We are adding the bone meal with every serving. That is good - but we still really want to get them eating actual whole bones. It is very important for their dental health, and helps them build important neck and jaw muscles. How are they doing with the game hen bones? If they are eating those well, I would start smashing them less. If they will eat whole game hen bones, move to something larger - chicken wings, rabbit bones, non-chopped quail bones, etc.
No I don't know how to adjust based on their poops. More bone if it's runny?You got it.
Poops are your best measure of their bone and calcium intake. Overall soft/runny poops (other than on heart/organ days when dark, loose stools are expected) typically mean they need more bones. Dry, hard, small, chalky, crumbly, pale-dry, etc poops can all be indications that they are getting too much bone. Raw fed ferrets tend to have smaller poops than kibble fed, AND heir poops will naturally be more moist as their food has a MUCH higher water content. Their poops will also vary by meal. For example organ meals tend to produce dark, soft stools. Chicken stools tend to be lighter, red meats like beef tend to be much darker. Bone-in meals you may notice small bone chunks. Fatty meals poops can be seedier. Etc.
How much bonemeal are you adding? Are you still adding it on the days that they are eating bones? (Are they eating the bones yet)? If they ARE eating the bones, don't add the bonemeal on those days or it will be overdoing it.
When you say variety - do you mean just the organs?
No, I mean everything. We say that they need an absolute BARE MINIMUM of 3 different proteins (e.g. chicken, pork, and beef) to give people a minimum guideline and starting point. But in reality they should have MUCH more than that - the more variety the better. For example, chicken can not be their only bone source. They need 7-9 bone-in meals a week....if chicken is their only bone source then the majority of their diet is now chicken, meaning the diet is FAR too chicken heavy. [Also as a heads up, cornish game hen is simply a young chicken. It does not add significantly to their variety. While game hen makes for GREAT starter bones to teach them to eat bones, they (particularly their bones) are not fully matured and thus are not sufficient to be a significant source of edible bones in their diet long-term.] Just like humans, ferrets need a wide variety to ensure they get the optimal nutritional profile.....
1.) They need a variety of bone sources (chicken, quail, rabbit, duck, turkey necks, quail, frog legs, some can eat pork button bones, etc).
2.) They also need a variety of muscle meats (chicken pork, turkey, duck, rabbit, quail...etc) of which AT LEAST one should be a red meat (beef, goat, moose, caribou, etc).
3.) They also need a variety of organs. Their organs should consist of 10% of their total diet (1.5 meals a week), of which *at leas* half should be liver. 10 of the diet being liver is acceptable, but NOT ideal. Whenever possible, half of their organ content should consist of other, non-liver organs such as: kidney, brains, pancreas, spleen, uterus, testicles.
3b.) Their organs should come from as many different animals as possible. What happens if you offer chicken liver as their only organ source, and on develops a chicken allergy....? Now you are really, really stuck. Midtown New Sagaya is a gold mine. They carry: pork and beef and chicken liver, pork and beef kidneys, pork brains (completely safe and very nutritious, but very rich so keep to 1/4 or less of the organ content), pork uteries (uterus).
4.) They should also have a variety of sources of heart for the same reasons - what happens if one develops a chicken allergy? Also, different animals have slightly different nutrient profiles, offering a better overall nutritional intake. Midtown New Sagaya sells chicken, pork, and beef hearts.
- Note: New Sagaya carries different things different weeks. Sometimes you go there and they have a TON of kidney, sometimes they have none. I always go and stock up on what I can when they have it, and if they are ou of something I need I try again in a couple of weeks.
The last bone feeding we didn't mangle the bones enough. So after a while he cut them up more and they ate some. Perfect! Work on cutting the bones up less and less as they build their chewing muscles and learn how to eat the bones. As they build their strength, we need to start adding in other bones as I mentioned above.
If we feed beef how would they get any bones other than the supplement?It would be really good to review the menu:
holisticferretforum.com/natural-diet/raw-diet-the-meat-of-the-site/basic-frankenprey-menu/On a 2 meal/day schedule, they need:
- 7-9 bone-in meals a week. Bone-in meals should contain significant amounts of EDIBLE bones - if they don't eat it, it doesn't count. I mentioned several good bone sources above.
- 1.5 meals a week of heart
- 1.5 meals a week of organs, of which at least 1/2 should be liver, and the rest other organs
That then leaves you with 2-4 meals a week which are boneless muscle meats. THIS is where your meats like beef, goat, and pork come in.
Your Current Menu:You have 2.5 meals of liver - this is too much. Too much liver can cause runny stools, and over time can lead to Vitamin A toxicity. Their total organ content (liver+/- other) should make up 1.5 meals a week.
You only have 0.5 meals of heart - this is not enough. They need 1.5 meals a week of heart or you risk taurine deficiency. You can't "overdo" heart per se like you can with liver, other than too much can cause soft stools, and of course you don't want to take up spaces for other important things like bones and organs. But they need at LEAST 1.5 meals a week of hearts.
I discussed the bones, which we are working on
so that will get there.
The variety is also something that we need to increase. Yes you have the technical "bare minimum," but that is really not enough as their only bone source is chicken, so their diet will end up far too chicken heavy.
Monday:
am:chicken and bones
pm:
hearts and liversTuesday:
am:chicken
pm:pork
Wednesday:
am: cornish game hen & bones
pm:beef
Thursday:
am: liverpm:chicken
Friday
am: pork
pm: chicken
Saturday:
am:turkey
pm:liverSunday:
am:chicken
pm:pork