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Post by Desiree on Jun 9, 2016 22:22:35 GMT -5
Yes a chicken wing per batch would help the calcium.
As far as the stringy meat, I just cut the slivers thin when its half frozen. When it thaws you can blade scrape the meat to make it thinner and add it to the soup that you make.
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Post by Desiree on Jun 24, 2016 11:38:51 GMT -5
@megaera can you please check in?
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Post by Deleted on Jun 24, 2016 14:14:55 GMT -5
Overall everything is good. Marie and Sax are getting their implants next week if they can squeeze us in. Marley's BG and weight are good, but she's just looking more ragged by the day as she's getting older. She doesn't like the heat, either, even with the AC. Everyone else is doing well, Jane especially - she is particularly fat and happy. Myron's scent gland seems to have quieted down, so that's a wait-and-see. I've been incorporating fairly large chunks, up to the size of my thumbnail without problems (aka it all disappears and isn't being stashed). I did try putting down just chunks w/o the raw soup blend and that was left completely, while everyone stared at me with "ma I'm hungry" eyes. We aren't having anymore problems with the stringy bits - even Marley will take these. Chicken wing went in each batch with minimal issues, though idk if it's grinding up as well as I would like.
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Post by Desiree on Jul 1, 2016 23:10:58 GMT -5
Awesome!! I'm very excited. Just keep upping the sizes and reducing the soup little by little as you go. You are doing great. Just continue checking in with your progress. As far as the chicken wing not blending up as well, that is probably a good thing, get them used to crunching on bones.
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Post by Desiree on Jul 4, 2016 19:55:53 GMT -5
Something I thought of. You can always add a little bit a warm water to the meat too. This acts as soup and will eliminate the need to make soup all the time. But when/if you do this make sure to serve 1.5 heart meals and 1.5 organ meals since the soup won't be balanced. Actually, you should start adding a meal of each if you are reducing the amount of soup in every meal.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 9, 2016 8:00:00 GMT -5
I bought a meat grinder! Have to try it out, but it should help incorporate more/better bone until they get used to it. I'm getting a dog at some point, so that'll help when I make the dog food, too.
Is there a schedule for the amount of organ vs other types of meals? I remember reading something about this in the group files. Should the organ/heart meals be only those things, or mixed in with others?
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Post by Desiree on Jul 9, 2016 13:30:52 GMT -5
Standard menu looks like this.
Sun AM: organ meal (½ liver, ½ other organ) Sun PM: edible bone-in meat
Mon AM: edible bone-in meat (or muscle) Mon PM: edible bone-in meat
Tues AM: heart Tues PM: edible bone-in meat
Wed AM: muscle meat Wed PM: edible bone-in meat
Thur AM: heart and organ (½ liver, ½ other organ) Thur PM: edible bone-in meat
Fri AM: edible bone-in meat (or muscle) Fri PM: edible bone-in meat
Sat AM: muscle meat Sat PM: edible bone-in meat
What you will want to do is try to balance that with whats already in the soup recipe. 1.5 organ meals and 1.5 heart meals. Just those types alone in a meal. With the reduction of soup vs chunks, adding in a extra organ meal (can be made like a soup) and heart meal can help with that balance.
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Post by Desiree on Jul 29, 2016 11:27:53 GMT -5
How is it going?
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Post by Deleted on Aug 9, 2016 23:27:32 GMT -5
I haven't gotten too much farther beyond incorporating some bone-in meat to a chunky soup blend in place of eggshell, and trying out different grinds for the meat. We had a major setback with that, though. On the second day, Marley almost ended up with a blockage, even though I ground up the bone very finely. The others did well on it, but I'm not sure what I can do better when incorporating bone. She ended up pooping bone chunks, and it was very painful and I don't want to repeat that experience, so I pulled them back onto the normal blend. Since I'm always short on time these days, and we're in the middle of moving, is it possible to make something at home like Nature's Variety? It's basically frozen meat patties. I basically want to get the benefits of raw without the issue of blockages. Heather D. in the group suggested bonemeal, but idk how much of an option that is. Everyone is doing well health & weight wise. Marley cleared up well after a day or two of diarrhea, and is fit and feisty again. The only thing I'm getting concerned about is Myron's weight - he's getting very chubby, mostly because he tends to gulp all of the food. He isn't a big walker or player, so I'm wondering if a ferret diet is an option. We can definitely feed them separately if so.
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Post by Desiree on Aug 11, 2016 15:06:17 GMT -5
Yes, you can make grinds at home if you would like. I will have to check how to properly balance all of that. With doing grinds be ready to brush their teeth as well. Bonemeal is an option for Marley. You can feed her separately I would rather see her on homemade grinds and when you are ready you can move the others to full raw but that will be in the future for you I assume.
I would feed Myron separately as well.. If he will eat thicker soup or chunks, feed him that. The chunks will slow him down and fill him up more than soup will and will help him lose weight. Also you can feed some leaner meats for just him as well. Chicken breasts, lean beef, venison and quail are all low in fat.
Once we get your grinds balanced, we can submit you to Heather D for graduation.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 12, 2016 10:11:56 GMT -5
Okay, thanks! I think once I have more time to go around (should be within 2-3 months, but they have to eat until then!) getting them onto whole meat would be a great option. Would I just reopen this thread, or go through the program again? For the grinds with Marley, is there a way to make sure all the pieces of bone are small enough/dispersed enough that she doesn't experience those issues again? Maybe running it through a second or third time? Very scary day! We've actually been brushing their teeth the whole time, so definitely will make sure to keep on top of that!! I'll definitely feed him separately - is there an amount he should be getting daily, or is it based on when he stops eating? Though that may be a flawed system since he loves eating... I can get an updated weight for you tonight. Awesome! I totally appreciate your help (and patience!!).
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Post by Desiree on Aug 17, 2016 0:53:48 GMT -5
So I got some advice from some more experienced mentors. They said that we can graduate you on just grinds even if you don't have time to make the full switch. What they want to see is that you know how to balance a menu properly, have access to the correct meats and organs and such.
lets get your grinds balanced first and then we will work on making sure when you are ready you will be ready to make the full switch and we will always be here for you in the future to help you on your journey.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 26, 2016 14:29:44 GMT -5
Sounds good! What do you need me to do to get the grinds balanced? I have access to basically every meat right now.
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Post by Desiree on Aug 27, 2016 23:58:19 GMT -5
Can you let me know what you plan to use for your grinds and ratios in the grind?
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Post by Deleted on Sept 14, 2016 23:21:07 GMT -5
We've been using chicken, and doing the 10oz batch with the soup set up; 8 oz thigh, 2 oz organ (half of this is heart). We had some bone in this but I think we got the ratio wrong, not sure what the right one is.
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