Feeding RAW secrets?

[seeknoxrun]

When I was owned by two small breeds (Beagle and a Basset), I preferred to feed RAW. I ordered through the site Hare Today, Gone Tomorrow and, considering the quality of the product, I was satisfied. I would love to feed raw again (have been feeding Taste of the Wild) but now that I am owned by an EM (soon to be TWO EM's) I just can't bring myself to shell out that kind of cash every month. Looking into the long term, feeding two adult EM's though Hare Today, Gone Tomorrow will easily reach around $500 a month.

My question is to you who feed RAW to your Mastiffs... What's your secret to being able to afford it? Where do you usually purchase from? Websites? Local butchers? And, if you don't mind sharing, how much do you tend to spend a month feeding your dog (including your dog's size and age would be useful as well)?

Any tips, advice, guidance, or references would be a huge help!!

 

[angelbears]

Where are you located in Texas? I'm in Houston and can feed for about a dollar a pound. I could maybe even get it down a little cheaper with a little more work and searching on my end. I will be happy to respond further but I was just about to walk out the door.

 

[leelee]

I feed 3 mastiffs, weighing 210#,150#,180#. I live in Washington it costs me about $300.00 a month. I have an ethnic market close by so I can get all the organ meet I need. It's usually under $2.00 a pound for pork and chicken which is usually what I feed. I would love under a buck a pound! But we make it work.

 

[Oak Hill Farm]

Ethnic markets, local butchers, local farms, adds during hunting season, seasonal meat sales (like after thanksgiving turkeys), farmers markets, old expired meat (still acceptable for dogs), place an add for freezer burnt meat from people, there are a lot of ways if you get creative. I would not feed much "pre packaged" raw as it is filled with sodium and preservatives similar to kibble, and it is much more costly that wholesome fresh raw anyhow. As far as cost, I am afraid I am not much help, as we raise our own meat. In my RAW feeding group I think most everyone feeds for about 1-2 dollars a pound depending on the area they live in.

 

[seeknoxrun]

Central Texas, my husband is stationed at Fort Hood.

 

[angelbears]

In Houston we can get whole chickens for .57. Various pork roasts for .97. During Thanksgiving we were getting turkey as low as .29. Just scored turkey gizzards, reduced for .50. I have been getting ground beef for 1.59, this is the cheapest beef I can find. Most raw feeder try to stay away from ground meats but right now it is the only way I can afford beef. The above is all found in the local grocery stores. Shop weekly specials and stock up.

We have a meat distributor in town and they are great for beef, pork and turkey hearts for around .67. They also have turkey necks and butts for about that same price.

You can also check out www.texastripe, he makes delivery runs once a month through out Texas. I get tripe and venison from him, for about 2.00.

To feed the giants economically, you need a freezer.

 

[Ghostsword]

Odd one but in the K9 unit we feed our dogs donkey.

We had 22 GSDs and a donkey would last 2 weeks.

The donkeys would get delivered to the base, there would be a butcher there that would kill it, skin it and gut it. We would then cut the carcass in pieces and make 10kg bags, bones and all.

The meat would be frozen and everyday we would make a soup of vegies, rice and meat (I can post the recipe if someone is interested), let it cool down and feed them at about 1700. A massive bowl of soup and meat with some bones, and they would clean it up. The bowl would be a 30cm diameter bowl and 20cm tall, like a cooking pot.

We once moved to dry food, the digs got fat but weak, so we reverted back to meat and soup.

If you can source zoo meat, such as donkeys, horses or the like, get a large freezer and get the meat cut and into individual bags, then defrost and use as necessary.

A grim job cutting the meat, but there isn't better for the dogs.


___________________________

 

[seeknoxrun]

Hmm, interesting suggestion Ghostsword... I'm just not sure I have the stomach to slaughter and carve an entire donkey, haha.

Angelbears, thank you for your feedback! I'm glad to see that it's possible to feed my Mastiffs raw on a reasonable budget. I'll definitely look into investing in a second freezer for our garage, and start doing research and taking notes on the different prices in my area. Thanks so much for all your help!

 

[elasticpurejoy]

As our Boerboel has grown so has his food intake. I joined several raw feeding groups on yahoo. I can get chicken backs and turkey/chicken necks from the local butcher for $0.75 / lb. Tripe for $1.00 / lb. The reason to join the groups are for the deals I do not have access to. I just purchased 200 lbs of horse meat for $0.50 and 50 lbs of horse organ for $0.50 / lb. The horse is amazingly lean and smells so good I am tempted to grill a piece for myself. The local groups seem to have good contacts and suppliers. They can also recommend what is good to order from the various vendors.

 

[Oak Hill Farm]

The OP is in america, please watch feeding any horse meat from the US, we don't have a big horse meat market here, and any "pet" horse has had de-wormer, and vaccinations, which make the horse inedible.

 

[Ralo]

Ethnic markets, local butchers, local farms, adds during hunting season, seasonal meat sales (like after thanksgiving turkeys), farmers markets, old expired meat (still acceptable for dogs), place an add for freezer burnt meat from people, there are a lot of ways if you get creative. I would not feed much "pre packaged" raw as it is filled with sodium and preservatives similar to kibble, and it is much more costly that wholesome fresh raw anyhow. As far as cost, I am afraid I am not much help, as we raise our own meat. In my RAW feeding group I think most everyone feeds for about 1-2 dollars a pound depending on the area they live in.

Is it fine to feed dogs raw game? If so what part of say deer or turkey? I could get my hands on a good amount of it easily

---------- Post added at 05:08 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:03 PM ----------

As our Boerboel has grown so has his food intake. I joined several raw feeding groups on yahoo. I can get chicken backs and turkey/chicken necks from the local butcher for $0.75 / lb. Tripe for $1.00 / lb. The reason to join the groups are for the deals I do not have access to. I just purchased 200 lbs of horse meat for $0.50 and 50 lbs of horse organ for $0.50 / lb. The horse is amazingly lean and smells so good I am tempted to grill a piece for myself. The local groups seem to have good contacts and suppliers. They can also recommend what is good to order from the various vendors.

I've heard horse is good, leaner than beef and sweeter. Seem to be pretty frowned upon in the US I'm not real sure if it's legal to buy either.

[video=youtube;y7VMcna1PAE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7VMcna1PAE[/video]

 

[Ralo]

Double post

 

[Oak Hill Farm]

I really don't know the advantages of horse meat or the legality in most areas, I personally wouldn't feed it (my personal preference: to each his own) but I do know that our horse de-wormer specifically says not to feed to animals intended for meat, and dogs do die from ingesting horse wormer, Ivermectin in large doses is fatal to dogs.

As far as wild game, you can certainly feed it. I recommend you freeze it for 2-3 weeks to kill all parasites. You can feed all parts of the deer or turkey. My dogs have eaten both in their entirety and have never had a problem with either, or rabbits, squirrels, I'll feed whatever I can get for free

 

[Ralo]

Is your dog messy when feeding raw? Why do people feed organ meat too instead of just using muscle?

 

[Smart_Family]

They need meat, bone, and organs to get all the nutrients they need.

 

[allformyk9s]

Ditto!! They need 80% meat, 10% bone & 10% organ over time. Im still learning so someone correct me if Im wrong but as for a raw diet 'organs' are the secreting organs such as the liver, kidneys, pancreas etc.... the heart is considered 'meat' as its a muscle.

My dogs are not messy at all with eating raw. My puppy I feed in a crate as well as 2 of my adult dogs, 1 eats outdoors & the other 2 on my kitchen floor (tile). When everyone is done I just wipe all surfaces down with wipes & we go about our day.


I switched my dogs back to raw about 6 weeks ago. I had put them back on kibble thinking it was cheaper SO one day I sat down & figured up how many cups of food & wet cans I went through a day, my senior dogs supplements & our dog w/ allergies her supplements. For a 30 day month I was spending something like $350 a month on all that. With raw (chicken being their staple source of protein w/ pork/liver) I am spending $198 a month - HUGE difference. I googled "butchers" and found a bunch near me, called got prices, checked with my local grocery store & found a great butcher with good prices not far from me. 40 lbs of chicken quarters for $24.99, pork shoulder for $1.29/lb, beef hearts uncleaned $1.49/lb. I put an ad on Craigslist for "unwanted meat for dogs" and have gotten quite a bit from there.

 

[angelbears]

Oak Hill, is there any concern about what kind of bullet was used in killing game? I'm not a hunter and don't get wild killed game but I have seen conversations about being careful of lead. I didn't pay attention at the time because we just don't know any hunters.

Ralo, we put down towels, we change the towels out once or twice a week. After a couple of days of making them eat on their towels, it is now habit to them. Even when I give them their treats, usually chicken feet, they run to their towels to eat them, even though the feet never hit the ground, they will still go stand over their towels to eat it.

Allfor, I have found that whole chickens, on sale are usually cheaper than cut up parts, plus you get the benefit of the heart, liver and gizzard that are stuffed inside. I used to get so mad, before I fed raw, when all that nasty stuff would fall out, sometimes they would cram extra junk in there, like 2 hearts or massive amount of liver, now I get all excited, goodies for my babies. Don't forget ethnic markets.

 

[Oak Hill Farm]

Is your dog messy when feeding raw? Why do people feed organ meat too instead of just using muscle?

Not really. I feed on a mat or towel, Some things are messier than others. Just wash the towel a few times a week or get a mat to spray off. I also feed my dogs outside as much as I can. They prefer to roll it around in the dirt I also feed outside when I feed large whole items like half a goat, or deer or heads of anything.

You have to feed about 10 % bone and 10% organ to get the appropriate nutrients. I always tell beginners if nothing else feed liver, it is the most nutrient packed organ and non-negotiable in raw diets. I also feed prey-model diets so I try to feed as large a part as possible and as whole as possible.




---------- Post added at 11:20 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:06 AM ----------

Oak Hill, is there any concern about what kind of bullet was used in killing game? I'm not a hunter and don't get wild killed game but I have seen conversations about being careful of lead. I didn't pay attention at the time because we just don't know any hunters.

Most new jacketed bullets don't spread that much and we never eat the meat surrounding the wound which takes the danger of lead down to almost nil. Again, just my opinion, if that is a concern you can find meat hunted during bow season, but we live in prime hunting area and have never had a problem, our dogs have problems or ever heard of anyone with lead poising from affected meat.

I guess it comes down to what you can acquire and afford to feed. We own an organic farm and raise our own rabbit (the bulk of our dogs diet), chicken, beef, pork, and goat. I feel hunted game is safer than pumped up beef raised in feed lots, and pesticides people eat are probably more dangerous in the long run as well as any kibble from a factory (which who knows what it gets contaminated with).

 

[Oak Hill Farm]

double

 

[allformyk9s]

Angelbears, thanks! I picked up some whole chickens the other day that were on sale for .99/lb - I always love seeing whats inside, the first time I got whole chickens there was a bag of goodies in it BUT the chicken I used the other day was stuffed full of organs, no bag...jack pot!!! At first was totally grossed out but now I get excited, LOL!