Switching to whole prey questions

[ferretlove67]

Mar 12, 2012 4:57:32 GMT -5 @ferretlove67 said:

Mar 12, 2012 4:29:51 GMT -5 @ferretlove67 said:

BTW what was the oil for and maybe its a stupid question!?

just ask maybe due to coat and fur I would guess?
also do breeders have issues weaning kits on whole/raw diets? or do they combo so the new home can choose? random question I know. Was just reading some mentor threads where someone mentioned a raw diet etc and breeding. hmmm, would love to see more breeders doing raw to promote the health maybe there for all, or is that naive of me to think it happens? interesting for sure.

anywhoo, you've got me convinced I'm on the right track. I don't think its a fail to buy, its good. I want to be 200% ready when i get a mentor. I'll have it shipped next day maybe this time and that should be here tuesday of they can handle this order. Its kind of large! [img src="http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h352/JW_2012/Emoticons/i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h352/JW_2012/Emoticons/0_0.gif"].gif

[/IMG]

p.s. feel like i'm spamming the forum but this is exciting to me. They do not teach you this in vet school etc. Its a kibble only. So, its been a huge eye-opener for me and I am loving it. Time to move the items in deep freezer to the people freezer. Squish! ok so now that I have the basics down, i'll order in and get some pumpkin tomorrow and feeding dens [/quote]

[Sherry]

The fish oil will definitely help with skin and coat. Also helps calm some of the itchies that come with shedding season, and has a ton of omega 3 and 6 fatty acids

[ferretlove67]

sounds good! that is what i figured

[ferretlove67]

ok I did it! NOW you know how committed I am! Holy smokes. I wanted to make it worth it long term. I also wanted to divide things up, like the large prey into some pieces. I assume once frozen and lightly thawed, this won't be an issue? Not a ton of guts or anything? I mean how do you do it? I think I'd love to take a colossal rabbit and then cut and repackage with my vacuum sealer to meet the needs of each ferret. So for ex. A large hob gets a bigger piece maybe and I'll put a section for my jills; unless of course they decide to eat just as much which I'll find out during the soup stage to the pieces stage.

I did find some groups with the BARF raw going on. I have decided to do raw and whole prey. It makes sense. I can't afford all whole prey as much as I'd like, but I'll do as much as I can. We shall see how this goes over with spouse. hmmmm atleast our deep freezer has space! I might post video when order arrives so you know how they did, but sounds like that company is legit and very good. I would rate them based on reviews as good as rodentpro or better since they do have raw as well.

I would have had to wait atleast a month for these things, had I not did the order. since the shipping stayed the same, I was entering in and deducting. It made sense to just KNOW I can do this with a positive attitude even though I am vegetarian on the most part except for chicken. Go figure huh? It'll be tough and I'm gonna need one of those huge cleavers to do the cutting fast, we shall see. Maybe it'll not be as bad as I think? I do also have the treats on way, added some baby rabbits as treats and the treats should arrive the same time from rodentpro. I should have just filled that rodentpro box as it would have saved me $ but , you learn something new everyday. You do not want to know the $ amount. I don't want to even speak it to spouse. Maybe a good idea I have a separate acct for pets? ;D Though I just maxed it and might have to transfer

I love them, want them to get the best. I decided to get my taurine off of amazon. I get free two day shipping so it'll work out. OH you know what I forgot I think? Possibly the oil. Let me see as my cart was empty for security purposes last night.

But so far this is what I am getting. They might think I have a zoo! Maybe not. I was thinking variety and long-term and to utilize the same shipping price for 2 day. Looks like they ship[ pout faster than rodentpro too. So here it is. Even if I had no help, which I hope to have a mentor soon assigned, I know I have all that is needed and it'll be here wed likely if in stock as it seems. Thurs latest. Need to get some feeding dens set up, boy, that means more cleaning each day huh? I'm a cleaner! Not everything but I do clean any messes up and do a weekly quick good clean and then do the bedding half and half when appropriate.

So far raeding forums, my list of must haves:
hopefully not a window a/c as we have central but that room can get warmer, will try to close off some vents. But a double window fan
everyone is utd on shots and all that fun stuff!
some rubbermaid bins for feeding dens
and pumpkin.


Got the blender or two or three. I am always busting one for something, glass doesn't go well with me I am too clumsy. But it will for this.
Next order will be local as I did find one just can't order for a month. Boooo. But I will when its getting near try to order in local. The only natural non-supplimented not ground we have is quail, pheasant and chicken I think? I'd have to look. I can call to see too.

You have been so helpful. I feel like I am switching things for them, but also feel like it'll be healthier. Not a PETA person or tree hugger just a ordinary person that doesn't like to touch meat! I enjoy nature, biology and conservation! I also enjoy the medicine sciences. I just don't eat any red meat anymore. Depletes your iron I am sure doing that w/o a supplement but it is what it is and you roll with the flow. Perhaps the ferts will change that! I'm not into the whole whole prey thing, but you catch my drift or raw for that matter. Think I'd give the Dr. heart attack if I did. I am sure my sitter will just love my feeding set-up as we go on a one week family trip each yr. ( whoops) but not a veggy like me so may be easier and I'll have everything laid out. If I don't use all my kibble, I will likely donate to rescue or find some way it will be used by someone in need.

Here is my list of things I chose. I think its got a lot of variety. Final list as I had to re-add things to cart.
2 x Jumbo Rabbit 3 1/2-4 1/2 lbs
1 x Adult Quail, 8 per bag
2 x Turkey Pieces 3 lbs
1 x Duck Hearts, 2 lbs
3 x Adult Mice, 25 per bag
1 x Large Rabbit 2 1/2- 3 1/2 lbs
1 x 3 Week Old Quail, 12 per bag
1 x Rabbit Chunks [small pieces], 3 lbs
1 x Turkey Hearts, 2 lbs
2 x Whole Dressed Quail, 4 per bag
2 x Boneless Chicken Breast Cubes, 2 lb
1 x Pinkie Rabbits , packaged 10 per bag
2 x Chicken Hearts, 2 lbs
1 x Whole skinned-gutted rabbit
1 x Rabbit Pieces 3 lbs
1 x Whole Pheasant, 3 lbs
1 x Beef Heart, 5 lb
2 x Chicken Livers, 2 lbs
2 x Chicken Pieces 3 lbs
1 x Ground Chicken/Bones/Organs, 2 lb
1 x Duck Pieces 3 lbs
1 x Whole Duck


I hope I made some good choices with variety! Not in there would be the chicks and 1 week quail. Kicking self for not filling that rodentpro box! Oh well. next time, such is life and this site had everything I needed with a fast delivery (2 days approx) So I would say I got the bases covered here? Thoughts and suggestions? I'm going downstairs soon before I leave to empty out some egg shells for grinding and then order my taurine and oil if I missed it. Is there any " good thing" you buy salmon for? Or is it just a personal preference, ferts love it etc?

Well, this has been a positive experience joining and I just wanted to tip my hat to how professional you guys hold yourselves and how you help the holistic "newbs" that are still on kibble. At least, at least I am on epigen 90 and archetype-1. To me, it smells more bland, never bought any MF diets. The wysong has these cereal bars that are great in college! They taste blander on one end, but for some reason your body just craves them anyways and they have great soap ( just thought you should know those minute details! you can get sucked in nicely even on the human-grade stuff that I would have never considered- heck this is all human grade edible, I just choose not to share with the ferrets- greedy maybe?) ;D


Ok excited over a whole prey and you have molded me to raw as well! You didnt even have to persuade me, which was nice. I chose it, now I need to be available to my mentor and do as suggested to make the switch as smoothly as one can hope, but certainly no expectations on time. I will shoot for the stars but know I have limited power and as long as I am dedicated, I CAN do this!

[Heather]

Ahh, if all our newbies would be so enthusiastic ;D ;D What was the other company that you decided on? That's a nice variety of meats and whole prey. I really wish we had GP available up here, can't seem to find it anywhere and I'm sure not up to slaughtering someone's pet (have a hard enough time with the mice...which is one of the reasons why there are no real babies fed..sigh..that's me little old softy )
I've got some mentors who are starting to line up their mentees, so that should start moving as well. We're operating on one mentor short right now. Anyone want to step up to the plate
ciao

[goingpostal]

That looks like a great order! I get quite a bit of stuff from hare today myself, mostly duck, organs, weird parts I can't get locally plus I breed mice and buy whole rabbits for them. You can absolutely gut and chop them up into meal sized pieces, that is exactly what I do. Making large orders is nice if you have the space, saves on shipping and then you don't have to worry about food for awhile.

[ferretlove67]

Thanks Heather! yes, I hear ya on the GP! its a little more "pet" to me.
For "goingpostal" yes, thats what I did. I decided I couldn't wait for local coop opportunity for bulk, will take advantage next time, but even then, they don't have all you need as you are experiencing in your area it seems.
Figured if the shipping kept staying the same, no harm in getting it while I can. Yep thats from Hare. She is shipping out tomorrow two day to my area.

I don't think I could breed mice. Sounds like a lot of work and even then, money put into the diet for them. As for whole rabbits, can I get that where I am at? Probably, but just do not know where exactly. We shall see!

Heather, Yes I got excited about buying meat I will touch and maybe pinch the nose! I feel pathetic. What has my life boiled down to. ;D
The two I went with besides a local coop that does monthly, or the pet raw that has limitations, were thr rodentpro and the hare today gone tomorrow. I'm a softy too. It'll take me some good stamina to do the chopping as was mentioned above how to make portions, but once I am switched, and I know the ropes, I'll volunteer if I have time! I am making the dens as we speak, found the same oil on amazon and the taurine needed and I have egg shells out drying now.

Ready as I'll ever be. Catch me before I change my mind, no I'm just joking!

[Deleted]

Just a heads up, and this may seem quite obvious, but I still manage to do it and I've been doing the raw switch for a few months now. If you order a whole rabbit frozen, and it's way to much for your little ones to eat in one go (depends how many you have), and you only want to feed a 1/6, 1/4 whatever at a time, then you need to make sure that you can defrost it, chop it up, and then use the rest up within a few days. If you are going to be feeding lots of big animals like rabbits and guinea-pigs, and you only have 1 or two little ones, you might struggle to get through all of the food, and either end up wasting a lot, or not getting enough variety of proteins (minimum should be three).

Oil is for lots of things- omega 3, good coat, hairballs (important in shedding season), fat and loads of other stuff that someone way more experienced could tell you about.

As for being exciting, I think it is really exciting too I was ecstatic the first time my kits started eating pinkies. The trick is to hold onto the excitement while your checking their poops continuously, and when your friends/family all thing you're gross because you talk about their diet and poop all the time ;D

Are you training/have you trained to be a vet? It's refreshing to hear about a vet who has an open mind to this stuff, I've heard so many horror stories about vets who push kibble because they think it's healthier. My vet might not have known exactly the best way to go about starting raw feeding ferrets as they aren't very common over here, but she was very interested and supported it and the next time I saw her she'd gone away and done a load of research herself.

[Sherry]

Mar 13, 2012 9:19:18 GMT -5 @theferretprincess said:

If you order a whole rabbit frozen, and it's way to much for your little ones to eat in one go (depends how many you have), and you only want to feed a 1/6, 1/4 whatever at a time, then you need to make sure that you can defrost it, chop it up, and then use the rest up within a few days.

I just defrost somewhat, chop it up, and then refreeze the rest

[ferretlove67]

yeah didnt mean defrost fully, trust me the meat cleaver will be hitting hard. ;D That's the goal/plan! I am not a vet no, studying in the medical field that I can hope brings me there. My own vet would accept my diet plan here, may not do it herself/himself etc. Never asked. There are completely hollistic vets in the area however. As long as the pets are healthy, vet is happy For all I know, a raw is fed. In fact I think it was mentioned a while back about my dog and her IB syndrome. I likely at the time thought heck no. Now I am thinking definitely! Going to pick up 25 lbs for her or 50 this week. Her kibble is expensive so can't be a huge difference. If its better for her, thats what matters most.

[Sherry]

If your pup has IB, you'll want to add in some cooked veg as well for the fiber. Pumpkin would work. Heather could give you the correct proportions for that.

[Heather]

A lot of the trial and errors that we go through with ferrets would apply for dogs too. Make sure that you keep a journal of foods fed and reactions for that day. Some proteins will not sit well if at all while others can only be used for a couple of days. Take the long road rather than the short...meaning if you try a protein, try it for about 2 weeks watching for any signs that you recognise as your little puppers reaction to his/her food. Then go to the next protein and do the same. I used frozen veggies...again try something for a time and then move on, always keep pumkin on hand. Another investment would be slippery elm powder, a recipe of slippery elm gruel often works very well. Do not mix foods unless you absolutely sure that your wee one isn't reacting. I had a woman who had everything was going fantastic and against everything I warned her about she fed a meal of liver and kidneys. It was a vet visit and dire warnings and an irate vet who scared her off raw for another 2 yrs. This time she listened to me and everything worked out. I will find out the exact amounts of veggies if you like, I'm used to feeding 160lbs of wolfhound and I just throw some veggies in his bowl along with whatever meat he's eating
ciao

[ferretlove67]

she's a cow seriously. having a hard time thinking of her as a puppy, she was a moose as a puppy. now if I were to call in a missing dog, all I have to say is " look for the running cow" no joke, her muzzle is at midchest level and I am super tall.

She'll eat anything, the transition will be easier for her in that regard. yeah for sure, let me know! she cant be taking flagyl everytime she has a bout of the awful runs. fecals are clean, its her dang breed and tummy. This breed is meant for raw. She's a biiiiiig girl and not big wide, tall as a giant, i swear those legs never stopped growing yet. she'll be two on 9/11 go figure .

[ferretlove67]

almost there! got my rodent pro in and waiting on tomorrows! We shall see if I go MIA from butchering! The frozen that is
Got the taurine and icelandic salmon oil and eggshells powdered already!
so close to starting in one day! getting a little excited yet nervous and well here is the start! I have to go open the rodentpro now and rearrange my freezer. Spouse will be sooooo excited! ;D