Beefing it up?

[Deleted]

I starting introducing raw food to Alfie about a month-ish ago. I've been mixing grind in with freeze-dried and he's been eating it like crazy. Just started adding whole egg, and he hasn't noticed. So, basically my plan is working. Kibble to freeze dried, freeze dried to raw. Things are going well.

But I'm moving soon. So now our slow but steady process may need to hurry up. I'm moving to Montana, and from the looks of it, my pet store choice will be Petco. No more natural pet stores with many choices.

I was looking into things I can order without breaking the bank and whatnot, when it dawned on me: my family (in MT) are cattle ranchers.

I know I'll still need the three meats, but I'll have good, cheap/free access to cow parts. So, to sum up my long-winded question: what do I ask for? What cow pieces give good nutrients to spoiled ferrets?

[Deleted]

You can use anything they eat. Most cow bones probably will be too dense for them to eat it, but you can always smash those. Mine will eat any animal part I give him.

[Deleted]

Any meat would be fine for your boneless meals. I would also focus on any organ they don't want. Brain is extremely nutritious. Cow heart contains tons of taurine (essential got ferrets). You need 1 meal a week of organ, half liver and half another. So ask for the spleen, thymus, kidneys, reproductive organs, pancreas, etc. it would be good to stock up on these thing so you have plenty of variety. You'll have access to much more organ variety than most people.

[Deleted]

That's what I was thinking. My mom's gonna think I'm crazy when I ask for cow brains!

In another post it said that things lose their nutrients when you freeze them. Is there a better way to store them?

[Heather]

Freezing them is still the best way to store them and still maintain nutritional value. Fresh is best but you're not going to be able to store meat that way .
ciao

[Sherry]

The biggest problem is repeated thaw/refreeze. That's when nutrients rapidly deteriorate. So when you get the stuff, section, baggie, and freeze.

[Deleted]

I see. Thanks!