Cost of raw feeding

[Jaquie & Starbuck]

Hi guys,

I've been doing reading again about switching to raw, Starbuck is an extremely stubborn eater and basically doesn't like dog food. Partially my fault, but we're at the point where even if I mix some cooked chicken into her kibble, she'll pick out the chicken and literally spit the kibble bits back into her bowl. She's 11 months old and still growing and driving me crazy with her stubbornness!!!

So, I'm just looking online for a farm/bulk type of place I could get meat for her if we decided to switch, and these are the costs listed:

Whole Turkey $4.95/lb, average weight 18 lbs. Organically fed, pasture raised.
Whole Chicken $5.75/lb, average weight 3.7 lbs. Certified Organic, pasture raised chickens.
Whole Lamb $6.75/lb, average carcass weight 48 lbs. Take-home weight of approx. 33 lbs.
Whole Beef $3.85/lb, average carcass wt 550 lbs. Take home weight approx. 340 lbs.

Does that sound like about what some of you pay from a farm? I"m just thinking, if I'm supposed to feed her 2-3 lbs of raw/day, that's pretty expensive... Any tips/ideas on how to get my hands on less expensive meat?
I also bet it would help clear up all her skin issues (staph/strep infection/acne on her face/papillomas.... poor puppy).

Thanks!!
Jaquie

 

[QY10]

Hey,

Right now, I am on a bunch of BC hunting groups on FB. Lots of people are getting rid of their meat from last year so that they can stock up on fresh meat form this year's hunting. People are offering me deer and moose roasts, whole ducks, whole racks of moose ribs etc...

Also, I go to one of our local butchers and they sell off a lot of their weirder pieces of meat (chicken feet, turkey, chicken and pork necks, chicken frames etc...) for fairly cheap! The butcher that I go to only sells non-medicated meat.

 

[ruthcatrin]

Well, organic pretty much always costs more, but yah, if you can afford it....

Right now I've got a freezer half full of "freezer burnt" venison from hunters cleaning out their freezers. And I keep a running ad on craigslist for "freezer burnt meats free". But that can be pretty inconsistant. So I try not to count on it. I have occasionally had really good luck with this though.

I've got 6 beef hearts (local, organic, about 3lbs each) coming in this weekend, turns out they couldn't sell the hearts, so when I said I could take them regularly they basically let me pick my price ($2/lb). I'm not sure how frequently I'll be able to get hearts from these guys, but they're a good sized farm, we'll see. Hearts count as meat.

I have a standing deal with the local buffalo farm (not technically organic, but the only thing they get regularly are wormers), I get their freezer burnt meats, buffalo hearts, suet, and odds and ends for $2/lb.

From there sources vary. I'm part of two local raw feeding co-ops which allows me to split cases of liver or tripe with other members, so we can all get the case prices without over loading freezers. I also order occasionally via a local resturant whole-saler, but again that means whole cases.

My suggestion would be to try to contact the farms directly and see if you can get any freezer burnt meats, or ofal (including hearts and liver and kidneys) for cheap. Get in touch with deer processors for the same. And track down any wholesalers who'll sell to regular folks (they're often called cash and carrys).

 

[DennasMom]

I'm averaging $2.50/lb (all-in average)... but I've been getting most of my stuff from a co-op (bulk buying group), lately. And, when I get grocery store stuff, I don't always do organic. Boneless pork shoulders at Costco are under $3/lb. Chicken goes on sale for $0.99/lb often, and turkeys are great deals after thanksgiving (here in the states, anyway). I do have a second big freezer, which is 90% full of dog food.

Our buying group has ground stuff (turkey, chicken, beef, grass-fed, but not "organic) for ~$2/lb with or without bone and/or organs ground in.
Whole sardines, ~5-6oz each, in a 50lb box for $1.80/lb (I LOVE these).
Lamb liver and kidney for $1.50/lb (bought in quantities of 10lb+).

Then, I add in variety with pricier stuff... 3.50-$4.00 for green tripe, elk, venison, goat, turkey, etc. that I can feed as chunks and bigger pieces for all the good teeth-cleaning action.

Check out the yahoo group "CarnivoreFeed-Supplier" to find a bulk buying group in your area.
I know a lot of people get free stuff on craigslist... I'm just not brave enough to take "mystery meat" from strangers and feed it to my dog. I wish I knew some hunters that had extras...

We did buy a 1/8 cow last year, directly from a farm (found them at the farmer's market). I asked the farm if they could give us any 'extra' parts, so they gave us the heart, liver, tongue and lung for free (~40lbs worth)... which helped lower the $/lb for dog food - and us humans enjoyed the more choice cuts.

 

[ruthcatrin]

With the exception of the venison pretty much everything I get via craigslist is still packaged in the store packaging. Its usually poultry, though the occasional roast will end up in the mix, where people bought stuff on sale and then forgot it was in the freezer.

 

[DennasMom]

I could probably do that ... but I know some people do accept "mystery meat" from hunters, where it was self-packaged, maybe ground, maybe seasoned. So many questions... and I'm a worry-wart about things like that.
It is easy to throw away free stuff, though, if it's in anyway suspicious.

 

[angelbears]

We just bought our 3rd refrigerator/freezer. I think I'm going to check into just turning our dining room into a walk in freezer. lol

 

[ruthcatrin]

lol, I was just telling hubby we need another freezer. We currently have a standard fridge-freezer combo, and a single free-standing upright freezer....there's some cheap ones' on craigslist, and if we put it in the garage we'd not even need to plug it in in the winter!

 

[ruthcatrin]

I could probably do that ... but I know some people do accept "mystery meat" from hunters, where it was self-packaged, maybe ground, maybe seasoned. So many questions... and I'm a worry-wart about things like that.
It is easy to throw away free stuff, though, if it's in anyway suspicious.

Yah, the hunter meats can be iffy. But if its free in the first place.....so far everything I've gotten that way though was pretty clearly done by a processor rather than a home-butcher, and although there's been some ground meats its all well marked, including a couple "sausage ground" packages. Your average hunter wants to know whats in his packages as much as we do so they're generally pretty good about labeling.

 

[Jaquie & Starbuck]

Haha, sounds like I would have to get a large freezer. Guess it's kibble for Starbuck for the foreseeable future! We live in a condo with limited space

 

[karennj]

So based on 2.50/lb average and 3lbs a day it could easily cost over $200.00/mo to feed raw? Is that what everyone is paying a month?

 

[angelbears]

I'm in Texas, where cost seems a little lower. When I'm not lazy, I can keep it to about 1.50 @ 6 pounds of raw, a day. If you throw in the 10 pounds of chicken feet for snacks, we go through a month at 2.00 a pound. It cost about 300.00 a month to feed 3 dogs with a combined weight of around 300 pounds.

That being said I go out "bargain hunting" at least twice a week. Where I have gotten some super deals to fill up the people freezer. On two different occasions I got whole chicken breast for .50 cents a pound and on another I got boneless, skinless breast for that same .50 cents. So, by going out and hunting for cheap deals for the dogs I have cut the humans food bill by half, making it cheaper than feeding the dogs kibble.