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Post by mfouche89 on Dec 5, 2017 13:20:46 GMT -5
Oh, and on a side note Biscuit went to the vet about 2 weeks ago now, she got Deslorelin and they had ear mites so they are all on Revolution for the next month or so to rid them of it.
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Post by Sherry on Dec 6, 2017 10:15:59 GMT -5
Thing is they need more than just chicken, and more than just liver for organs. You need to add at least 2 other proteins(not organ), preferably more. Using the necks as bone is okay. Just add 10-15% by weight of bone grind, 10% heart, 5% liver, and say 5% kidney. The rest muscle meat and you have a balanced grind So if you have 1lb of meat you would grind /mix that with 1.6 Oz heart, and .8oz each liver/kidney. Staying on the home made grinds is fine as long as you work along these lines
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Post by mfouche89 on Dec 22, 2017 15:13:59 GMT -5
Right now we are doing our first week of grind and I'm getting different poopies on each day. I use a huge mixing bowl and put everything together before I portion it into baggies. One day I see more solid poops and then like today- I'm getting a few light brown wet half solid poops... I'm about to make a new batch sunday, but part of me is thinking it might be my thawing method. I have a cup I used half boiled and half cold tap water and put the mostly frozen baggie in there for a half hour to thaw it out and make it room temp. Is that too harsh a way of thawing the food out? I did make this batch without any salmon oil in it (wanted to see if it made the poopies more solid.) so I don't know if that has anything to do with the poop. Their litter has a lot of little poops ranging from dark to medium brown and all of them seem thin and like they were watery...but no one has had gas or acted lethargic or dehydrated so I don't know what to think. I've been so busy and behind with this month I'm thankful I've finally got enough reuseable baggies and a new weight scale to make this all easier and more efficient. (my Step-sons bday was the 15th and then family had been around to entertain with still holding down a part time job, portioning things, housework and then trying to make new liners and a gift for my furkids. They are traveling with us at the beginning of the month to a hotel too so I'm trying to get their travel cage set up and finished too by the 3rd of jan.)
I'll be sure to make that ajustment to my recipe. Thanks for the help sherry ^^
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Post by Sherry on Dec 23, 2017 8:12:35 GMT -5
Thawing method makes no difference. What is in the grind?
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pegleg
Junior Member
Raw and Whole Prey Feeder
Posts: 180
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Post by pegleg on Dec 23, 2017 19:32:50 GMT -5
Chicken feet is fine if you can get it! Have you considered using bone meal powder instead of eggshell? It's what I use. Personally I find it works a whole lot better than eggshells and can be gotten on amazon.
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Post by mfouche89 on Dec 25, 2017 0:16:13 GMT -5
Thawing method makes no difference. What is in the grind? Well it was a ground version of the portions in the soupie but I just changed it to the portions you gave me. It was 1oz heart 1oz liver 2oz ground neck (with meat) to an 8oz chicken thigh. Now it's the new measurements you supplied. I've just made 5 and a half days of portions and I used about 6lbs chicken so I slipped 1oz of pig kidney in there to help them acclimate to it as part of the liver/kidney. It's still more chicken liver than pig kidney so hopefully I don't get any bad gastrointestinal reactions like when I foolishly swapped chicken heart in whole with pig heart. Still using chicken heart at the moment.
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Post by mfouche89 on Dec 25, 2017 0:19:56 GMT -5
Chicken feet is fine if you can get it! Have you considered using bone meal powder instead of eggshell? It's what I use. Personally I find it works a whole lot better than eggshells and can be gotten on amazon. I have an old grinder and I have been grinding chicken neck for bone. Marrow is important to me for their diet, even if it's something that they can live without. I'll have to try the chicken feet in the future. I had to buy and grind chicken back today because the Asian market I get my organs and necks from were out. Apparently there is a Christmas soup made with necks and they were out. Those spines were a pain to grind...I had to get my husband to help. I may order some bone powder for backup if that ever happens again. Thanks for the affirmation of my curiosity.
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Post by Sherry on Dec 27, 2017 8:06:12 GMT -5
How are they doing with the recipe you are using?
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Post by mfouche89 on Dec 28, 2017 13:35:01 GMT -5
How are they doing with the recipe you are using? Beaker seems to be having a few runny poops and so is Edge. I can't tell when it comes to the other two (Biscuit and Kohaku) cause they go in the cage more than anything. Beaker is reluctant to eat but still comes to the kitchen to ask for food at the usual times. I thought 1oz of new material in over 6lbs of chicken wouldn't register but I guess he's really sensitive to anything new. The others are eating normally.
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Post by Sherry on Dec 29, 2017 6:09:39 GMT -5
Might be an idea to add in a bit more bone for those two for the interim.
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Post by mfouche89 on Dec 29, 2017 13:54:05 GMT -5
Might be an idea to add in a bit more bone for those two for the interim. Ok I will add another 2 oz more bone to the next batch (there was 13oz in the last one which was about 6.5lbs chicken). I also sat with Beaker yesterday afternoon and hand fed him pinches of the grind and now all of a sudden he's ok with it, started eating it without hesitation, and today his poop is a little light but it's pretty solid. Is it possible he psyched himself into a stomach ache? It looks like Beaker is the Princess and the Pea but Prince and the Pig Kidney lol. Edge is a little runny still but he has the good faith to trust mommy's food and hasn't complained. Should I wait till the batch after to replace another half oz of kidney till I make my recipe half kidney half liver in the organ portion of the grind?
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Post by Sherry on Dec 30, 2017 9:45:18 GMT -5
I tend to push them as fast as they will let me And yes they can indeed stress themselves to tummy aches etc.
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Post by mfouche89 on Jan 7, 2018 22:50:30 GMT -5
Sorry I haven't been active the past week! We went on Vacation and it was to a Music and Gaming Festival so we were busy and just got back today about 7 or so hours ago from getting stranded an hour from home with car trouble. I was in Maryland and we arrived there this past wednesday so I had a sister in Pennsylvania that was afraid she wasn't spending enough time with a ferret she got in late July. He was getting out maybe once every other day for brief excursions of a half hour, sometimes more. He was an impulse buy and so I have been trying to get him since late August but she kept making plans to come to Virginia where I live so I was going to let her bring him, but she never managed to make it the 3-4 times she made plans to come. Finally it was the holiday season and my kids birthday so we had no time to get him. I took the opportunity of being only 2 hours away to run up and get him. He's been eating kibbles such as Kaytee Fiesta and Wild Harvest.... He's also been drinking from a water bottle (which as soon as I gave him a bowl he stopped using immediately) and we tried to let him taste the raw we eat, but he was very confused. I couldn't get an exact age from her for him, but he should be about 8-9 months old if I remember correctly. He has the ear tattoo so he's a Marshall's ferret. So here we go. I was making the kids slivers again (I bought special meat shears) but I guess till we get him going, I'm getting back to grinding it all. Poor thing didn't eat for 3 hours and was shaking like a leaf today. (travel mishaps and whatnot kept me from getting him food for a little bit.) I hate how kibble does this to them... I also forgot how much kibble-fed kids poop! He poops as much out as all 4 of my others do in one day. =O Now to finish the rest of our portions and start smearing little bits of grind on his lips to get him started. (He's definitely separated in his own cage till he's done with his transition and then however long it takes for him to get along with the others. My female really has a dislike for him. I was shocked at her reaction in neutral territory such as the hotel room...but I'm swapping hammocks and the like to get them used to the smell and stuff. I'm sure the raw transition will help too.) This is him. His name is Ghost.
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Post by Sherry on Jan 8, 2018 6:43:49 GMT -5
Poor lad! So glad you were able to get him Interesting tidbit- I once had a female who would NOT accept any kibble fed ferret. Went on the attack instantly. You may wind up actually having to wait until his detox is finished before you can have her accept him.
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Post by mfouche89 on Jan 11, 2018 14:55:29 GMT -5
So we finally got around to the ground portioning again (finished the slivers we had leftover yesterday) and gave Ghost some on the end of a spoon. I didn't add water to it or anything, just the straight up ground bits. He took a few bites without much provocation! I also let him hang out with my Sable, Beaker. He's pretty much the chill ferret ambassador of the house. I also held him in my lap and let Kohaku and Edge smell him again. My female was not allowed to see him, because she has lunged into my lap previously to get at ferret's she doesn't like, and I didn't want to risk it. I let him check out their house too, letting his scent lay on their home floor. Hoping to let him do it every day so eventually his smell becomes part of theirs. I had to start giving him better kibble. I used to feed mine a mix of 5 when we were still on that stuff. I mixed 1/3 of my 5 kibble mix with the kaytee stuff he's been eating. My reason is because of how poorly he took to fasting over the trip back to our home. I don't want him going into shock because of a fast, so I made sure his tummy was ok with the new mix and he seems to be having less poops already on that alone, which is a good sign I assume. I'm so lucky he's young. I think it would be more than likely harder if he wasn't so adaptable. He's started raw now, so I think I'll try to give him some more tomorrow like I did today; on the spoon. We will see how long it takes for his appetite to grow and once I think he's eating about 1.5oz or so I'll check his poop and if he's solid, I'm gonna start just feeding the raw.
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