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Post by cubsfanhaynes on Aug 24, 2011 22:22:28 GMT -5
Yes it was.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 24, 2011 22:27:01 GMT -5
I would keep pork off the menu, see if the dark stools occur again. If they don't as can try pork again at a later time, and see if a similar reaction occurs. If so, Id say there is some kind of pork sensitivity.
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Post by corrij on Aug 26, 2011 11:39:51 GMT -5
Haven't seen any black looking poop over the last few days. It might have just been the pork. It's been a mix of chicken legs and the last of the venison over the last few days.
Going to go shopping tomorrow and pick up some whole chickens and other meats that we can find on sale. And I'll type up a meal schedule and post it on Sunday. I'm hoping I can find the time this weekend to sit down and portion out meals too so it's a little faster to feed them in the morning.
I can't believe it's been almost two weeks that we've had them. It feels like so much longer.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 26, 2011 15:27:02 GMT -5
Awesome. I would try the pork again at a later time and see if you get better results (could have just been an upset tummy). My kids enjoy stewing beef (usually pretty cheap) and really love turkey necks (extra cheap - less than $1.50 a lb at Save A Lot). Cornish game hen is a bit pricey but they really enjoy it and the bones are so easy for them to eat. I go shopping once a month and baggie 1-2 meals in small zip locks, then put those in a larger bag for that week. So I know once I finish the bag, they've had everything they need. I repeat 4x so I have 4 bags in the freezer, one for each week. Good luck with shopping
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Post by corrij on Aug 27, 2011 20:45:40 GMT -5
Grocery shopping went pretty well. Picked up a 2 pack of roasting chickens for $10, a little over a pound of thin cut sirloin for $5, a pack of turkey legs and a pack of turkey necks for around $5.50 and a single cornish hen for $2.50. Pretty good prices I think. Oh and we finally picked up a blender for $20.
So the rough meal plan for the week is as follows:
Sunday: Morning - Turkey neck, Evening - Beef
Monday: Morning - 1/2 Cornish hen, Evening - Turkey leg
Tuesday: Morning - Chicken wing, Evening - Chicken breast
Wednesday:Morning - 2 Chicken legs, Evening - Fish
Thursday: Morning - Beef, Evening - Chicken neck
Friday: Morning - 1/2 Chicken breast blended with organs , Evening - 1/2 Cornish hen
Saturday: Morning - Turkey Neck, Evening - Chicken wing + 1/2 chicken breast
If I need to make some changes just let me know.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 27, 2011 20:59:22 GMT -5
They probably will not eat any of the turkey leg bones (they are VERY dense) so I'd count that as a boneless day. Questions:
Is the fish bone-in? Do they eat all the bones?
Do you have any heart in the mix? You're going to need 1 entire meal of heart and maybe throw in a couple bits throughout the week. Heart counts as a muscle meat (like beef and breast).
What organs are you feeding? Just liver? Organs need to be 10% of the entire diet, with 5% being liver. So if they eat 4 oz a day, they'll need 1.5 oz of liver a week, and 1.5 oz of another organ (like spleen, brain, kidney, thymus, etc). If you are unable to get another organ at the moment, you'll need to up the liver to 10% until you find some. Call local butchers and find out if they can special order you pork brains or kidney. They are usually pretty cheap and a couple lbs will last a while. So I count 8 bone-in meals (you could maybe up this to 9-10 if you're feeding a lot of chicken thighs and legs. If you're feeding lots of bony meats like necks and wings, 8 should be fine). You've got chicken, beef, turkey, CGH, fish with venison when available. So good variety
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Post by corrij on Aug 27, 2011 21:15:22 GMT -5
The fish is trout and it has a ton of little bones. When we gave it to them last time they ate everything (skin, bones, meat).
I haven't had a chance to see what all innards came in the chickens, but last time they came with the liver, and heart, and another organ that we weren't sure what it was. We found chicken livers at the store but no hearts yet. Swinging by walgreens tomorrow and hoping to find a taurine supplement there.
Hubby just mentioned that there are also calf brains at one of the local grocery stores. Oh and local pet store sells pinky, fuzzie (?) and adult mice.
Oh and I still couldn't find pumpkin at the store, but my mother in law had a can of just plain pumpkin!
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Post by Deleted on Aug 27, 2011 22:58:47 GMT -5
The fish is trout and it has a ton of little bones. When we gave it to them last time they ate everything (skin, bones, meat). OKay, so that's another bone-in option I haven't had a chance to see what all innards came in the chickens, but last time they came with the liver, and heart, and another organ that we weren't sure what it was. We found chicken livers at the store but no hearts yet. I'd definitely pick up a tub of livers from the store. Also, if you have a grocery store with a butcher, ask if they ever carry hearts. I JUST found chicken hearts at my Publix (been using beef heart with they don't like as much). Swinging by walgreens tomorrow and hoping to find a taurine supplement there. Try to get a powder supplement or one that's powder in a cap. There are fillers in the solid pills :/ I got this one: www.amazon.com/Foods-Taurine-Pure-Powder-ounce/dp/B000BQSQ68Also, you can sign up for Amazon Mom and get free Prime for 3 months I think, which gives you free second day delivery, and overnight for $3.99 on all Prime items. Sign up here www.amazon.com/gp/mom/signup/info/ref=amb_link_353727602_2?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=ilm&pf_rd_r=1RCD17YKY4PKD1BFGJQ6&pf_rd_t=1401&pf_rd_p=1274337802&pf_rd_i=1000535351That bottle lasted me a LONG time, like 6-8 months, maybe more. Hubby just mentioned that there are also calf brains at one of the local grocery stores. That would be GREAT! The brains ALSO contain lots and lots of taurine So if you can get the brains, you SHOULD be okay for taurine, but still try to get some hearts so you are 100% sure your covering the taurine needs. Oh and local pet store sells pinky, fuzzie (?) and adult mice. Oh that would be great! Mice are ALSO very rich in taurine ;D And they are perfectly meals, at least the adults are. You can try live or dead, whichever you prefer. If feeding live, be prepared to handle the kill yourself if your boys cannot do it fast enough. Some ferrets just ARENT good hunters. Some just take a couple times. Oh and I still couldn't find pumpkin at the store, but my mother in law had a can of just plain pumpkin! That's great! You can feed about 1/2 tsp to each a day (more on straight organ days to help bulk them up a bit). I cover the whole chunks in a thin layer of pumpkin before I freeze, so its all ready to go when I take it out of the freezer.
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Post by corrij on Aug 27, 2011 23:36:20 GMT -5
Hubby will be doing feeding of mice alive or dead. I'm a bit squeamish over it to be honest and he has no issues with it.
I know they need a dedicated organ meal a week, but if they wont eat it whole and it needs to be blended up with chicken would two or three meals of chicken/organ 'soup' work too? And then I suppose through the weeks we would start to decrease the amount of chicken in the blend?
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Post by Deleted on Aug 28, 2011 13:27:41 GMT -5
Yes that works just fine. Just remember how many oz they need (5-10% of all food they consume) and work out how much organ they need a week, and divide it up in whatever way that is easiest.
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Post by corrij on Aug 28, 2011 14:23:59 GMT -5
I think once my pay comes in we'll go and buy a little food scale so I can judge a bit better how much they are getting. That'll be next weekend though They went after the turkey neck right away. They were hissing over it a little though, not sure if they were just really hungry or if they loved it. But we threw in the second one to be on the safe side. I'm going to go cut up the chicken and check the organs. Would it be ok if I took a picture and posted it up? I'm not so good with the innards.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 28, 2011 14:33:10 GMT -5
Turkey necks are loved here as well Though they have trouble with the bones (or are just too lazy ) and i always have to smash the thing to a pulp Sure! Post away I will do my best to help your identify the bits and pieces
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Post by corrij on Aug 28, 2011 15:33:42 GMT -5
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Post by Deleted on Aug 28, 2011 15:42:33 GMT -5
OKay so the two small bits are chicken hearts. Second pic LOOKS like the gizzard. www.saddogsushi.com/pictures/chicken_gizzard.jpg Those are gizzards. I'm assuming there was a liver somewhere in the mix too? The heart & gizzard count as muscle meat. Some ferrets LOVE them, others not so much.
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Post by corrij on Aug 28, 2011 15:45:47 GMT -5
I think the biggest organ is the liver. Anyways I think I'm going to just blend it all together and give it to them like that. I think there should be enough there for two weeks?
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