To all raw feeders...I want to switch Luna over but am nervous and overwhelmed

[M & M]

Some of you on here know Midas & Max from my previous posts...... Know I have gone through a lot with projectile poop hitting walls because
they have dietary issues, diff kibbles, grains & not sure about chicken...... I would say they are between 80/90lbs now at 7 months, need to go to vets to
get them weighed next week, so I know weight when I start this raw diet.... I am scared & rightfully so because of previous probs..... Any who,
what would you start these two on (beef, liver, chicken) & how much & how often????? Do I buy a 5lb chicken half it & that's breakfast??? How
small do I cut it up until they, well actually I, feel safe about the bone thing????? I am anal about these two & bones scare me....... Thank you Tracy.....

 

[ruthcatrin]

Well, you need to know their estimated adult weight, an average of their parents, or just a wild assed guess will work to start with. Then go back to my first post in this thread and I've laid it out how to figut it out, or post here and I'll lay it out again.

 

[M & M]

Mother 200lbs Father 250lbs.....

---------- Post added at 11:29 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:18 PM ----------

I ran out of kibble today & just fed them a stew of beef with brown rice, they love it.....
so kibble is def out of their system..... I had chicken drumsticks in freezer they
are defrosting for morning feed???? Still not sure what's enough 4/5 drummers each???
Or go get backs, necks in morning & how much each?????

 

[M & M]

I ran out of kibble today & just fed them a stew of beef with brown rice, they love it.....
so kibble is def out of their system..... I had chicken drumsticks in freezer they
are defrosting for morning feed???? Still not sure what's enough 4/5 drummers each???
Or go get backs, necks in morning & how much each?????

---------- Post added at 11:36 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:29 PM ----------

Seeing that they are ok on beef can I do beef for lunch or just stick with chicken at first????

 

[M & M]

Seeing that they are ok on beef can I do beef for lunch or just stick with chicken at first????

---------- Post added 10-13-2012 at 12:22 AM ---------- Previous post was 10-12-2012 at 11:36 PM ----------

re-read your post for the second time, just tired things aren't sticking & I have two
I just get scared of not doing the right amount etc...... Will figure it out, one diff raw at a time
God knows they won't go hungry, they will let me know when hungry, they always do.....
They are everything to me but would like to get it right the first time for once....

 

[M & M]

re-read your post for the second time, just tired things aren't sticking & I have two
I just get scared of not doing the right amount etc...... Will figure it out, one diff raw at a time
God knows they won't go hungry, they will let me know when hungry, they always do.....
They are everything to me but would like to get it right the first time for once....

 

[musicdeb]

If there expected weight is 200-250lbs, you want to feed each of them 2-3% meat which is 4lbs to 7.5lbs of meat per day. It doesn't matter what kind of meat you feed them. I used to give Titan chicken leg quarters or 1/2 a chicken. No need to worry about bones, they should be ok. If they throw it up, they will eat it again.

As far as poop, Titan poops every other day or every 2 days and it's about the size of a small dog's poop.

 

[ruthcatrin]

Sorry, I went to bed shortly after my last post.

Ok, so assume 200lbs as an assumed adult weight.

Your starting total daily intake will be 5lbs each.

To start with use chicken (drums are fine) with a high bone content and try for a total daily intake of the 5lbs or so. Keep in mind that 5lb figure is adjustable. If they start gaining weight they shouldn't you reduce it, and if they start loosing weight you increase it.

They may have diarrhea at first, sorry, its normal as their body adjusts. As the diarrhea goes away you'll need to reduce the amount of bone they're recieving till its approx no more than 10% of their daily intake.

Once they're solid with 10% bone you're going to introduce either organ meat or a different kind of meat. See my description of organ meat in my first post here. Again, once they're solid you go onto your next kind of meat and so on and so forth.

The ideal is that the dog's daily intake is 80% meat, 10%bone, and 10% organ, but you'll adjust a bit per dog. Apollo gets just a bit more than that in bone, cause otherwise he gets soft poo. Some dogs will ALWAYS get the runs from their organ meat, and so their owners compromise by feeding a weeks worth of organs at once with a large quantity of bone once a week.

The big thing when buying chicken in the grocery store is to avoid "enhanced" meat, its had a salty broth added to it and that can screw with your dogs system.

 

[M & M]

I chickened out pun intended LOL...... Gave them raw beef this morning..... Get it from wholesaler in 50lbs slabs...... The drumsticks, scared me...
But they woofed down the beef, which I usually cook first..... I will start the chicken later today...... Want to get necks, backs, organs too....
Last week as a treat I gave them gizzards hearts livers of chicken & no runs or pukes (but I did partial cook it), that's a good sign for this raw diet.......
I gotta say, instead of the 1/2 to hour it takes to prepare both their meals, I was done in 15 mins, just chop & drop..... I like it...... I have a commercial
cleaning biz which affords me time to run home to these two but it can be an inconvenience & very tiring & stressful at times..... So I will save on gas, food for
them & us (we eat the same stuff woohoo) & my sanity...... You have no idea how much I depend on this site & luv you guys <3

 

[ruthcatrin]

Good!

I know, bones are scary, and chicken bones in particular, after all how often do you hear "you'll KILL your dog giving him bones!!!". But as long as they're RAW, they'll be fine. It WILL take them some time to get up to full digestion so you may see some bone bits in their poo, thats normal. And listening to them CRUNCH the bones can be a bit interesting, but its ok.

 

[M & M]

LMAO no worse then the tree limbs & boulders they poop out or the white dryer sheet sticking out of Midas's black butt....
Had to chase him around the yard & pull it out, almost pissed my panties.... These two make some interesting noise now,
first time they farted was after raw meat this morning, had to see them both turn around and look at each others butt's & look at me lol.....
I said I didn't do it this time....... Never heard them fart before, gas is funny, these two kill me, great expressions on their faces....
Just another day in the lives of M&M..... Will keep you updated on progress but I think this is the best decision I have ever made.....

 

[ruthcatrin]

Good! Don't be afraid to ask, we'll do our best to answer any questions.

 

[M & M]

first raw chick drum stick!!! they chewed it like it was candy.... crunch n munch..... midas puked it up in house of course but is eating it as i type this with one finger holding max back..... max did not puke, he's my garbage gut.......

 

[M & M]

<img src="http://www.mastiff-forum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=12197&amp;stc=1" attachmentid="12197" alt="" id="vbattach_12197" class="previewthumb"><img src="http://www.mastiff-forum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=12198&amp;stc=1" attachmentid="12198" alt="" id="vbattach_12198" class="previewthumb"><img src="http://www.mastiff-forum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=12199&amp;stc=1" attachmentid="12199" alt="" id="vbattach_12199" class="previewthumb">&nbsp;&nbsp; first raw chick drum stick!!!&nbsp; they chewed it like it was candy.... crunch n munch.....&nbsp; midas puked it up in house of course but is eating it as i type this with one finger holding max back.....&nbsp; max did not puke, he's my garbage gut.......&nbsp;

 

[ruthcatrin]

Crunch, crunch, all gone mom can we have more?! Yah, they'll puke it up, just let them eat it again, its half digested at that point anyway lol.

 

[M & M]

Do they drink less water when they are on a raw diet???? I monitor what these
two drink & it is less.... They are peeing regularly though..... I am also finding
that I have two pigs when it comes to the raw, swear they could eat half a cow
each.... They let me know when they are hungry by sitting by my side & hitting me
with their big paws.... It seems more often then when they were on kibble/meat/veggie?????

 

[ruthcatrin]

Yes, they often drink less when raw fed, the food contains its natural moisture so less water is needed.

How much, weight wise are you currently feeding and how often?

 

[M & M]

I don't have a scale yet but taking the packages of chick drumsticks & halving it...
Today it was a 10lb package so that's 5lbs a piece.... Beef is in 4lb packages
& each gets 4lbs.... picked up chick livers & beef livers, going to give them those
in between feedings.... Feeding twice a day now... But they were getting fed 3
times a day with kibbles/meat/veggie... Ok looking at what I just typed, I think
I know what you are going to say..... LOL

---------- Post added at 11:54 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:53 PM ----------

Oh & Whew was worried about the water thing...... Thank you....

 

[M & M]

Oh & Whew was worried about the water thing...... Thank you....

 

[ruthcatrin]

Go ahead and see if you can split it up into three meals and see if that helps.