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Post by Deleted on Sept 7, 2012 18:21:21 GMT -5
I don't smoke or drink coffee, or alcohol. It's not so much that we don't have the money available, it's just that *I* make a point to save $X every pay check if I can to put away for emergencies. It leaves me a very small margin of expendable cash for things like ferret food, toys, house hold supplies etc. after that and groceries and utilities. He makes waaaay more than I do though, and now that he has most of his debts paid off I think I can make him pick up some of the slack. I figured out that site was Canadian. Bummer Anyone know of a US ste like that? I scored some ok finds at the super market today. Bought 3 packs of gizzards & hearts, a package of thighs and a package of a whole chicken pre split and cut up and whatnot with the giblets very cheaply. I also picked up a cornish game hen to give them tonight that hopefully will last them a day, those of us who will eat it anyway. The two babies were instantly hissing and fighting over it.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 7, 2012 18:54:40 GMT -5
Is hare today an option? Not sure how affordable it is.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 7, 2012 19:32:37 GMT -5
Prices seem pretty high compared to what I can get for some of the same stuff at the store, never mind adding shipping to it.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 7, 2012 20:13:09 GMT -5
And sadly, in the US, hare-today is one of the cheapest options (at least that I'm aware of) outside of local stores. I use them with raw, when I need it, b/c I have guys with a lot of sensitivities, and it's hard to find organic, additive free meats where I am. Plus, no where near me sells duck, quail or pheasant, lol.
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Post by Heather on Sept 7, 2012 20:20:18 GMT -5
Yurei Avalon - that supplier is local in Ontario. I don't know if they ship across the boarder. Heather - WOW!! That's far cheaper than K9Cuisine but 55lbs!! That must take up quite a bit of room, even in a chest freezer. My last meat order for pick up....50lbs of ground chicken, 55lbs of offal, 50lbs tripe, 25lbs of salmon, 100lbs of pork ribs. I've got 2 chest freezers one's a 22 cu and the other is a 25cu (old freezer they don't make it any more). If you don't pack them in the boxes that they come in they fit really good (oh, there was also a good half of a 1000 chick order already in there ;D) ciao
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Post by goingpostal on Sept 7, 2012 20:38:05 GMT -5
So I'm a little confused, you are feeding frankenprey raw too or just the grinds? How many only eat grinds? If you have a blender you could buy whole chickens, take the breast off and use that to make a mush to add to the grinds, feed the rest to the ones who will eat the bone in meats. Cut down on the cost of just grinds and feed the others?
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Post by Deleted on Sept 7, 2012 21:05:38 GMT -5
I only feed the NVI/S&C's grinds, and chunks of bone in meat for those who will eat it to clean their teeth.
Of my ferrets, Mayhem will only eat soup and not touch anything else. She is as stubborn as her mama and determined to make this a long, painful process.
Wheatley only eats soup right now, but that's because he's new to raw. He sniffs at the meat chunks, he just hasn't made the connection that they are yummy stuffs too. He doesn't like ferretone yet either, so I haven't been able to trick him into noshing on a piece that way. Putting it in a bowl of soup he eats around it. I probably need to hand feed him little slivers when I have some spare chicken kicking around to give them.
Everyone else will gnaw on a bone in piece and at least eat the meat off of it. Half of us like to chew up the bone some and eat it too.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 7, 2012 22:58:10 GMT -5
Mine all adore grizzly salmon oil Gets them every time ;D
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Post by katt on Sept 7, 2012 23:10:33 GMT -5
Hey katt- don't diss smoking and coffee. If it wasn't for BOTH of those bad habits I'd likely have been in prison long ago for multiple murders I thought you were quitting smoking... Don't get me wrong, I love coffee.... but it is soo expensive! Esp when you prefer fancy, sugary espresso coffees like me!
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Post by Deleted on Sept 8, 2012 0:02:32 GMT -5
I usually shop at Walmart, Cosco and I have an awesome butcher. Oh and I just started to go to Food 4 Less as well. I spend around 80 dollars a month. I always buy whatever is on sale. But my dog eats about 2 lbs a day, so I go through a lot. If you can find a butcher around you that's always a help. My butcher started to make pet food for us. And later he realized, there are more raw feeders around then he thought... He asked us what we need in the food, so we explained and now he makes chicken and beef ground. He puts meat, bones, organs, heart into it. I still buy bones, other organs separately to make sure the boys get what they need, but this way my cost went down a lot. He sells the pet food around $1.60 a lb.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 8, 2012 0:23:08 GMT -5
Hey katt- don't diss smoking and coffee. If it wasn't for BOTH of those bad habits I'd likely have been in prison long ago for multiple murders Amen Sister, Amen. And you can add the beer I'm enjoying right now after a hellish day at work (A lady yelled at me for 30 minutes because I told her I couldn't put skylights in her room... she's on the bottom floor, and I'm a nurse not a contractor.) As far as lessening your meat bill, try ethnic markets, stuff is cheaper there than our regular stores (beats the club stores too) plus you get more variety. I had to buy a lot of our stuff there before I switched to commercial for the convenience. Mine all adore grizzly salmon oil Gets them every time ;D I bought Grizzly oil, Loki hates it so much I'm going to donate it next chance I get. We use EVOO to get him to eat stuff he normally wont, like Lamb. ~Kelli
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Post by Deleted on Sept 8, 2012 0:34:13 GMT -5
Wow thats crazy! All four of mine adore it. I cut it with EVOO to get the benefits of both. Brats won't eat the EVOO plain (well Trix does but thats 1/4).
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Post by darlene on Sept 8, 2012 0:55:17 GMT -5
meat is expensive where I live. I'm lucky to get chicken for $2 lb,everything else is about 3.50 lb and up Heather I'm envious of all the great deals you get. No such co-ops or the like here.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 8, 2012 7:47:09 GMT -5
In ohio there is Three cheers raw raw raw - www.threecheersrawrawraw.com/ I live 15 minutes from the supplier in canton, so I do not know if they ship. My ferrets get dehydrayed lung and heart (pork) as treats from here. I still feed kibble.
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Post by bitbyter on Sept 8, 2012 8:36:11 GMT -5
Darlene - if there is hunting in your area and regular grocery store meats are to expensive you could try the following. Find a butcher who regularly deals in butchering animals from hunters and ask if you could put up a want ad in his shop. List the meats you are interested in and the price per pound you are willing to pay. Many hunters either get more than they can use / freeze or have older stuff in their freezers that they might be will to part with since they just got a new kill. Also, many hunters tend to just get the butcher to grind what they get as not many of them are versitile enough cooks to know what to do with all the different cuts.
Another possible source is if you live near a Native North American reservation check with them as they often have more hunting tickets / priviledges than they can resonably use. They might even be willing to sell to you direct from one of their kills.
I just thought of something else. I believe farmers have the right to hunt "pest" animals on their property. If your area has a high population of Rabbits and you know how to / are legally able to shoot. You might even be able to get a local farmer to pay you to provide some meat for your Fuzzies. It's a shame "Ferreting" for rabbits is illegal in North America. I believe Canada Geese are also labeled as pests in certain areas in certain numbers and are probably the simplest creature in the world to get (some bread / corn and a baseball bat). Sorry if that is to graphic for some people.
These could be a cheaper souce of meats for anyone who lives far enough away from major population centers that grocery store foods are inflated due to shipping. The drawback is you have to have the cash & freezer space to buy in bulk instead of what you need when you need it (see Heather's post above).
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