Input wanted

[BAMCB]

Ok, so the school year is well on its way, along with my volunteer co-chairing, and hubs has been on the road again. Needless to say life is crazy here. I have been using a new routine for the last month and it makes meal time so much easier for me, almost as easy as a scoop of kibble was! Chica was really difficult so when I finally figured out she would eat frozen ground up meat I ran with it! I am no longer saving regurgitated meat, fretting over a lack of BM's or fearful of her losing more weight. Quite the opposite actually! She LOVES to eat! Has put on 12 lbs and poops perfectly formed stools everyday overall it appears to be working great for me but I would love some input on whether it is balanced properly while still adding enough variety. Sometimes I feel like it is lacking.
Here goes:
I grind up everything and mix up a batch of 8 lbs meat, 1 lb saw scraps, 1/2 lb liver and 1/2 pound other offal.Sometimes I add eggs but not every time. About 3 batches gets us through the week. Chica will get 50% of this mix and then 50% modified satin ball recipe(this mix added with the molasses, wheat germ, eggs, gelatin, Wheaties. oatmeal and oil in a lesser quantity than original recipe mix). This is the base of all meals.
I then add chicken backs at dinner for Sonny to help with his loose stools. Ava gets pureed pumpkin to help her poop easier(never has not pooped but sometimes they seem a bit too hard). Ava and Sonny also get green tripe in the morning and an occasional meal of fish, which Chica will not touch either of these.
Proteins mainly consist of pork with added venison, chicken, beef, beef heart, pork testicles, lamb/pork/beef tongue, lamb and turkey.
Bone is from saw scraps though Sonny gets chicken backs to add in some more. They all get almost daily chew time on beef femur bones(though Chica will vomit if she ingests any bone pieces so monitoring her closely is a must).
Liver comes from beef, turkey and chickens. Rotated weekly.
Other offal is spleen, kidney, gizzards and sweetbreads. Also rotated weekly.
I fear this will not be enough variety, or am I over thinking this? Please do give your opinions and ideas. I would love to keep this model if there is no huge issue I am overlooking.As always, I thank you for your time in reading and responding to my many many questions:biggrin2:

 

[Max's mom]

That sounds awful! I thought I was a good mom to put the raw liver on the pan and cook it...then cut it into tiny pieces for training. I give you and other raw feeders a lot of credit for going through what you do to give great nutrition to the dogs. My family already complains that the dogs eat better than they do.

 

[TricAP]

Looks like you are getting them a good variety (all your fun Friday nights are paying off!) Chica's weight gain is fantastic! DennasMom posted an analysis program a couple weeks ago. Might be worth your time to input what you're feeding just for your piece of mind if nothing else. My DH is constantly telling the dogs they eat better than he does - especially when he has a kale and quinoa salad and they have a nice meaty bowl full.

 

[DennasMom]

I think the 'experts' aim for a minimum of 4 different types of protein to count as "variety"... so I think you have that covered. The mix of organs also looks GREAT to me!

I'm not into the whole grinding thing, although we do use a bone-in ground beef for breakfast (purchased already ground with 10% bone)... I just 'chunk' the rest... and my 'chunks' are 4-8oz each, which makes cutting up a 15lb pork shoulder go pretty fast. I can fix 3 weeks worth of food in under an hour. It then goes in zips in the freezer and I only have 5-8 days worth in the fridge or thawing out at a time. I find it as easy as feeding kibble now - and easier to shop for, too (I was terrible at waiting 'til the last minute and never being able to find the right bag at the stores I went to).

Here's the analysis program TricAP mentioned (it does have limits, but will give you an idea of where you are): Diet Check Munich

 

[Liz_M]

Looks good to me, lots of variety! Glad Chica's found her groove.
I don't grind or remove skin, although I will cut the pure fatty parts off when I get whole beef heart by the case. And mostly what I buy from a raw vendor is beef organ mix (equal parts heart, liver and kidney) and green tripe, ground in 2 lb tubs for easy freezer storage. Sometimes I'll splurge on goat, rabbit, bison, emu or more "exotic" meats and wish I could afford to do so more often but they're expensive.


Never had a dog that was fond of fish so I add fish oil and vit E caps. I also feed some kibble meals - Earthborn Large Breed for Booker, and Coastal Catch for the adult dogs.

 

[BAMCB]

That sounds awful! I thought I was a good mom to put the raw liver on the pan and cook it...then cut it into tiny pieces for training. I give you and other raw feeders a lot of credit for going through what you do to give great nutrition to the dogs. My family already complains that the dogs eat better than they do.

You are a great mom!! I just seem to like doing things in the most time consuming and ridiculously frustrating way possible:lolbangtable:

Looks like you are getting them a good variety (all your fun Friday nights are paying off!) Chica's weight gain is fantastic! DennasMom posted an analysis program a couple weeks ago. Might be worth your time to input what you're feeding just for your piece of mind if nothing else. My DH is constantly telling the dogs they eat better than he does - especially when he has a kale and quinoa salad and they have a nice meaty bowl full.

What?? kale and quiona salad rocks!! Seriously, add a little sweet potato with a spicy vinaigrette and I'm all over that! My hubs may feel the same as yours though. lol
Yes! Chica's weight gain has been great since finally figuring out what she will eat. I tried to download the software but I am too computer illiterate. I will have Brett show me how to download(and probably use) it.

I'm not into the whole grinding thing, although we do use a bone-in ground beef for breakfast (purchased already ground with 10% bone)... I just 'chunk' the rest... and my 'chunks' are 4-8oz each, which makes cutting up a 15lb pork shoulder go pretty fast. I can fix 3 weeks worth of food in under an hour. It then goes in zips in the freezer and I only have 5-8 days worth in the fridge or thawing out at a time. I find it as easy as feeding kibble now - and easier to shop for, too (I was terrible at waiting 'til the last minute and never being able to find the right bag at the stores I went to).

I'm not really into the whole grinding thing either but I do find it more appealing than picking up regurgitated meat after every meal. LOL The only way Chica has kept anything down is ground up. And if its thawed she only eats about half. The frozen 1 oz balls she seems to really enjoy and also eats her entire portion. She is the most finicky girl I swear.

And mostly what I buy from a raw vendor is beef organ mix (equal parts heart, liver and kidney) and green tripe, ground in 2 lb tubs for easy freezer storage. Sometimes I'll splurge on goat, rabbit, bison, emu or more "exotic" meats and wish I could afford to do so more often but they're expensive.


Never had a dog that was fond of fish so I add fish oil and vit E caps. I also feed some kibble meals - Earthborn Large Breed for Booker, and Coastal Catch for the adult dogs.

I think we both buy from MPC, actually just put in my order for this Sunday's delivery. I buy green tripe, chicken feet and just found the rabbit feet for Ava(it said for your petite animal so hoping they mean a light snack for your overweight 12lb terrier mixhahahaha. I have splurged in the past but definitely not a regular thing, though it would be nice I may add some fish oil to her mix, that's a great idea.
I would love to keep some kibble on hand but was unsure of mixing both styles. Do you find it's ok for the dogs if it is only a couple times a month type deal? Did you pick those brands based upon the raw diet or would any high quality brand work?

Thank you all for your input!