Tried raw and he's not too sure.

[cj-sharpy]

Having got some vouchers for the pet shop we decided to use them on raw meat. (No loss if he doesn't take to it)
I got a large back of frozen ground chicken. Meat and fat and bone all raw.
We got chicken cos he's had chicken before and was fine.
Problem is he's not sure if he should eat it or not. I had to give him the bowl about ten times before he ate it. So he's only just ate his breakfast and it's 7pm.
Is it just cos it smells different to his usual tinned meat?
Also how much of his usual food should he be getting. He normally gets about a kilo of kibble and tinned meat a day. So would half a kilo of raw be good?


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[Hector]

2% of his adult weight.

 

[Brinsdad]

The norm is 2% to lose a bit two and a half % to maintain 3% to add weight
But that is just a guide start on two and half % then adjust if need be
We do 80% meat 10% offal 10 % bone , if you have Facebook there is lots of raw feeding groups you can use


No love like a bully love

 

[cj-sharpy]

So at 48kg he should be getting about a kilo a day?
Am I right in thinking its a good idea to mix raw and normal food to introduce raw slowly?
He's had raw pork ribs and frozen chicken for treats and been fine on them.
I think a full bowl of raw chicken was too much of a change for him.


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[Hector]

So at 48kg he should be getting about a kilo a day?
Am I right in thinking its a good idea to mix raw and normal food to introduce raw slowly?
He's had raw pork ribs and frozen chicken for treats and been fine on them.
I think a full bowl of raw chicken was too much of a change for him.


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About 2 lbs so a bit less than a kilo. Adjust according to his body condition. Over time, you will be able to eyeball his meals. It's not a big deal to feed a bit more or less per meal.

When I feed raw, I just do it cold turkey.

 

[Brinsdad]

Use as a guide


No love like a bully love

 

[QY10]

It's better to switch cold turkey to raw as kibble will digest at a different rate and could cause some stomach upset.

I would also wait about 3 weeks into feeding raw before introducing liver as it's very rich and could also cause stomach problems if it's too much too soon.


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[cj-sharpy]

Thanks for the advice guys.

The stuff we got is preground frozen and is 80 10 10 mix. Doing the maths a 1kg block is 97p so even buying pet shop stuff at a premium is going to cost no more than tinned rubbish and biscuits.
I'll try him cold turkey for a bit and see how it goes. Then the local shelter will be getting a huge bag of kibble and a slab of tins (lucky them).

I dont think ill be giving him much liver anyway. We use liver (pig or beef) cut up small and dehydrated as high value treats for training.
The stuff we looked at seems a high quality and they do chicken or beef or venison and a few others. Is it a good idea to mix it up so he gets different meals or should I start with one and stick to it?

 

[DennasMom]

The first 'raw' Denna ever got was the pre-made chicken patties from the pet shop.

I used them as "toppers" on her kibble, so maybe 5-10% of her meal was the topper (same as I'm guessing you use tinned?)
She was about 3 or 4 months old a the time, and did fine that way.

The more I read up on feeding a raw diet, the more I liked it, and eventually we went full raw - stopping the kibble w/topper one day and going 100% raw the next.

 

[DennasMom]

When you're first starting, you want to pick one meal and stick with it for a while (a week or two at least, maybe 3 weeks for the first jump to raw) - so you can see how he handles that food and get the system geared up for raw before throwing in the variety.

The plan normally is to start with a few weeks of a chicken based meal, and when that's all good (i.e. firm poops), try a second protein (like beef), again for a few weeks.

Then a third (maybe pork or duck)... and a fourth (lamb or venison)...Etc.

Once the pup is good with four proteins (and firm poops), you can go for variety. Variety is GOOD for a raw fed pup, since you're working with real food, there is variety in the nutrients in each option, so it's good to mix it up for complete nutrition coverage.

The mantra for raw feeding is "balance over time".
Aiming for 80% meat, 10% bone (wrapped in some of that meat), 5% liver, 5% 'other' organ. We try to balance it weekly, but that's just our choice.

Once you get going with the pre-made stuff, you might also look at using more full cuts - so you get the benefit of tooth floss (from big chunks of meat) and tooth brushing (from bone-in pieces). Denna gets a lot of pork from Costco, and whole turkey necks or lamb ribs for crunching (from our buyer's group, wholesale).

 

[cj-sharpy]

Right after a few attempts he's obviously realised that while his chicken doesn't smell like his usual food it's tasty.
The stuff i got out to defrost hadn't so he's had to chew a little. It's really slowed him down too. 20mins to eat his half kilo.
We'll stick to the chicken for next few weeks and stuck to same brand too.
He's had a raw pork diet before but only or a week cos I got a load of cheap ribs and bits. I'm looking forward to nice small hard poop again. It seemed to smell better too. (Well, less gross)


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[Brinsdad]

Well done for making the switch , is so much better for our pups imo


No love like a bully love

 

[KristieD]

The stuff i got out to defrost hadn't so he's had to chew a little. It's really slowed him down too. 20mins to eat his half kilo.
We'll stick to the chicken for next few weeks and stuck to same brand too.

When I do the pre-made stuff (I mix between prey model and pre-made depending on sales) I always give it mostly frozen on purpose just to make it a little tougher to eat. The few times I thawed it completely it was gone in about 45 seconds

 

[cj-sharpy]

When I do the pre-made stuff (I mix between prey model and pre-made depending on sales) I always give it mostly frozen on purpose just to make it a little tougher to eat. The few times I thawed it completely it was gone in about 45 seconds

That's not a bad idea. I've stuck his portion (funnily enough a take away tub size) of food in the freezer today but it's still stayed a little loose so he's hoovered it up.
I've been told to add veg so would it be a good idea to make a veg smoothie and use this to set his dinner in to a solid lump?


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[cj-sharpy]

Made a veggy smoothie from kale an egg and water and used it to freeze his meat in to one solid block.
It took him some chewing but he's happily eaten the lot.
This might be the way forward.


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