Kibble Vs Freeze-Dried Raw?

[lunarwitch]

Hello there ^.^

Just curious about if anyone can recommend top quality freeze-dried raw brands as well as Kibble? See, I plan on getting ferrets, but for a number of reasons (biggest being that my roommate refuses to allow ferret food in the 'human freezer', costs, etc) I can't do raw. So, baring that in mind, is FDR the next best thing? Can I mix FDR with Kibble? Are there certain brands of each to avoid/that are highly recommended? Sorry to throw questions out like this, but it's all very confusing >.<

Thank You!
~Star

[Sherry]

TBH both freeze dried and high end kibble are more expensive that frankenprey. Interesting that your roommate is against having regular meat in the freezer :/

[lunarwitch]

Sept 14, 2017 9:40:27 GMT -5 Sherry said:

TBH both freeze dried and high end kibble are more expensive that frankenprey. Interesting that your roommate is against having regular meat in the freezer :/

It's that it's for the ferrets specifically that makes it gross...which obviously makes complete sense. Right? *sigh*

[Sherry]

Evidently. Fdr Stella and cheweys is good. Kibble orijen or wysongs digestive is all I know of.

[LindaM]

So that it is meant for the ferrets is what's gross... is it perhaps a misconception that they'd eat weird meats or whole animals? Because you don't HAVE to do whole prey. And Frankenprey is remarkably close to what WE as people eat, in fact it is from cuts that we as people eat (you'll shop for most of it in the meat section of the grocery store). Most of the meat that you'd end up having is meat you'd have eaten as well, other than the heart and organ meals.. but again some of those are also consumed by humans (I recall my grandmum making "liver cookies" for example, I'm translating the name from another language, I'm unsure of it in English exactly but it used chicken livers). The meat you will be giving the ferrets ought to be human-grade meat anyway, period. So it's not like it has to be something "crazy".. it's not going to be cat meat and the like, lol.

The "odd" proteins I get my bunch are things like duck (to humans an expensive delicacy), pheasant (delicacy again), rabbit (the French reserve this as another delicacy), frog legs (again, hello French cuisine), quail (I'm sure someone sees this as another delicacy meal), etc. So while it may be odd and some of us may not try it, they tend to be considered treat foods of the rich or on special occasions. Common ones are pork, beef, chicken, lamb, goat (not easy to get) and most of those are things people eat.. in cuts like chops, steaks, breasts, wings, thighs, etc. It's all human grade meats, going into a "human freezer".

If your friend feels squirrelly about the hearts and organs (liver is a must, and kidney is most commonly found), that I can understand. Hearts still make me feel freaky some days, but I keep things in sturdy, sealed containers. I can't even smell any of it the way you might if you use baggies or cling-wrap and foam bottoms. Double container it if need be too, you just lose out on a bit of space.

As for other items.. Orijen is a good kibble, still comes with the general kibble risks and concerns though, but much better than other brands, as Sherry said Wysong DS is decent too. I also feed some FDR in my menu, I use Stella & Chewy's for meals. I also offer FDR treats, I like Orijen, Vital Essentials, and Sojo's Simply for treats. Make sure any FDR brand you choose is balanced in offering both muscle, organs, and bone in proper ratios, and try not to use anything below 95% meat. If unsure of the ratios, call or email the manufacturing company to be sure. For example, I thought Vital Essentials might be amazing as it is a 100% meat product, but then I got the ratios.. and it uses like 45% organs.. a ferret needs 10% in their diet, making their food too unbalanced to use.

[raynebc]

If space allows for it, you could consider getting a small chest style freezer to store the "gross" food in. They're not terribly expensive and can hold quite a big of stuff. You'd still want to thaw the food in the fridge before serving, but your room mate might be willing to live with that compromise.

[motherofgryffindor]

Another idea to store "gross ferret food" in your normal freezer is store it in the normal bags, then maybe put it in a tote and a wrap that in a bag so its "safe from touching human food", thats just my idea and if your going for the frankenprey diet like i am planing to do, pretty much all that food is the same as for humans so it shouldn't be any different.