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  • Raw curious.

    I don't know exactly where I'm at with my thoughts, to be honest. Peach is currently eating Taste of the Wild, and she has done well on that. Weight is good, energy is good, poo sometimes leaves a bit to be desired, but overall mostly good. That being said, we have just recently had a whole flare up of skin conditions, yeasty ears, etc. Peach will be done weaning off her course of prednisone by the weekend, and it has helped a lot. But as our vet kind of pointed out... now what? She obviously reacted to something, either food or environmental or both. I've always been kind of curious about raw, but now I'm taking another good hard look at it. I looked into some of the commercial raw diets, frozen and freeze dried. I wasn't super thrilled with either format. Both seemed insanely expensive ($140 for a 22 lb bag!) and also... with grains in them! If I'm paying $140 for food, it better not have white rice, barley, AND oats in it! The frozen ones seem to come in very small bags, and I strongly suspect each bag would only last her a day or two. I pretty much knew that premade raw wasn't really going to be a feasible option, but I feel better having checked anyways.

    Anywhoooo.... where does one get started with this? I've done reading on this forum before about it, but I'm still a little vague on how to really do it, both technically and just as far as logistics go.

    I also have this side issue of being the owner of a vegan restaurant in town... it's one thing be seen by people out and about buying a bag of dog food, but honestly I don't think I can get away with buying enormous quantities of frozen meat hahaha. I know it sounds silly, but I really do have to point out that I feel like it's a logistical monkey wrench for me.

    I was trying to find a co-op in my area, and I did find this: http://www.windsoressexcountyraw.ca/

    I like that it's all kind of made up & the dirty work is sort of done for you. I also like that it would ship to my door. Price wise though, does it also look outrageous? I honestly have no idea where pricing starts and what is normal for raw cuts & portions of stuff.

    I guess what I mean to say is: I'm flirting with the idea of raw. I'm mildly terrified of the idea though, and not sure I could really pull it off. Help?
    sigpic

    Peach, merle Great Dane
    Born July 7 2014
    Peach & Emily!

  • #2
    I pay 45 cents a pound for beef, combined with the 25 cents a pound I pay my friend for gas to make the five hour round trip to fetch it--70 cents a pound. I pay no more than 80 cents a pound for chicken quarters (non-enhanced) at walmart. I pay $1.25/lb for pork hearts. I get quite a bit of meat for free off craigslist. Those prices in that link are outrageous. $1.50 a pound for anything is my very highest limit, and that's only for smaller amounts of variety meats. I feed three pounds a day to my crew, and some danes eat that and more just by themselves a day. I figure it averages about $1 a pound, so I'm at around $100 a month for 220# of dog. And an 8 pound cat

    Here's a good link: http://skylarzack.com/rawfeeding.htm
    Tracy
    sigpic
    Mouse April 2010
    Echo -- run free, Sweetie! Jan 9, 2007 - April 24, 2014 Lost to osteosarcoma at 7 years, 3 months. RIP.

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    • #3
      I checked out your link...seems kind of expensive especially when they are throwing in veggies and its not just meat. I do like MNMouse and get regular cuts of meat and try to keep it at an average of $1 lb... beef is more than chicken but when you factor in your only spending .30 lb on leg quarters that gives you .70 towards beef or something else. You may be able to go higher - figure out what your kibble is costing per feeding x's how many feedings a day...Peach is probably not going to eat more than 4lbs of meat daily...so kibble cost/4 = how much you can spend on RAW and break even. But if you are having issues caused by kibble the cost of meds and treatment are something to take into account too. Its really not as scary as you imagine

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      • #4
        Start out with one protein such as chicken and stay on only that until your dog is having no digesting problems or poop problems then add another protein. Watch for sales on the meat you are using or buy marked down meat from the grocery store. I have fed raw for 16 years. I was scared to start on it also. We all were.

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        • #5
          I think Peach would do great on raw! But....$2.89/lb for just ground chicken? Girlfriend, you are going to go broke! For reference, Asaah is not very high energy and eats about 3 lbs a day. So does Finn, and he weighs 25 lbs more, so he must have slower metabolism.

          You might get lucky and have an easy keeper like Mouse who eats 1.5 lbs, or you might need to feed 4+ lbs a day! Peach seems like she's pretty high energy and might need more. I never pay more than $2/lb for anything, and keep my average around $1/lb. I don't know how close you are to MI, but I do know we have at least one co-op member that drives in from Canada for deliveries. You'd have to have mad freezer space to make it worth it, but something to look into. Pre-made raw is generally crazy expensive, plus I'm not a fan just because the pet food industry is pretty much self-regulated. I use pretty much all human grade meats except for some Blue Ridge Beef products.

          If you want to learn more before you jump in, you're welcome to join the FB group I help admin. It gets a little stupid occasionally (think the DOL FB page), but there's good info if you know who to listen to. Plus there's a meat resources and how to start raw guide in the files you can use. I know we have multiple Canadians in the group, so you might be able to find some more affordable options. Fyi, a least one admin and quite a few group members are vegan/veggie...if you're very conscious about eating a healthy and appropriate diet yourself, why not feed one to your carnivore too
          Last edited by oshagcj914; 05-12-2016, 01:50 PM.
          sigpic
          Chaucey
          Asaah ~ xxx Asaah LaLa, CGC, registered therapy dog

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          • #6
            We mostly do a ground raw (Eureka race mix) with chicken quarters or backs for teeth cleaning. We average a little under $1 per pound and Lola eats 3 pounds a day, so we're paying about the same as high quality kibble, if not less.

            The dogs have their own deep freeze so we can buy 200 pounds at a time. We thaw in 5 gallon buckets as needed, and DH will split it up into Tupperware containers so he has a bunch of meals ready in the fridge.

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            • #7
              We feed raw and love i! I pay anywhere from $.68-1.10 a pound for most everything. We have 2 very large freezers for the dogs. I go through about 300 pounds a month and I try to buy enough so that I only buy every few months. When we started feeding raw I thought it was totally disgusting, but after a few weeks I got used to it and I love the changes I have seen in my dogs.

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              • #8
                Originally posted by oshagcj914 View Post
                I think Peach would do great on raw! But....$2.89/lb for just ground chicken? Girlfriend, you are going to go broke! For reference, Asaah is not very high energy and eats about 3 lbs a day. So does Finn, and he weighs 25 lbs more, so he must have slower metabolism.

                You might get lucky and have an easy keeper like Mouse who eats 1.5 lbs, or you might need to feed 4+ lbs a day! Peach seems like she's pretty high energy and might need more. I never pay more than $2/lb for anything, and keep my average around $1/lb. I don't know how close you are to MI, but I do know we have at least one co-op member that drives in from Canada for deliveries. You'd have to have mad freezer space to make it worth it, but something to look into. Pre-made raw is generally crazy expensive, plus I'm not a fan just because the pet food industry is pretty much self-regulated. I use pretty much all human grade meats except for some Blue Ridge Beef products.

                If you want to learn more before you jump in, you're welcome to join the FB group I help admin. It gets a little stupid occasionally (think the DOL FB page), but there's good info if you know who to listen to. Plus there's a meat resources and how to start raw guide in the files you can use. I know we have multiple Canadians in the group, so you might be able to find some more affordable options. Fyi, a least one admin and quite a few group members are vegan/veggie...if you're very conscious about eating a healthy and appropriate diet yourself, why not feed one to your carnivore too
                I did actually pop in and join that group a few days ago, i have seen you recommend it before. Do you have any contacts or co-ops in southwestern Ontario?

                I kind of suspect Peach will not be an easy keeper, at least historically she isn't. She can only eat about 6 cups of kibble before it starts to give give her liquid poo. So I end up adding lots of toppers like cooked fish, meats, yogurt, eggs, peanut butter, etc. Plus lots of fish oil, coconut and and flax oil... just to get some extra fat and calories into her. She walks 2 ish hours a day plus agility training, games with me, occasional trips to the dog park. And she just goes everywhere with me. She's a dog on the move!

                Good to know that that stuff is way over priced. Right now we only have a standup fridge/freezer combo, and it's pretty much full of our stuff. Guess I'll have to look into a cheap freezer and a place to put it.
                sigpic

                Peach, merle Great Dane
                Born July 7 2014
                Peach & Emily!

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                • #9
                  Originally posted by emeko View Post
                  I did actually pop in and join that group a few days ago, i have seen you recommend it before. Do you have any contacts or co-ops in southwestern Ontario?

                  I kind of suspect Peach will not be an easy keeper, at least historically she isn't. She can only eat about 6 cups of kibble before it starts to give give her liquid poo. So I end up adding lots of toppers like cooked fish, meats, yogurt, eggs, peanut butter, etc. Plus lots of fish oil, coconut and and flax oil... just to get some extra fat and calories into her. She walks 2 ish hours a day plus agility training, games with me, occasional trips to the dog park. And she just goes everywhere with me. She's a dog on the move!

                  Good to know that that stuff is way over priced. Right now we only have a standup fridge/freezer combo, and it's pretty much full of our stuff. Guess I'll have to look into a cheap freezer and a place to put it.
                  I've found some good deals on freezers on Craigslist and I found one cheap one at the store because it has a scratch on it - I now have 3 freezers plus the freezer section of two refrigerators. I think I'm officially a meat hoarder I'll see if I can find anything in SW Ontario.
                  sigpic
                  Chaucey
                  Asaah ~ xxx Asaah LaLa, CGC, registered therapy dog

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                  • #10
                    Sent you a FB message, you might need to check your other folder.
                    sigpic
                    Chaucey
                    Asaah ~ xxx Asaah LaLa, CGC, registered therapy dog

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                    • #11
                      I'm a meat hoarder and proud of it!

                      A couple of weeks ago, I stuffed my small chest freezer full, and pulled the rest of my meat stash out of the big one and put it in tubs--to finally chip the ice and clean it. I got kind of panicky when I could actually see the bottom of my freezer!
                      Tracy
                      sigpic
                      Mouse April 2010
                      Echo -- run free, Sweetie! Jan 9, 2007 - April 24, 2014 Lost to osteosarcoma at 7 years, 3 months. RIP.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Originally posted by mnmouse View Post
                        I'm a meat hoarder and proud of it!

                        A couple of weeks ago, I stuffed my small chest freezer full, and pulled the rest of my meat stash out of the big one and put it in tubs--to finally chip the ice and clean it. I got kind of panicky when I could actually see the bottom of my freezer!
                        Ugh, I need to get the ice out of both my chest freezers....but I have no space to put the meat anywhere else! My co-op doesn't deliver near me in the summer, so I usually stock up in the spring. I had to stash stuff at my parents' house!
                        sigpic
                        Chaucey
                        Asaah ~ xxx Asaah LaLa, CGC, registered therapy dog

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Okay, so I've been digging around a bit. It seems like pretty much all of the websites & groups offering any kind of premade mix are pretty pricey, closer to $4-5 a pound. It definitely seems like my best bet is just to source locally from butchers & what not.

                          One of our local butchers has chicken backs and bones for $0.99 a pound. This is good. So far that has been really the only source I have found so far with any kind of meat in the $1-2 a pound range. They also had some meaty beef bones for $2.99 a pound. Also, I am in Canadaland, so I guess I should probably keep in mind that prices here are probably going to be more inflated than they will be in the states.

                          We do have local beef & lamb farmers, I was going to ask them what they might have as well, as I understand that they need a larger percentage of red meat, not just chicken.

                          I also realized I have 20 lbs of frozen beef liver that one of our friends gave us. I don't want to say I forgot about it, but I kind of forgot about it lol.

                          When you're buying actual meat, as opposed to meaty bones, what kind of affordable cuts do you get for them?

                          Thanks guys
                          sigpic

                          Peach, merle Great Dane
                          Born July 7 2014
                          Peach & Emily!

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            For whole cuts I do chicken quarters, beef hearts, pork roasts, pork hearts, whole turkey, fish filets very rarely, and occasionally beef roasts that I can get on sale. For organ I get whole beek kidney, spleen, and liver. Chicken necks make me nervous because of the size. I buy a lot of ground meat as it is more affordable, and I try to keep a whole cut with the ground, or the ground slightly frozen so it helps keep the teeth clean. I buy big boxes of cut beef bones for recreational chewing, but they don't actually eat them. Beef and pork ribs are a good bone source as well.

                            Eta: You own a restaurant right? I don't know about Canada, but in the states if you have a restaurant license you can shop at the restaurant supply stores and get amazing deals on meat, like .89 for beef rump roasts, .39 whole chicken, .85 pork loins, etc.
                            Last edited by shighland; 05-18-2016, 07:39 AM.

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                            • #15
                              Pork hearts are really good, pure pork meat, not all fatty like most pork, I pay 1.25. Pork picnics (front shoulders) can be had pretty cheap. Pork neck bones are good.

                              Turkey, starting in like October, will go on sale for the holidays. I buy five or six of the huge ones, for between 99 cents and 1.30 a pound.

                              I feed a lot of venison. I hunt myself, but I'm also on the sheriff's call list for roadkill deer. Yep, they call me and I go get fresh deer killed by cars. They don't call unless the deer is whole, and not all mangled. I butcher them out myself...and the dogs eat every bit except the hide--I donate that to local sportsmen organizations.

                              I once got a whole quarter beef for free, off of craigslist. Beautiful steaks and roast and lots of burger. The people were moving and didn't want to move it. It was only a year old.
                              Tracy
                              sigpic
                              Mouse April 2010
                              Echo -- run free, Sweetie! Jan 9, 2007 - April 24, 2014 Lost to osteosarcoma at 7 years, 3 months. RIP.

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