Raw Feeding Concerns

[NeaGirl]

We have been feeding our 5month old pup Nea raw food for a few months now and everything is going great. Her coat is so nice and shiny and not to mention she seems to love it as well! The only problem we're running into is the whole price factor. We realize that price is not all that matters, but realistically it's costing around $40 every two weeks. We are feeding her raw chicken and sometimes we will add things like egg or carrots just to give her a little variety. Really what seems to be breaking the wallet is the chicken. If we researched correctly I believe it's 8% or so of her adult body weight that we should be feeding her. We're just looking for any suggestions anyone may have, any thoughts would be greatly appreciated!

[gmacleod]

Originally Posted by NeaGirl

If we researched correctly I believe it's 8% or so of her adult body weight that we should be feeding her.

It's not For baby puppies, the general quideline is about 10% of their *current* weight in food. For adults, roughly 2-4% depending on the individual. Obviously, in the transition from baby puppy (e.g. about 2 months old) you gradually reduce the percentage of body weight, until you end up at the adult amount.

Or put another way, from about 5-6 months of age, most pups are consuming an amount of food that's going to remain pretty constant till they reach about 3-4 years old (after which, metabolism usually starts to slow and they need less). That amount of food is *usually* 1.5-2lb daily for boxers.

LOL - if you tried to feed her 8% of her anticipated adult weight, I doubt she could possibly consume it. Most bitches are somewhere in the 50-60lb range, so you'd be looking at up to 5lb a day! That's a ridiculous amount, and probably triple what she should have. I would suggest that, depending on her exact size, that something like 1.8lb is more appropriate.

Incidentally - you are feeding more than just chicken, aren't you? That would not constitute a balanced diet. She needs a range of different meats and *must* have some offal (organ meat) in the diet. Vegetables aren't required, but in small amounts aren't going to hurt either.

[NeaGirl]

Originally Posted by gmacleod

LOL - if you tried to feed her 8% of her anticipated adult weight, I doubt she could possibly consume it. Most bitches are somewhere in the 50-60lb range, so you'd be looking at up to 5lb a day! That's a ridiculous amount, and probably triple what she should have. I would suggest that, depending on her exact size, that something like 1.8lb is more appropriate.

Oops, I most definately was mistaken. We have been feeding her 1.5lbs per meal, is that also too much? I would also like to ask if we should be feeding her different things like (liver, heart, etc.) like others suggest. We hadn't really looked into that just yet seems how we have been discussing maybe changing her eating habits.

Thanks for the input!

[Jan]

Originally Posted by NeaGirl

We have been feeding her 1.5lbs per meal, is that also too much? I would also like to ask if we should be feeding her different things like (liver, heart, etc.) like others suggest. We hadn't really looked into that just yet seems how we have been discussing maybe changing her eating habits.

If you are feeding her twice a day, that is definitely too much. That would be three pounds a day and that is about 1/3 too much. I would cut it down to about a pound a meal. You need to add offal to her diet, like liver, kidney and heart. About 5-10 percent of her diet should be offal. She also needs more variety in her diet. Pork would be a good thing to add next and it quite reasonable. You should also add some fish which is very good for them.

[NeaGirl]

Thanks so much for the advice. Our main concern is that we are doing the right thing for our pup, we would never want to harm her or put her health at risk. I have seen that some people will call their local grocery for their "scraps" and use what they would normally throw away for their organ meat. Perhaps I will call around and see if that is a possibility.

At what point to you start to give them full chicken legs, fish, etc.? We are giving her cut up chicken without the bones and by what you're saying for her nutrition that is not the best. Again like I said, we are still very new to this whole idea and are still very much in the learning process so please bare with us.

[Kaybie's Mom]

Originally Posted by NeaGirl

Thanks so much for the advice. Our main concern is that we are doing the right thing for our pup, we would never want to harm her or put her health at risk. I have seen that some people will call their local grocery for their "scraps" and use what they would normally throw away for their organ meat. Perhaps I will call around and see if that is a possibility.

At what point to you start to give them full chicken legs, fish, etc.? We are giving her cut up chicken without the bones and by what you're saying for her nutrition that is not the best. Again like I said, we are still very new to this whole idea and are still very much in the learning process so please bare with us.

I feed a whole prey model diet. 80/10/10.....aprx 80% meat, 10% bones, 10% organs/offal. A basic example of the diet I feed my dogs is this: a hunk of aprx 1 pound of boneless meat (pork, beef, venison, chicken, etc) in the morning for breakfast. Then for dinner in the evening, they get aprx 1 pound of bone-in meat (chicken leg quarters usually, or pork ribs/neckbones) and here and there, I throw them some beef/chicken liver/etc. I don't measure anything anymore but just go by how they look. I do not feed veggies at all as dogs are carnivores and don't need them. This diet is about balance over time, not per meal so no need to stress about the exact amounts of anything. I also go by how their poop looks....if it's tar-like or too soft, then they need more bone.....if it's white or chalky/dry looking, then they are getting too much bone. I think it's totally time that your girl gets a variety. Just start slowly adding in one new meat source at a time. Also, I don't give supplements except for fish oil pills each day. Kaybie (aprx 75 pounds) get 3 pills per day and Atreyu (aprx 65 pounds) gets 2 pills per day. I only give those because I don't feed fish only because seafood disgusts me so I have trouble with the smell LOL.

Also, as far as cost goes, there are a few ways to cut down on that. I feed both my dogs for FREE. I put ads on craigslist and freecycle asking for people's freezer burned meat that they are just going to throw away....the dogs don't mind it at all! I get A LOT of responses from that and actually have two full sized freezers in the basement full of just dog meat that was all FREE! The only thing I have to buy here and there (because most people give me boneless meat) is chicken leg quarters or pork ribs. I get my chicken leg quarters at SuperWalmart.......$5.38 for a 10 pound bag of them....that boils to them costing $0.54 per pound.......that's cheap!

[ehayes21]

Yes, you need to be feeding WAY more than just chicken. You also need to be adding bones into the mix, hence the name raw meaty bones. I feed chicken, pork, fish, turkey, lamb and beef. For organ meat I use tripe, heart, liver, and kidneys.
Have you checked out the two groups on yahoo for raw feeding? There is also a carnivore feed supplier that will help you find a co-op or supplier - these two places can help you reduce the cost considerably.

[bayleighmom]

Originally Posted by Kaybie's Mom

I feed a whole prey model diet. 80/10/10.....aprx 80% meat, 10% bones, 10% organs/offal. A basic example of the diet I feed my dogs is this: a hunk of aprx 1 pound of boneless meat (pork, beef, venison, chicken, etc) in the morning for breakfast. Then for dinner in the evening, they get aprx 1 pound of bone-in meat (chicken leg quarters usually, or pork ribs/neckbones) and here and there, I throw them some beef/chicken liver/etc. I don't measure anything anymore but just go by how they look. I do not feed veggies at all as dogs are carnivores and don't need them. This diet is about balance over time, not per meal so no need to stress about the exact amounts of anything. I also go by how their poop looks....if it's tar-like or too soft, then they need more bone.....if it's white or chalky/dry looking, then they are getting too much bone. I think it's totally time that your girl gets a variety. Just start slowly adding in one new meat source at a time. Also, I don't give supplements except for fish oil pills each day. Kaybie (aprx 75 pounds) get 3 pills per day and Atreyu (aprx 65 pounds) gets 2 pills per day. I only give those because I don't feed fish only because seafood disgusts me so I have trouble with the smell LOL.

Also, as far as cost goes, there are a few ways to cut down on that. I feed both my dogs for FREE. I put ads on craigslist and freecycle asking for people's freezer burned meat that they are just going to throw away....the dogs don't mind it at all! I get A LOT of responses from that and actually have two full sized freezers in the basement full of just dog meat that was all FREE! The only thing I have to buy here and there (because most people give me boneless meat) is chicken leg quarters or pork ribs. I get my chicken leg quarters at SuperWalmart.......$5.38 for a 10 pound bag of them....that boils to them costing $0.54 per pound.......that's cheap!

Don't mean to hijack this thread but I am thinking of switching from homecooked to raw.

You feed raw boneless in the morning. Do you feed hamburger? I can find bone in pork roasts around here fairly cheap. Could I cut the meat off the bone, feed the meat in the morning and save the bone for recreation? Sometimes the roasts have some fat. Do you trim the fat?

[Kaybie's Mom]

Originally Posted by bayleighmom

Don't mean to hijack this thread but I am thinking of switching from homecooked to raw.

You feed raw boneless in the morning. Do you feed hamburger? I can find bone in pork roasts around here fairly cheap. Could I cut the meat off the bone, feed the meat in the morning and save the bone for recreation? Sometimes the roasts have some fat. Do you trim the fat?

I knew you'd switch over eventually!!! Raw feeding is soooooo much easier than homecooking!

I feed whatever boneless meat I happen to grab out of the freezer. I do feed hamburger if that is in there too. Some people will tell you not to feed ground meat becuase the dog doesn't get the exercise/teeth cleaning from ripping and tearing hunks of meat.....but I don't think it's that big of a deal to feed them that every so often.....plus for the convenience of how fast they eat it in the morning before work when I'm in a hurry, it's nice.
You can absolutely cut meat off the bones if it's easier that way. I bought a bunch of country style ribs before I knew that those bones aren't smart/safe to feed because they are cut on a butcher saw, so I just give them to Kaybie/Atreyu whole and take them away when they are down to the bone so they don't eat the bone......therefore, that is a boneless meal. I don't save bones for recreation. I've read A LOT about recreation bones and tooth breakage so mine don't chew bones. Their teeth are beautiful and they get enough chewing action during meal times, so I don't worry about that.
I do not trim ANYTHING.....I literally open the package and set it on the towel/bowl.....done. It all balances out over time. Did I answer everything? LOL

[bayleighmom]

So I should just give her a one pound chunk of meat and let her rip into it. Shouldn't I cut it up?

And just right out of the fridge?! Or should I heat in the microwave? Will she refuse cold meat since she is used to warm food?

I think at one time you talked about feeding pork rib tips. Do you feed those bones and all since the bones are smaller? I can get rib tips for 90 cents a pound here.

I need to just rent you for the weekend. You and your babies drive down to Indiana and give me a tutorial on how this is done!