Thank you in advanced (dance)
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Post by raynebc on Aug 4, 2015 14:42:34 GMT -5
For a menu having 14 meals per week, the goal is a total of 1.5 meals per week (ie. roughly 10% of their diet) of heart, 0.75 meals per week of liver and 0.75 meals per week of another suitable organ (like the kidney you mentioned). You have plenty of bone-in meals so one option is to replace one of them with a meal that is half heart, one quarter liver and one quarter kidney.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 4, 2015 14:52:43 GMT -5
First off, hello to all! It's a beautiful day to be a ferrent isn't it? I was hoping I could wait to doing a whole transition till I have a mentor, but my little noodles have a hankering for the meats. Beef, turkey and chicken boneless meat as well as turkey liver and heart have been what they have tried and devoured so far. They even had a egg yolk last night which was gone in a flash of fur. Stools were a little more loose but nothing to be too concerned with(I found the poop chart, amazing by the way!). I was going to start them out with a soup, but, they've been eating meat so well i don't know if I need to or not. I do have some made and stored in the freezer just in case, and also for sick days. Oh and I also do own a meat scale, so I can weigh out proper portions for them. I'm thinking of devising a menu for them, that way this Friday I can go up to the butchers and get everything they would need. My mock raw meal plan: Monday AM - Chicken Wing Monday PM - Chicken Wing Tuesday AM - turkey/duck neck Tuesday PM - turkey thigh (de-boned) or lamb (boneless) Wednesday AM - Chicken Wing or duck/turkey neck Wednesday PM - Chicken Heart Thursday AM - Chicken Wing Thursday PM - Duck Neck Friday AM - Chicken Wing Friday PM - Turkey Thigh (De-boned) or lamb (boneless) Saturday AM - Duck/turkey Neck Saturday PM - Beef Tips Sunday AM - Chicken Wing Sunday PM - ORGAN DAY! liver and kidney. (Either one of turkey/chicken duck, and the other pork) Now I'm sure this could use modification, I called up my butcher, and local supermarkets and they don't have rabbit or anything. So I have to do some more searching, I don't know why rabbit is deciding to be difficult to find around me, or maybe I'm just looking in the wrong places. Any suggestions, comments or concerns would be greatly appreciated. I am a new ferrent, so I do have much to learn. I just figured I could start prepping now because it seems that my guys are more than ready to dive right in. Remember those who fail to plan are planning to fail, and I will not be a failure haha. Thank you in advanced (dance) It is a wonderful day to be a Ferrent. They bring so much fun, joy and laughter into our lives. You're off to a good start, learning and researching. You will find feeding them a natural diet makes them happy and healthy, they have lovely fur and good teeth. They will also reward you for your efforts with more snuggles and a lovely bond. If you will allow me, I will make a few small suggestions to your first menu: Monday AM - Chicken Wing Monday PM - Chicken Wing
A good beginner Bone In meal. Chicken wings are in three sections. Start them off with the wing tip section first, cut it once lengthwise and twice width wise, to help them. Once they build their jaw strength, this won't be necessary. Tuesday AM - turkey/duck neck Tuesday PM - turkey thigh (de-boned) or lamb (boneless)
Turkey and Duck necks are tough for new to bone ferrets. Consider a smaller bone like Quail or Cornish game hens. Turkey thigh is a muscle meat and a nice choice. Lamb is great. It's a red meat and that means it is full of Iron and Vitamin B. It is considered a hypo allergenic meat, ferrets rarely have an intolerance or allergy to this meat. Wednesday AM - Chicken Wing or duck/turkey neck Wednesday PM - Chicken Heart
You don't want a menu that is too heavy in Chicken. It is a common allergen/intolerance. Consider the quail, cornish game hens or even some rabbit. Heart is a Muscle meat It is essential for ferrets and full of Taurine. Other Taurine sources can be tongue. Taurine is found in muscles, so the more they use the muscle, the higher the amount of Taurine. That is why we suggest Heart first, it is constantly moving.
Duck hearts are full of fat. Fat equals energy for ferrets. You can look for those in a good Asian market and that gives you another protein source. Thursday AM - Chicken Wing Thursday PM - Duck Neck
Again, A.M Bone In meal
For your PM meal, you really want one more Organ meal: This meal should be 1/4 Liver plus 1/4 other organ plus a half meal of Heart Liver is full of Vitamin A. It is fat soluable and builds up in their system. Limit liver to five percent of their weekly intake. Five percent will be the other organ Ten percent will be Heart Other organs are secreting organs. think kidney/spleen/thymus/pancreas and brains. You can use organs from any animals. Mine are especially fond of pork brains.
Friday AM - Chicken Wing Friday PM - Turkey Thigh (De-boned) or lamb (boneless)
I would suggest instead of Turkey thigh, use duck or chicken gizzards. They build jaw strength and help clean teeth. Gizzards are a Muscle meatSaturday AM - Duck/turkey Neck Saturday PM - Beef Tips
A.M is a Bone In meal Consider some of the other Bone In meals, that I suggested. Beef Tips are a Muscle meat. Beef is high in Iron and Vitamin B. this is a great meal to add an egg to the beef. Eggs are high in Omega 3/6's and will help with excess fur. Like a hairball tonic, if you will. Fatty cuts of pork are another choice. Sunday AM - Chicken Wing Sunday PM - ORGAN DAY! liver and kidney. (Either one of turkey/chicken duck, and the other pork)
Perfect. Now, if you look at the overall menu, you will find: A minimum of three proteins 8 Bone In meals 4 Muscle meat meals One Organ meal of Liver plus Kidney One Organ meal of Liver plus another Organ and a half meal of Heart
That is a basic Frankenprey menu. You will learn as you go along, what they like best and what works for your schedule.
The key to success will be working with them. Sit with them during their meals, offer a piece here and there. You won't have to do this forever, but they will feel more secure. Ferrets often do not recognize new foods as food. You are building a bond and teaching them about food, just like if they were toddlers. They begin with new foods and work their way up to big boy meals.
I hope this helps. You want to do some reading and understand why each nutrient is important, especially Taurine. Keep posting, we all love to help. :wave3:
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Post by Deleted on Aug 4, 2015 15:31:40 GMT -5
Holy wow, you're amazing! Modified meal plan: Monday AM - Chicken Wing (tip and cut to start) Monday PM - Chicken Wing (tip and cut to start) Tuesday AM - Cornish Game Hen Tuesday PM - Turkey Thigh boneless Wednesday AM - Cornish Game Hen ( or quail/rabbit if I can find it) Wednesday PM: Duck Hearts Thursday AM - Chicken Wing (tip and cut to start) Thursday PM - 1/2 Duck heart, 1/4 chicken kidney, 1/4 pork liver Friday AM - Chicken Wing (tip and cut to start) Friday PM - Duck or Chicken gizzards Saturday AM - Cornish Game Hen Saturday PM - Beef tips with egg Sunday AM - Chicken Wing (Tip and cut to start) Sunday PM - Organ day, liver and kidney (either turkey/duck/chicken, adn other pork) Thank you so much for the input, you really go out of the way I can't begin to express my gratitude. Hopefully the revised one mixed it up enough, I can indeed get Cornish game hens, I'm gonna try to track down some quail and rabbit to try to mix it up even more for them and give them a good variety of meats. Tomorrow is butcher day, so I'll bringing home a cooler full, and the journey begins...
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Post by Deleted on Aug 4, 2015 15:36:34 GMT -5
You are going to be a great Ferrent. Space Dandy and Honey are lucky to have you. (dance)
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Post by Deleted on Aug 4, 2015 15:45:18 GMT -5
You are going to be a great Ferrent. Space Dandy and Honey are lucky to have you. (dance) Woot woot! That means a lot thank you I didn't think I could love something as much as I could them haha. I guess I was just a ferret person my whole life and didn't know it.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 4, 2015 18:50:09 GMT -5
Now watch out for Ferret Math. It is very contagious. It passes thru our keyboards and into our hearts. Not to mention, we are all terrible enablers here. I know what you mean. I was fascinated by Meerkats before I knew about ferrets. Then my daughter brought home our first ferret and I knew that was just the beginning. Meerkats were just my training wheels. Ferrets are my passion and have brought more fun and laughter into our house, than I would ever have expected. You'll love all the funny stories about them. It's also so cool to share your stories and pictures with people who understand and enjoy them also. When a little one passes over the Rainbow Bridge, we all grieve and are there to support their ferrent. We have over 900 ferrets on the forum. Some of our ferrents are breeders and some have had ferrets for more than twenty years. There is always someone to answer a question or knows a tip or trick to help out new ferrents. There is also a Facebook HFF page. If you are interested, it's by invitation and you can pm muchasbellas, Gfountain or Sherry (our Head Honcho) to be accepted. The leading Ferret expert in the world is Bob Church, who writes and researches. He is on Facebook also. He is an amazing man with a witty sense of humor. His articles are well worth reading. :wave3:
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Post by Deleted on Aug 4, 2015 19:05:10 GMT -5
Now watch out for Ferret Math. It is very contagious. It passes thru our keyboards and into our hearts. Not to mention, we are all terrible enablers here. I know what you mean. I was fascinated by Meerkats before I knew about ferrets. Then my daughter brought home our first ferret and I knew that was just the beginning. Meerkats were just my training wheels. Ferrets are my passion and have brought more fun and laughter into our house, than I would ever have expected. You'll love all the funny stories about them. It's also so cool to share your stories and pictures with people who understand and enjoy them also. When a little one passes over the Rainbow Bridge, we all grieve and are there to support their ferrent. We have over 900 ferrets on the forum. Some of our ferrents are breeders and some have had ferrets for more than twenty years. There is always someone to answer a question or knows a tip or trick to help out new ferrents. There is also a Facebook HFF page. If you are interested, it's by invitation and you can pm muchasbellas, Gfountain or Sherry (our Head Honcho) to be accepted. The leading Ferret expert in the world is Bob Church, who writes and researches. He is on Facebook also. He is an amazing man with a witty sense of humor. His articles are well worth reading. :wave3: Excellent, I will definitely have to check Bob Church out, and I would love to be part of the facebook group as well. The only thing about ferrets so far is I've noticed people have a weird stigma with them. Refer to them as rodents, smell and biters. I try so hard to persuade them otherwise. Then they just come over and take a look for themselves and then realize that they are nothing what they thought. Let's hope all goes well though, tomorrow is vet day. I don't know who is more nervous, me or them haha. I just hope they check out okay. All I know too is that there is a complete and total shortage of Distemper vaccine. From what I read a lot of people have different opinions and views towards Distemper and Rabies,. (I'm still up in the air with vaccination, I want them to be healthy put I don't want them to get anything they don't REALLY need.) But regardless, once they check out I'm gonna start moving them on to real foods that night!
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Post by Deleted on Aug 5, 2015 17:55:51 GMT -5
How did Vet day go? Sometimes after a vaccination, you will see a funky poop. Have you seen the poop chart? I thought so, but am not sure. Here it is: holisticferret60.proboards.com/thread/2469/poop-chartPeople are weird about ferrets. I'm in the country and people think feeding raw will make them vicious. I get everything from "what is that" to "Hey Fred, come see what she has as pets". When you get home, begin a journal. It's a good idea to write down all vet visits and keep their weights listed and what the vet says. Then each time you go to the vet, you have the info there. You're now officially a Ferrent. We get very nervous about any vet visits. It can be emotional, under the best circumstances. Does your vet approve of raw feeding? Vet students don't get alot of info on the ferret's diet and most studies are funded by pet food companies. So, vets see pet owners who don't bother to learn and then they make money selling pet food in their offices. Combine that with the little education on exotics and you are fortunate to find a Vet who understands a raw diet. One other small note: now is the time to find an after hours vet. Emergencies rarely happen during regular hours, you should include an after hours vet clinic number in your ferret first aid kit. :wave3:
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Post by Deleted on Aug 5, 2015 19:10:40 GMT -5
How did Vet day go? Sometimes after a vaccination, you will see a funky poop. Have you seen the poop chart? I thought so, but am not sure. Here it is: holisticferret60.proboards.com/thread/2469/poop-chartPeople are weird about ferrets. I'm in the country and people think feeding raw will make them vicious. I get everything from "what is that" to "Hey Fred, come see what she has as pets". When you get home, begin a journal. It's a good idea to write down all vet visits and keep their weights listed and what the vet says. Then each time you go to the vet, you have the info there. You're now officially a Ferrent. We get very nervous about any vet visits. It can be emotional, under the best circumstances. Does your vet approve of raw feeding? Vet students don't get alot of info on the ferret's diet and most studies are funded by pet food companies. So, vets see pet owners who don't bother to learn and then they make money selling pet food in their offices. Combine that with the little education on exotics and you are fortunate to find a Vet who understands a raw diet. One other small note: now is the time to find an after hours vet. Emergencies rarely happen during regular hours, you should include an after hours vet clinic number in your ferret first aid kit. :wave3: I have indeed found the poop chart before. They had a yellow poop the other night, but as to what I found it was due to the egg yolk I gave them as a treat. After that the stools did return to normal. Dandy did have a stool that looked just like the one for vaccine. He had no negative reactions to it and is playing and eating great. He took his rabies shot very well and was super calm and relaxed for the vet. I have all my info written down as well. The vet said he is a totally happy, healthy and one of the most well-behaved ferrets she has see. She also said that she definitely approved of a raw diet, so much as I am making sure to feed them properly and balanced. Honey has a vet visit on the 22nd of this month for a basic check-up and Rabies vaccination. I can't do distemper since there is a shortage till who knows when. Started the raw meat plan, So far so good as well. I had to do a little shift due to what I could get at the market today. So today I started Monday for them. They loved their wing tips, they took them a little bit longer to eat, but kept at it till they were completely gone. They're about to get some more here as well I couldn't find any kind of heart here. I have to drive out, almost an hour to get any kind of heart meat(duck/turkey/chicken), but the place I found also sells quail, pheasant, and rabbit as well as all organ. I did order an entire beef heart. (Can I use this? if not it was pretty cheap and I can always dispose of or pretend I'm from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom haha. ) I also picked up, beef and chicken liver, pork kidneys, two Cornish game hens, chicken gizzards, lamb meat, and turkey things. Side note, I also built them a dig box . I've never heard them dook so much before, it was great.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 5, 2015 19:21:39 GMT -5
My ferts love beef heart! So definitely don't give that away. But you can still pretend you're Indiana Jones. (giggle)
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Post by Deleted on Aug 5, 2015 19:33:38 GMT -5
My ferts love beef heart! So definitely don't give that away. But you can still pretend you're Indiana Jones. (giggle) I was hoping this would be the answer.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 5, 2015 19:35:45 GMT -5
My ferts love beef heart! So definitely don't give that away. But you can still pretend you're Indiana Jones. (giggle) I was hoping this would be the answer. Who wouldn't want to pretend to be Indian Jones?
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Post by Deleted on Aug 5, 2015 19:59:12 GMT -5
The vet said he is a totally happy, healthy and one of the most well-behaved ferrets she has see. She also said that she definitely approved of a raw diet, so much as I am making sure to feed them properly and balanced.
Hooray for your vet. We do have a vet lists, two actually. If you want to add your vet to the list. One is by state and country and one is simply updated as new ferrents meet and approve of vets. It's okay though, if you don't feel comfortable in disclosing your location. Here is the List your vet.holisticferret60.proboards.com/thread/6/list-vet?page=4Started the raw meat plan, So far so good as well. I had to do a little shift due to what I could get at the market today. So today I started Monday for them. They loved their wing tips, they took them a little bit longer to eat, but kept at it till they were completely gone. They're about to get some more here as wellYou have very good little eaters. You may be able to switch them easily without a Mentor. I'll follow along and if you get them switched, we can Graduate you and change your status to Raw Feeder. I couldn't find any kind of heart here. I have to drive out, almost an hour to get any kind of heart meat(duck/turkey/chicken), but the place I found also sells quail, pheasant, and rabbit as well as all organ. I did order an entire beef heart.
Hearts can be hard to find sometimes. A whole beef heart is going to give you a nice amount of heart meals. Plus, beef is high in Iron and Vitamin B, as I mentioned before. You want at least one red meat meal a week. Tongue can be used as a backup. I'm repeating myself here, but Taurine is found in muscles. The more a muscle moves, the more Taurine in it. We use Hearts primarily because the Heart is always moving. Tongue is a terrific backup. Mine prefer pork tongue to beef tongue. One of my Mentees found duck tongues, they are tiny but her ferret loves them. You can be Indiana Jones, but you have to have the Hat and the Whip! Your shopping trip was a big success. Isn't it fun grocery shopping for them? It's like a treasure hunt. You will want to prep all that into serving sizes and then freeze it. That way you don't have to freeze and unfreeze too often. Everyone here has seen pictures of my freezer, but let me show you what I do. I have an extra freezer. Meals for my five go into baggies and then into labeled bins. I bought them from the dollar store. Side note, I also built them a dig box . I've never heard them dook so much before, it was great.That must have made you so happy. I'm glad they had so much fun. What did you use? I love the sound of dooking. Ferrets make such funny noises, they dook, mutter, hiss, laugh (hehehehe) a breathless little sound; they can bark (extreme excitement or fear) and someone the other day, said she heard hers growl. My Juliet honks and if she is awake, she is making noise. My Keller is deaf and has a tiny munchkin voice, a warning squeal and an alarmed scream that puts a Klaxon to shame. My Mika loves to hiss. She hisses to invite play, she hisses when she is tired, she hisses at toys that are sitting there minding their own business. My boys are a little less vocal, but Roamy often chatters at Juliet and he mutters at Keller who he doesn't care for. I love that you are having so much fun with the Space Dandy and the lovely Princess Honey. Usually it's the females who rule. I'll be curious to see which of yours is the boss of your business. :wave3:
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Post by Deleted on Aug 5, 2015 20:27:53 GMT -5
Everything was a success today. The only difficulty is whichever one eats faster, they want the other ones bone haha. So they can get a little rowdy over fighting over the other ones food. Is it also okay to give them two red meals a week? one of the beef heart and one of lamb as well? At least till I make the trip this weekend to the other butcher. The dig box I made with a box that I got from my work and biodegradable starch packing peanuts. I might try ping pong balls or rice some time as well. What they do right now is jump from the bed, into the box and repeat. Its like a swimming pool to them, its absolutely adorable. Honey is definitely far more vocal than dandy, but when he does it I get super excited. Honey also loves to hiss at her toys, sometimes she gets a little protective of her toys with Dandy. She likes to claim things as hers, and then takes them to her corner and forgets about them 5 minutes later. They're definitely one of the most interesting and fun animals I've ever had the pleasure of having in my life.
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