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Post by katt on Jul 28, 2017 21:44:45 GMT -5
It is easier to keep organ meals with organs rather than mixing them across meals so you don't lose track of how much they are getting and know their diet is always balanced. If they love liver, blend some brains in with their liver. Start with just a little bit, and then increase it to about 1/4 of the meal. Brain is very nutritious, but also very rich, so too much can upset their tummies. Some can tolerate 1/2 a meal of brain, but I find it's best to limit brain to about 1/4 of a meal's worth. New Sagaya often carries rabbits (whole, skinned, and gutted) that are a GREAT source of bone. It can be hit or miss on their supply so keep checking and stock up when they have them in. You can also ask them to order some I believe. They are typically in the back of the store (walk in, straight back and to the left a bit, to the upright glass-door freezers on the back wall just to the left of the seafood). Look in the freezers - the shelf they are on varies but I often find them a little hidden on the very bottom shelf. They are usually packaged in clear plastic bags. Other good bones: rabbit, quail, frog legs, duck (buy a whole duck at New Sagaya and butcher it up into meal sized pieces. All but the thigh-bones and for smaller ferrets the upper wing bones are edible), turkey necks (smashed), turkey wing-tips, turkey backs - all good sources to look for. Also, you can get chicken or duck feet and chop them up into other meats to create a bone-in meal (e.g. chicken feet and beef). That shouldn't be done for the majority of meals though as they still need a variety of different bone sources. But it can be a good way to make your variety a little more flexible. Banadir Halal Market at 5440 E Northern Lights Blvd, Anchorage, AK 99508 - they are a good source too. They have a little freezer and often have goat chunks, and sometimes goat organs.
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Post by patti49er on Jul 29, 2017 3:32:33 GMT -5
Ok. That's our mission for Saturday. Today was Pat BD and work was intense. Open House tomorrow and then I can think. Thanks so much again
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Post by patti49er on Aug 1, 2017 1:58:05 GMT -5
They had hearts and livers Sunday night and chicken bones in meal Monday morning. They ate all the hearts and livers and I thought there was way too much. On a roll!
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Post by patti49er on Aug 2, 2017 1:43:12 GMT -5
Pat went to Banadir Halal Market but he would have to buy three pounds at $7/pound. We need to find some other people to split that up with. Today he was chopping beef for fajitas and gave the fatty parts to the babes - they loved it. We are over any picky eaters I think. Having trouble finding brains again so we can blend that with liver and see how that goes. Blended should be fine.
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Post by katt on Aug 3, 2017 0:13:39 GMT -5
He'd have to buy 3lb of the goat? That sucks. They used to have smaller bags. Goat can be spendier so it's something I buy and then stretch out for a while. That way it adds a little extra variety over time without breaking the bank. New Sagaya has really good stuff but their stock can be hit or miss. I always just stocked up whenever I went there and found something I like to feed. Having a lot of freezer space really helps with that. : ) Awesome on the hearts! Were they mixed with liver, or separate? It sounds like they are big fans of liver - that's good to know if you do find something (like brains) they don't like as much. Using some of the juices from the liver container can help entice them to try other things, and with organs (like brains, or when you find them uterus and kidneys or others) if you blend them with the liver it may help get them past any potentially "icky" flavors. They have made wonderful progress! Keep it up!!
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Post by patti49er on Aug 3, 2017 4:04:50 GMT -5
The hearts and the liver were on the same plate sort of mixed up. We do have uterus so maybe that mixed with liver can be the next experiment for Thursday night. For breakfast they had chicken with bones that they mostly ignored (they are still sitting out.) Tonight they have pork. Pat tried to smash a ham bone but the bones were very sharp. We will figure out what button bone are and try that.
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Post by katt on Aug 4, 2017 22:23:32 GMT -5
Definitely give the uterus with liver a shot next organ day! Start with a smallish amount of uterus to sneak it in on them, and if they take it then next time you can do a bit more. Pork button bones are just rib cross-sections or rib-tips. They are small and round. Not all ferrets can handle them. Any other pork bone is too big usually and yeah - trying to smash them is a major PITA. Frankly, if a bone is that hard to smash I wouldn't typically recommend smashing and feeding it anyways as those super dense bones can be too hard on their teeth and, in very rare cases, if they happen to swallow a big chunk of the very-dense bone whole without chewing it up, they can have trouble passing it. I would stick with the less dense bones such as poultry, rabbits, and ribs from bigger animals. I will say though that sometimes I get goat or pork chunks with bone and I give them those but WITHOUT smashing them, and they gnaw the meat off and sometimes can lick some of the marrow out. Just realize that meals like that don't count as "bone0in" since they aren't eating the bones. How smashed are the chicken bones they are getting so far? Have you seen all of them crunching on the bones some, or are there a few that do better than the others?
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Post by patti49er on Aug 5, 2017 2:21:53 GMT -5
I heard Havoc crunching loudly yesterday!!! It was awesome. So I think they are all doing that because it was all gone. I think they need more time at that size though. We'll try the uterus tomorrow with the liver.
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Post by katt on Aug 5, 2017 16:05:00 GMT -5
Awesome! : ) Yes, they often need to stay at a certain size for a little bit to get used to the chewing and build up their muscles before gradually moving them up. Let me know how the uterus goes!
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Post by patti49er on Aug 8, 2017 19:40:01 GMT -5
They had liver and uterus last night. Most of it is gone (or stashed!) Karma looks like she loves it. Whenever they do that little head tilt and lips lick and then tilt the head to the other side and repeat - soooo cute.
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Post by patti49er on Aug 11, 2017 17:44:10 GMT -5
What about gizzards? We are cutting some up and I'm learning it probably doesn't count as a organ meat. Is it something to mix with the pork (that doesn't have bones) and would the gizzards count as bones? I think all my life I've thought gizzards were what you called all the stuff in the bag in the Thanksgiving turkey so I am struggling with concepts.
Before Patrick understood just how much a vegetarian and non-cook I am at heart, there was one Thanksgiving when the second bag in the turkey caught on fire in the oven because I didn't know there were two bags (the removal of the first bag was very traumatic for all involved and the rest of the people just forgot in the midst of all the emotional turmoil and jokes.) I was horrified to learn where that second bag was stuffed and refused any more hands-on lessons. That was the end of my major cooking days to everyone's great relief.
Anyway, gizzards. Probably doesn't have bones but it grinds food - so I don't know.
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Post by katt on Aug 11, 2017 23:36:44 GMT -5
Gizzards are a muscle meat (no bones). They don't count as organs, BUT they ARE great for the teeth and chewing muscles. : ) Gizzards are weird - they are a muscle in bird's stomachs that help them grind up seeds and other hard foods.
So in short, they are considered a boneless muscle meal. : )
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Post by patti49er on Aug 12, 2017 0:07:57 GMT -5
Ahhh, thank you. I was hoping but of course, life isn't that simple!
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Post by katt on Aug 12, 2017 7:21:00 GMT -5
If only! haha If we can get them eating the brains, you'll have good variety with the brains and uterus. I would definitely keep an eye out for kidneys and add those to their organ mix whenever you can find them. But their organs are doing good. : )
When you have time, could you wrangle hubby into laying out a menu with you? It doesn't have to be perfect - we'll tweak it if needed (that's what I'm here for)! I just want to get an idea of where they are at right now.
Menu format should be:
Monday am: pm:
Tues am: pm:
Wed am: pm:
Thurs am: pm:
Fri am: pm:
Sat am: pm:
Sun am: pm:
Let me know for each day what type(s) of meats they are getting. If you aren't sure you could even write it down each meal this week so by the end of the week we'll have a list of what they got for the week.
An updated list of what proteins, bones, and organs they'll eat would be helpful too.
They have made fantastic progress! You are in the home-stretch - keep it up! : )
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Post by patti49er on Aug 12, 2017 16:22:21 GMT -5
Here's what we do. The muscle meats are on the top: chicken, pork, beef. Every other night they get an organ: liver, then liver and uterus, then liver.,k
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