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Post by jeshimikah on Feb 25, 2018 7:46:07 GMT -5
No new proteins yet, my butcher will have them in on Thursday!
I’m getting chicken and turkey neck, whole quails, and he said he’d try to get beef pancreas and kidney!
So the only thing I’m changing on the menu really, for now, is chicken feet some days rather than chicken wings.
I also want to look into big country raw a bit for some meals, do you know anything about them and if they’d have anything good for my Ferrets?
I may pick up some beef liver to change things up from so much chicken too.
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Post by jeshimikah on Feb 25, 2018 7:58:20 GMT -5
Could I feed dehydrated foods, like rabbit ears or duck wings? Or would those not count toward being raw?
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Post by Sherry on Feb 25, 2018 11:06:30 GMT -5
Dehydrated no. And neither do organ meats count toward variety. How about grabbing some cheap beef or pork cuts from the grocery store?
You can also grab a Cornish game hen and just feed the whole thing for some bone in variety.
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Post by jeshimikah on Feb 25, 2018 11:30:47 GMT -5
What’s wrong with dehydrated meats? Even as a treat?
I haven’t seen Cornish game hen anywhere I’ve looked, but I’ll keep searching!
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Post by Sherry on Feb 26, 2018 7:14:09 GMT -5
Not a thing wrong with it as a treat  But as a part of their regular dietary intake it doesn't work for the same reason cooked meats don't- not enough nutrition  Where I find CGH is in the frozen meat section at the grocery store. |
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Post by jeshimikah on Feb 27, 2018 9:27:29 GMT -5
I hadn’t bought to look in frozen meats!
And today was very successful, they had chicken wings for breakfast and they all were very excited to eat them!
I’ll look today for Cornish game hen, and possibly a few other things too!
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Post by jeshimikah on Feb 28, 2018 4:24:43 GMT -5
I may be able to get CGH this weekend, my grocery store said they’d request it in their next order!
I was able to find some more meats.
So my menu currently looks like this (though I’ll be getting more once my butcher calls)
Wednesday:
Am- lamb loin
Pm- chicken hearts
Thursday:
Am-chicken wings
Pm- beef chunks
Friday:
Am- chicken feet
Pm- 1/2 heart 1/2 veal liver (hopefully I’ll have the beef pancreas from my butcher by Friday too)
Saturday:
Am- Chicken wings
Pm- chicken gizzards
Sunday:
Am- chicken wings
Pm- 1/2 liver 1/2 beef pancreas
Monday:
Am- chicken feet
Pm- pork chunks
Tuesday:
Am- chicken wings
Pm- ground turkey
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Post by Sherry on Feb 28, 2018 8:16:42 GMT -5
So far so good. We need to get at least one more bone in meal in there. Check for some turkey necks and quail. That is usually in the frozen section as well. I would put them in place of one of the chicken feet, and then in place of one of lamb, beef, or pork. They can also replace one of the chicken wing meals. We need to get the chicken meals down over the next couple of months. Too much of one protein can lead to a sensitivity over time. You can get the variety in by swapping out the various muscle meats from week to week. Example is one week would be lamb and beef, next week beef and pork, third week pork and lamb etc. |
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Post by jeshimikah on Mar 3, 2018 17:20:22 GMT -5
That makes sense!
My butcher said there’s a bit of a delay and we won’t get the quail or turkey necks until this upcoming Thursday.
I’ll work on mixing up the variety until then.
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Post by Sherry on Mar 4, 2018 10:38:27 GMT -5
Sounds good! Let me know how they do with it |
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Post by Sherry on Mar 7, 2018 8:25:19 GMT -5
Updates?
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Post by jeshimikah on Mar 8, 2018 3:39:06 GMT -5
I’m expecting a call from my butcher today with the quail, turkey necks, chicken necks, beef pancreas etc...
the ferrets are doing really well so far on the raw diet!
Because I went overboard when I started, I have quite a bit of stuff to go through, but once my supply is low, I’ll be organizing it better now that I see how much they eat, and the variety will be better organized too, because they get so much dang chicken as of now.
I move in a couple weeks, and I’m hoping by the end of April, I will have my own fridge with all the freezer space for the fuzzbutts.
Like I said, we have quite a bit of stuff still to go through to make space to add more variety.
I’m barely going to have space for what I’ll be getting from my butcher, but I know I need to make it work!
Our menu is currently this, granted we get our stuff from the butcher today! (If not, I will send you an updated menu)
Thursday:
Am- chicken wings
Pm- chicken chunks
Friday:
Am- chicken wings
Pm- beef pancreas, chicken hearts, veal liver
Saturday:
Am- quail
Pm- chicken gizzards
Sunday:
Am- Turkey necks
Pm- chicken liver, beef pancreas
Monday:
Am- chicken feet
Pm- ground turkey
Tuesday:
Am- chicken necks
Pm- ground turkey
Wednesday:
Am- chicken wings
Pm- chicken hearts
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Post by Sherry on Mar 8, 2018 8:36:12 GMT -5
Your balance is good The only suggestion I would have is to combine the chicken feet with the ground turkey and use that for both meals on Monday. Chicken feet are great, but are basically straight bone and no meat. Consumable bone in meals have a balance of both. Will they eat them if you do that? Or will they eat just the ground turkey and leave the feet? Another possible protein you can use is a very cheap pork cut. You can use that in place of the chicken chunks when you can. Two other possible suggestions when possible are using quail again in place of the chicken wings for one meal, and something like beef(they should have at least one red meat meal a week for the different nutrients), goat or lamb in place of the ground turkey meals. Once those changes are able to be in place, you will be ready to graduate! Now, for the next phase of your program Some pop quizzes to help you along! We'll do a few of these for the next week or two. 1. List 2 good sources of taurine. 2. Why are cooked bones dangerous and raw bones safe? 3. Organs should consist of approximately how much liver, and how much "other" organ? 4. Give 2 examples each of muscle meat, edible bones, and organs. 5. What is a healthy diet item that can be used for hairballs, and his often should you give it? z |
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Post by jeshimikah on Mar 8, 2018 15:17:02 GMT -5
I’m not sure if they would eat the chicken feet if there was another option, it took a bit for them to take to the feet at all, I could definitely try it though, they have been finishing it all lately!
1. List 2 good sources of taurine.
I know hearts are a good source of taurine, and I’m actually not sure what else is.
2. Why are cooked bones dangerous and raw bones safe?
Cooked bones can crack and become sharp, hurting our ferrets.
3. Organs should consist of approximately how much liver, and how much "other" organ?
1/2 liver and 1/2 other organ.
4. Give 2 examples each of muscle meat, edible bones, and organs.
1. Pork chunks 2. Turkey breasts
1. Chicken wings 2. Turkey necks
1. Pancreas 2. Liver
5. What is a healthy diet item that can be used for hairballs, and his often should you give it?
I believe I read a bit ago that pumpkin is good for hairballs, but I know it shouldn’t be given often, though I don’t remember the reason why.
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Post by jeshimikah on Mar 8, 2018 19:48:38 GMT -5
My butcher never called. But I did find turkey necks and quail at 2 different grocery stores!
I may need to do a ton of running around to several stores to get what I need, but I think I can ditch the butcher, they never called and it’s been 2 weeks now.
I have no room for anything else now, but I have 12 quails. Do I feed them whole? And is it 1 per ferret?
I am planning to give them for breakfast tomorrow, Friday morning.
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