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Post by katt on Dec 27, 2016 23:27:38 GMT -5
X.x I thought I sent a reply here, but it turns out I didn't, I am so sorry! Katt, I have some questions about the grinds. If they have too much liver, would we have to mix another organ in with them? How would we go about balancing that out? Add extra heart too? RE organs: I wouldn't worry about it too much. We used to just say 10% of the diet needed to be liver. The other organ part developed only in the last oh, 5 years or so. It is definitely BETTER to add other organs besides just liver, but only-liver is acceptable (if less than ideal). I commented on the organ % in my above post, but given that there is one meal that is entirely organs (liver+lung) that leaves a lot of room for adding in other-organs if you can get them in future orders or find some locally. I would definitely try to get some other organs whenever you can. I would also encourage that if you want to continue feeding grinds, you also continue to feed it in conjunction with the frankenprey meals (hearts, organ-meal, wingettees) for a few reasons. One, those additional few meals gives you a LOT more flexibility to adjust their balance as-needed based on any deficiencies in the grinds. Two, heart. Three, chewing those bones will go a looooong way towards maintaining their dental health, keep their neck and jaw muscles nice and strong, and their teethers clean without the need for brushing. Four, it keeps them familiar with chunks and bones so that you can add in other variety (e.g. you are out and about and come across some goat chunks and thing oh man, the ferrets would love this! vs darn not a grind so they won't eat it...); this really allows you to adjust their diet as needed - it keeps things MUCH more versatile for you in the long run. See above RE heart.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 28, 2016 11:12:22 GMT -5
Holy cow, that' a lot of info! I love it haha. (Ironically, as soon as your schedule is lowing down, mine is speeding up so I wasn't able to reply until now. So, what I'm getting from this is switch a wingette meal for a heart meal and get some more organs like kidney to rate weekly with the lung, right? (week one lung, week two kidney, etc). Did I miss anything? Anything else I should alter with the meal plans?
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Post by Aftershock on Dec 28, 2016 13:59:13 GMT -5
Hee hee, Katt is always full of amazing info!❤ That is also what I got from it! Are they still doing good with everything? 😀 poops looking good? Any questions about anything?
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Post by katt on Dec 28, 2016 14:45:04 GMT -5
Yep, you've got it! Replace 1/2 to 1 bone meal with hearts, and find some other organs to add in. (Kidney, spleen, pancreas, thymus aka sweetbreads, uterus, testicles, etc - I would put kidney at the highest priority of those, though pancreas is super awesomely good too).
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Post by Deleted on Dec 28, 2016 15:01:52 GMT -5
Got it! Now, I could do a 2lb bag of 'Organs' but that's only approximately 25% kidney, 25%liver and 50* heart (that goes for chicken or rabbit only.) Or I could do just a single beef kidney. (still 2 lbs). Poops and energy levels and weights are all awesome, and we're actually going to duck necks today!
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Post by katt on Dec 28, 2016 18:17:07 GMT -5
Honestly since you already have liver and heart, I'd just go with the kidney. More bang for your buck. If the organ mix had other organs in it it might be more worth it, but since it's just kidney I would just buy straight kidney.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 29, 2016 0:06:38 GMT -5
Okay so here's the new and improved (again) meal plan. The next time I order meat I'll get some kidney too. One a side note, what's a food treat for them? On HT there's dehydrated meat as "all natural pet treats." Would those work? Monday am: Wingettes Monday pm: Duck Necks (or Chicken thigh bonless peices)**
Tuesday am: Rabbit Chunks Bone In Tuesday pm: Chicken Thighs
Wednesday am: Duck Necks Wednesday pm: Chicken hearts
Thursday am: Rabbit Chunks Bone In Thursday pm: Chicken Wingettes (or boneless thigh)**
Friday am: Duck Necks Friday pm: ½ Chicken heart + ¼ Chicken liver + ¼ Beef Lung
Saturday am: Rabbit Chunks bone in Saturday pm: Chicken Thighs
Sunday am: Duck Necks Sunday pm: ½ Chicken liver + ½ Beef Lung (or kidney)
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Post by Aftershock on Dec 29, 2016 10:36:55 GMT -5
Looks great! As for treats, those look okay ingredient wise, I'd only buy the strips. (I would stay away from liver) Me personally, I use salmon oil as a treat. Yummy Chummies brand. Grizzly brand is also great. Or, you could always make your own dehydrated treats. (I do this with extra muscle meats) Oven at 150 degrees and small pieces on a cookie sheet. Depending on the size it can take about four or more hours. Hey, hey, HEY! GUESS WHAT? It's final quiz time! Are you ready?! FINAL QUIZ How can you tell if your ferret is getting too much or too little bone? What are some good emergency taurine sources if you run out of heart? What counts as a "different protein source?" List 3 organs aside from liver. Is it a good idea to mix muscle meat, bone in and organs all in one meal. Explain why. How can you tell if your ferret is too fat? Too skinny? About how long is a ferret's digestion time? Why is cooking meat generally considered inadvisable? Take your time and good luck!
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Post by Deleted on Dec 29, 2016 13:43:19 GMT -5
1) The surest way to know is to check their poops; too little bone will make them softer, just like too much bone will make them hard. 2) Emergency sources of taurine - -supplement (500mg per ferret per day, but broken up into each feeding) -beef tongue 3) Different protien source- example being you have them on chicken, different sources could be rabbit, duck, turkey, venison, etc. Any other type of meat that they eat. 4) organs aside from liver- pancreas, kidney, brain 5)No. The ferrets can pick out what they like and leave what they don't, causing a possible defiency and unbalanced diet. 6) Hold up vertically; if they're too fat, their stomach will be rounded. Too skinny and they'll have an hourglass shape. 7) 3 hours give or take. 8)It degrades nutrients, causes bones to be brittle and hard and can cause choking or blockages in digestive track.
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Post by Aftershock on Dec 29, 2016 14:04:33 GMT -5
WHOOOOOOOOOOOO! Great job! Seriously, high five! You did amazing! I'M SO PROUD OF YOU! As I am just a Mentor in Training, I will let katt judge! If she deems your answers correct, we will submit your menu to Heather and upgrade you to Raw Feeder!!!!!
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Post by Deleted on Dec 29, 2016 15:16:46 GMT -5
EEEEEEEEKKK!! I'm so excited!!! I can't wait!
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Post by katt on Dec 30, 2016 0:06:53 GMT -5
Looks great! (dance) Kels, go ahead and submit her most recent menu for Heather to approve. You can also include her last menu with grinds too if you want, but for Heather's ease I would copy MY version of it with the summary (7/20ths and all that jazz so she doesn't have to waste time calculating out the %'s herself when it's already done lol).
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Post by Aftershock on Dec 30, 2016 1:14:22 GMT -5
Something I did notice while looking at the menus myself, @boandblaze just to clarify, your current menu with the grinds will have two meals of full hearts, and the chunk menu 1.5, yes? Also, one thing that may just need a switch around is monday am just because it's hearts after an organ meal. (the loose poops, you know?)
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Post by Deleted on Dec 30, 2016 4:03:12 GMT -5
The grind menu only has one because the grinds are alternative meals. The chunk menu has 2 meals of heart and 1 less bone in since I was close to too much. I'll switch around meals tomorrow morning.
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Post by Aftershock on Dec 30, 2016 9:58:15 GMT -5
I do believe Katt was talking about not enough heart with the grind menu. The grinds are like 15% bone, so a bit heavy on it, which is why she suggested take out a wingette and make it a heart meal.
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