# Does chicken fat count as a meat source?



## ourico (May 20, 2011)

I'm trying to find another good food to add to my mix, without a lot of luck. Is chicken fat a meat source, or no? Its not as good as just turkey or duck, right? Is it like a meat meal? Does duck cause smelly poop?


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## leaveittoweaver (Sep 25, 2010)

No, it does not. It's actually a fat source, it's not a true meat source. As quoted from the dog food project:
"Obtained from the tissues of mammals and/or poultry in the commercial processes of rendering or extracting. It consists predominantly of glyceride esters of fatty acids and contains no additions of free fatty acids. If an antioxidant is used, the common name or names must be indicated, followed by the words "used as a preservative".

Note that the animal source is not specified and is not required to originate from "slaughtered" animals. The rendered animals can be obtained from any source, so there is no control over quality or contamination. Any kind of animal can be included: "4-D animals" (dead, diseased, disabled, or dying prior to slaughter), goats, pigs, horses, rats, misc. roadkill, animals euthanized at shelters, restaurant and supermarket refuse and so on."

I've never heard of duck causing smelly poop personally but fish will frequently cause smelly poos.

Why have you not had success with adding food to the mix? Is the hedgie not tolerating it? More details can help us narrow down what the problem is


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## ourico (May 20, 2011)

He's horribly picky. He'll only eat the natural balance green pea and chicken. Which doesn't have enough fat (its 12%) and the first ingredient isn't meat. He's 12 weeks.


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## susanaproenca (Aug 14, 2010)

Chicken fat is fine. Every food has some sort of fat added to it whether it's chicken fat, canola oil, flaxseed oil, etc. What you want is a specified type of fat -- stay away from generic terms like "animal fat," because in this case you have no idea what kind of fat is being used.


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## hanhan27 (May 12, 2011)

I've heard that Chicken Soup for the Cat Lover's Soul is a pretty popular food for hedgies. I know my Milly loves it.

My hedgie eats Natural Balance green pea and duck, and doesn't have smelly poop because of it. All hogs are different, though. Usually it's fish products that we hear about giving hedgies smelly poo :lol: Which makes sense, because fish reek. 

Does your hedgie seem to be underweight?


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## MissC (Nov 15, 2010)

susanaproenca said:


> Chicken fat is fine.


I LOVE YOU!!!

I'm going to fry me up some chicken fat for lunch....mmmmmm...chicken fat....and bacon....aren't these called cracklings or something in the Southern US?

Best. Invention. Ever.


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## cylaura (Jan 13, 2011)

MissC said:


> susanaproenca said:
> 
> 
> > Chicken fat is fine.
> ...


Being from the Southern US, I can say with no reservations that we do love our fat. "Cracklins" are actually fried pork fat, just one of the many fried delicacies you can find down here. :lol:

In fact, the State Fair (a deep-fried food haven) is coming up in October. Mmmmmm... deep fried candy bars... deep fried cookie dough bites... deep fried cheeseburgers (I'm not making this up)... I could go on.


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## hanhan27 (May 12, 2011)

Deep... fried.... cheeseburger?

I thought it was amazing that the fairs here started offering deep fried oreos...


Where do you live again? I'm packing my bags.


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## ourico (May 20, 2011)

He weighs 205. He's underweight. He won't eat worms of any type either. I've tried, live, freeze dried, frozen, cut in pieces, everything and he wont touch them. The breeder was feeding him this http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.j ... ood+Center

Contains ground yellow corn, corn gluten meal, soybean meal and bone meal, beef tallow preserved with mixed-tocopherols (source of vitamin E), oceanfish meal, turkey by-product meal, phosphoric acid, salt, brewer's dried yeast, animal digest, potassium chloride, tetrasodium pyrophosphate, choline chloride, calcium carbonate, taurine, l-lysine monohydrochloride, zinc sulfate, ferrous sulfate, added color (red 40, blue 2, yellow 5, yellow 6), glyceryl monostearate, l-alanine, manganese sulfate, vitamin supplements (E, A, B12, D3), niacin, copper sulfate, calcium pantothenate, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin supplement, pyridoxine hydrochloride, folic acid, citric acid, calcium iodate, biotin, menadione sodium bisulfite complex (source of vitamin K activity) and sodium selenite
Guaranteed Analysis: Crude Protein (min) 30.0%, Crude Fat (min) 8.0%, Crude Fiber (max) 4.5%, Moisture (max) 12.0%, Calcium (min) 1.0%, Phosphorus (min) 0.8%


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## susanaproenca (Aug 14, 2010)

cylaura said:


> MissC said:
> 
> 
> > susanaproenca said:
> ...


I'm visiting you in October. You can come over in September for our State Fair -- we will all have double rounds of deep fried cheeseburgers! And we have doughnut cheeseburgers! Yes, a cheeseburger between glazed doughnuts instead of buns!

I grew up eating crackings every week, they're very popular in Brazil. Sooooo yummy. We will eat those too when I visit you. 



MissC said:


> susanaproenca said:
> 
> 
> > Chicken fat is fine.
> ...


I'm all for the fat, girl. There's no skin milk in my fridge -- here we enjoy our whole milk and our butter! And bacon, eggs, and steak! (btw I'm 5'5" and 120lbs.  )


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## susanaproenca (Aug 14, 2010)

ourico said:


> He weighs 205. He's underweight. He won't eat worms of any type either. I've tried, live, freeze dried, frozen, cut in pieces, everything and he wont touch them. The breeder was feeding him this http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.j ... ood+Center
> 
> Contains ground yellow corn, corn gluten meal, soybean meal and bone meal, beef tallow preserved with mixed-tocopherols (source of vitamin E), oceanfish meal, turkey by-product meal, phosphoric acid, salt, brewer's dried yeast, animal digest, potassium chloride, tetrasodium pyrophosphate, choline chloride, calcium carbonate, taurine, l-lysine monohydrochloride, zinc sulfate, ferrous sulfate, added color (red 40, blue 2, yellow 5, yellow 6), glyceryl monostearate, l-alanine, manganese sulfate, vitamin supplements (E, A, B12, D3), niacin, copper sulfate, calcium pantothenate, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin supplement, pyridoxine hydrochloride, folic acid, citric acid, calcium iodate, biotin, menadione sodium bisulfite complex (source of vitamin K activity) and sodium selenite
> Guaranteed Analysis: Crude Protein (min) 30.0%, Crude Fat (min) 8.0%, Crude Fiber (max) 4.5%, Moisture (max) 12.0%, Calcium (min) 1.0%, Phosphorus (min) 0.8%


I don't think that food has good ingredients... what other foods have you tried so far? Can you get samples at the pet store?

btw what is the meaning of your username? Ouriço means hedgehog in Portuguese. Just wondering where you got Ourico from.


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## ourico (May 20, 2011)

I've tried:
Katz n Flocken Lamb - wouldn't touch it
Authority Sensitive Solutions - wouldn't touch it
From Family Kitten - picked out a few, maybe by accident
From Family Adult - wouldn't touch it
Purina One Beyond Chicken - ate it for 2 days then stopped
Blue Buffalo Duck and Potato - had diarrhea for a week 
Blue Buffalo Finicky Feast - will only eat about 6 kibbles of this a day
Chicken Soup Adult - ate around it
Innova Low Fat - will only eat about 6 kibbles of this a day

I return them to the stores when he won't eat them.

I'm Portuguese, which is why I chose that name  .


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## cylaura (Jan 13, 2011)

ourico said:


> I've tried:
> Katz n Flocken Lamb - wouldn't touch it
> Authority Sensitive Solutions - wouldn't touch it
> From Family Kitten - picked out a few, maybe by accident
> ...


Hmmmm, that is a picky hedgie! Will he eat any actual meat (like, not in kibble form)? My hedgie likes to eat plain cooked chicken and turkey. Or any sort of meat baby food?



susanaproenca said:


> I'm visiting you in October. You can come over in September for our State Fair -- we will all have double rounds of deep fried cheeseburgers! And we have doughnut cheeseburgers! Yes, a cheeseburger between glazed doughnuts instead of buns!
> 
> I grew up eating crackings every week, they're very popular in Brazil. Sooooo yummy. We will eat those too when I visit you.


Deal!! Love the State Fair, not only for the food but for the, uh, _exciting_ people-watching you can take part in. That doughnut-cheeseburger monstrosity has been around here a couple years as well. I have to admit, I'm a little too scared to try it. :shock:

hanhan: deep-fried oreos are amazing! And I'm in NC - we can grab LarryT and have a party! :lol:


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## MissC (Nov 15, 2010)

cylaura said:


> hanhan..deep-fried oreos are amazing! And I'm in NC - we can grab LarryT and have a party! :lol:


 :shock: 
WHOA WHOA WHOA WHOA WHOOOOOAAAAAAAA :evil: 
What's this Larry and hanhan stuff?? Whose idea was this, hhhhmmmm??? 
Fat is getting hard to come by up here, if anyone's eating a deep-fried cheeseburger, it's ME! :twisted:

To the OP...my apologies for these guys getting this topic so off track. They're like that. :roll:


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## PJM (May 7, 2010)

Sorry for posting off topic (but I'm gonna do it anyway!)
I have to introduce you guys to crispy chicken skin! I cook it in my nu wave oven, with just a little bit of salt. It's just crispy, salty chicken skin-tastes like chicken cracklins. I give hubby the meat & eat the skin! Geez...no wonder I need to lose a couple. :roll:


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## MissC (Nov 15, 2010)

PJM said:


> Sorry for posting off topic (but I'm gonna do it anyway!)
> I have to introduce you guys to crispy chicken skin! I cook it in my nu wave oven, with just a little bit of salt. It's just crispy, salty chicken skin-tastes like chicken cracklins. I give hubby the meat & eat the skin! Geez...no wonder I need to lose a couple. :roll:


STOP. IT. :evil: 
All I have in the freezer is skinless chicken breast and there's NO bacon. 
Stupid hedgehog diet. :roll:


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## hanhan27 (May 12, 2011)

Ourico, that is a long list! I was blessed with a pretty easygoing hog (as far as kibble is concerned - don't get me started on the vegetable war!) so I don't have a whole lot of ideas.

Have you tried insects other than worms?

Also, I know it might sound harsh, but have you considered trying a 50/50 mix of the food he's eating now and the new stuff, so he's kind of forced to try a new food? Hedgies can be really stubborn, so he may just choose to eat less if you try that. Although, since he did eat SOME of the Innova Low Fat and the BB Finicky Feast, maybe you could do a 50% Natural Balance/25% Innova/25% Blue Buffalo mix.

(Edited for a typo!)


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

I also don't have any personal experience with a kibble-picky hog, but I know some of the ideas I've read on here include keeping the new food and old food in the same container (to have the new smell like the old), our crushing the old food and putting the powder over the new food (or maybe it was crushing the new food and putting over the old....You could try both ways!). 

As Hanhan said, maybe you could up the amount of Innova and BB and see if he'll eat more of them then...Though I know that doesn't always work. Lily does have a favorite food out of her mix, the Solid Gold, and she'll eat all 10 kibble of that before she'll eat anything else. :roll:


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## ourico (May 20, 2011)

Right now I put 10 blue buffalo kibbles, 10 innova kibbles and 40 nasty kibbles in the bowl. There are always innova and blue buffalo left but never any of the nasty kaboodle. I tried only putting innova and blue buffalo in the bowl and he didn't eat that night. I counted them the next morning and only 1 was eaten! I'll try adding 15 kibbles each of the new foods so there will be more of the good then the bad. He likes pin head crickets only. He wont touch the bigger ones, hes scared of them :roll: . If that doesn't help I try grinding them up like suggested. He liked the blue buffalo duck but his stomach didn't... he had diarrhea for a 7 days. Once I took it away from him he was fine. Of course the one food he'll eat makes him sick :evil: Its been mentioned on here that he should look like ( ) not ) ( . But he looks more like I I . Is that bad?


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

I wonder if the blue buffalo duck was too rich for him...I've heard of the problem with Wellness foods, but not BB foods. That sucks that it did though, especially if he liked it. With the body shape he has, I think more fat probably would be good. | | is better than ) (, but because they can lose weight so quickly when they're sick, it's even better to have them look like ( ) if you can. Do you feed him the crickets live or frozen? If live, I wonder if he'd eat the bigger ones when they're frozen and not jumping around or squirming. And out of curiosity, you said you've tried worms, do you mean just mealworms? Or have you tried waxworms too? Waxworms are really high in fat, so they're not generally recommended as a common treat, but if he does like them, they'd be a good treat every couple days to try and put some weight on him too.


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## LarryT (May 12, 2009)

If your having a hard time keeping the weight on them you could try Royal Canin Babycat 34 it's a hit with a lot of small/underweight hedgies. It is the smallest sized catfood kibble that I know of,don't know if that's why they like it so much or all the fat.  

They even have Deep Fried Butter :shock: I can't believe it's deep fried butter! :lol:


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## Guest (Aug 6, 2011)

LarryT said:


> If your having a hard time keeping the weight on them you could try Royal Canin Babycat 34 it's a hit with a lot of small/underweight hedgies. It is the smallest sized catfood kibble that I know of,don't know if that's why they like it so much or all the fat.
> 
> They even have Deep Fried Butter :shock: I can't believe it's deep fried butter! :lol:


EVERYTHING is BETTER Deep Fried!


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## MissC (Nov 15, 2010)

Bacon wrapped deep fried butter.
Siiiiiiiiiiiiiiigh.


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## ourico (May 20, 2011)

MissC said:


> Bacon wrapped deep fried butter.
> Siiiiiiiiiiiiiiigh.


Thank you for being rude. This thread had nothing to do with bacon wrapped deep fried butter. Have some respect please.


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## PJM (May 7, 2010)

Stop it, please!!


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## Nancy (Aug 22, 2008)

ourico said:


> MissC said:
> 
> 
> > Bacon wrapped deep fried butter.
> ...


Okay, enough is enough. Get a sense of humour. It's a joke. There is nothing rude about it.


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## Nancy (Aug 22, 2008)

viewtopic.php?f=18&t=12820


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## ourico (May 20, 2011)

I have a sense of humor. There's a place for everything and constantly changing the subject on someone's thread to something relating nothing to hedgehogs is rude. No clue how you don't see that. Parents teach their children not to butt into a conversation because it's rude, this is the same thing...


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## MissC (Nov 15, 2010)

I am sorry I offended you and certainly meant no harm. You said there's a place for everything and to me: this IS the place to exchange info, banter and have a laugh. As long as the questions get answered (as yours did - early in the thread), I really don't see the harm in a few comments designed to make others laugh (I'm not entirely sure why I was singled out of the folks who were discussing fat's goodness). If you will look at pretty much any thread I have ever started, I almost NEVER get an answer to my questions because of the banter and irrelevant responses. *I* think that is bloody hilarious. :lol: 

If this wasn't a COMMUNITY, we could all log onto the site, read what we need and go away again. Because of the informal nature on HHC, some of us - who would normally never have met - have become good friends. When my friends get together, the conversation is much the same as it sometimes is here: a serious question is asked and answered, then it's a free for all. :lol: 

You said in a previous post that you know canadienhedgie personally. Could my post be upsetting to you because CH was upset by some of the things I said to her? I still stand behind my assessment that NO ONE here should say to ANYONE that they should not own a hedgehog. EVER. And she did just that.

Again, I apologize for any offense and urge you to add me to your "Foe" list so you won't have to read my posts. I'm not going anywhere and am far too old to change now. :lol:


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## PJM (May 7, 2010)

MissC said:


> Again, I apologize for any offense and urge you to add me to your "Foe" list so you won't have to read my posts. I'm not going anywhere and am far too old to change now. :lol:


If I knew that all I had to do, MissC was add you to my Foe list in order to not see your posts, I would have done it a LONG time ago! :lol:  :lol:


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## MissC (Nov 15, 2010)

PJM said:


> If I knew that all I had to do, MissC was add you to my Foe list in order to not see your posts, I would have done it a LONG time ago! :lol: :lol:


Does anybody else hear that annoying buzzing sound? :twisted:


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## PJM (May 7, 2010)

:lol: 

But to get us back on track...

I did want to mention, that you can take chicken fat & freeze it in the ice cube trays for later. Not to give straight to the hedgies. But I usually get skinless, boneless chicken breasts for hubby & so adding a cube of the fat to the mix may help to balance it. (?) Or flaxseed - that's probably much healthier. :lol:


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## MissC (Nov 15, 2010)

PJM said:


> I did want to mention, that you can take chicken fat & freeze it in the ice cube trays for later.


Really?? :shock:

I bought skin-on chicken thighs for Sumo and may skin them and save the fat to mix in with other food for him later.

Wow...PJ...I feel faint...you made a suggestion I can actually USE. :shock:


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## PJM (May 7, 2010)

MissC said:


> PJM said:
> 
> 
> > I did want to mention, that you can take chicken fat & freeze it in the ice cube trays for later.
> ...


Ppfffttt! That happens every once in a while. :lol: I also have some duck fat in the freezer. Although, It's from a smoked duck, so it's likely the hedgies will never get to see it.

Same with turkey fat, by the way.

What I do is to use the skin, fat & bones on a chicken or turkey (usually already been cooked, that we had for dinner) & put them in the slow cooker with water for a few hours. Strain & put in the fridge. Then skim the fat off the top & freeze it for other uses (mostly hedgie, as I would rather use olive oil, duck fat or bacon fat for cooking for humans - so bad! :twisted: ). Then put the broth into ziplock bags & freeze for future human consumption.

You use up every drop of goodness from the chicken, turkey, duck. And humans & hedgies get the benefit!


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## ourico (May 20, 2011)

MissC said:


> You said in a previous post that you know canadienhedgie personally. Could my post be upsetting to you because CH was upset by some of the things I said to her? I still stand behind my assessment that NO ONE here should say to ANYONE that they should not own a hedgehog. EVER. And she did just that.


Excuse me but when the heck did she say someone shouldn't own a hedgehog?


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## Guest (Aug 7, 2011)

This is pointless If you have not seen the post by Kalandra an Administrator for this wonderful community:

READ ME - Recent rudeness and trouble

I love this community and we all have our moments, still if there are people you do not wish to associate with add them to your foe's list in your User Control Panel and they will no be visible to you in the future.

I think we need to remain civil and on topic while I don't think there was anything wrong with MissC mentioning something that I too posted about to lighten things up was in anyway insulting or rude.

Let's get back on topic if this is still relevant to discuss this subject please and thank you.


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