raw

I bought some meat to get my dogs associated with raw. They can't have all raw since its an expensive option but I can make it 50/50. Some of this as I prepare it I get really sick feeling especially with liver. I am a meat eater myself but liver is so disgusting and hard for me to prepare! I am slowly introducing meat to the dogs. Bender loves it and Sophie is kinda disgusted by it. If I cook it half way on my skillet Sophie will eat it. Sophie has gotten sick twice with vomiting and they both seem to have problems digesting it sometimes. I buy the cheap stuff, liver, hearts, gizzards. Nasty. The good stuff like chicken I bought once and they get to try that tomorrow. Me and my family have meat only twice a week because of our budget. Its expensive just for us to have let alone the dogs, so the dogs get crappy cuts. Any comments on Sophie and how I can make sure my dogs don't pick up sicknesses from eating raw anything.

It sounds like they are getting mostly organ meat? That can be really, really rich. It may just be too much for them. Whenever I feed organ, I mix it up with muscle meat; Meg also seems to find it more appealing that way.

I started raw feeding chicken almost exclusively, then transitioning into other meats and adding organs. I never had any of the diarrhea/vomiting that many people describe, but perhaps I was just lucky.

And liver grosses me out, too. The texture is just...odd.

What other parts would you suggest that are way super cheap to go along with?

Where are you getting your raw? For us it is the same price or cheaper than feeding orijen.

I'm not sure price-wise what works out best; I tend to purchase based on how little I have to touch anything . The more appropriately sized it is for Meg, the less I have to cut/touch etc. I know I was getting chicken backs fairly cheap from the butcher. If you have a decent poultry farm near you (not like an egg farm, but a place that sells chicken/turkey meat) you can sometimes get the necks and turkey tails cheap. The necks aren't super "meaty" so I usually feed just ground meat with them as well. I made a great connection recently with someone who does the butchering of wild game (mostly deer), who I am hoping will be able to get me some great stuff.

There are a lot more knowledgable people here who I'm sure will jump in shortly with better ideas.

Hmm how do you find a poultry farm? We don't have a butcher here. We have Walmart and Meijers. I live in such a small town,but better for farmers. They have butchers in the stores but the price is the same per pound for whats already packaged. I shop by pound. Anything chicken in the stores is around $3 to 4 per pound and beef items are $3 to 6 per pound. The organ stuff I buy is about $1.50 to 2 per pound. The stores here also have none of the cuts you suggested because I searched all there meats.

I hope we have a poultry farm close. Thanks for that idea. I do have a meat processing neighbor I could ask him if he knows of anyone who has poultry. He just processes meat for other people so I doubt I can get anything form him personally but I bet he knows someone I can call. Or would he maybe have extras he might usually throw away? Hmm thats an idea.

So I want to ask for tails, necks and backs of turkeys and chickens? And what bones are ok and what ones are not? I am also so worried about them picking up something that makes them sick. What is the concern with that and what to watch out for besides obviously something thats expired, like color...?

I've found chicken is usually the cheaper option, but if you have a chest freezer you could ring butchers a bit further away, if you only have to visit them every couple of months and pack the car then you might find cheap stuff that way.

I agree too much organ meat can be a bit rich, I don't feed all that much of it myself. Buster can be a bit grossed out by meats sometimes to so things like chciken frames I have to cut up becaus ehe won't just get stuck in.

I must be a terrible vegetarian lol, cutting up dog meat is my favourite. I tend to pull it all apart and see how it fits together and where the liver joins on, how the joits fit into each other and follow the tendons to see where they go. But I'm gross like that lol. And I personally love the feel of liver, its gross and it make my hands smell so that sucks but it has the most awesome texture.

I don't feed anythign thats getting smelly to Buster, he doesn't have an iron stomach and I'd rather not clean up his meal off the floor complete with bile 10 minutes later so I freeze all his meat and take it out a couple of days before hand and sort of cycle it from the freezer to the fridge then everyday I have to work at night I put his meal in a container in the kitchen fridge so mum knows what to feed him.

So usually I have about a weeks woth in the freezer and a few days worth in the fridge defrosting.

I was meant to ad also, if you know any people that own/manage restaurants they might be a good place to check, I work casual at a function centre, its mainly weddings with a bain marie (sp?) so we do big roasts, she found out we had 4 dogs and offered to get onto her meat supplier because she's seen him throw away meat/bones and was going to see if she could get us some cheap.
I havn't been back in a few weeks though so I havn't followed it up yet.

As for what bones to feed, pretty much any bones are okay UNcooked, cooked bones go brittle and can splinter.
Depending on what size dog you have/how they chew, some bits may not be suitable, Buster I am comfortable feeding small bones to, like the wishbone from a chciken frame or chicken necks or wings I've cut into 1/3's because he chews everything really well, Harry doesn't get small bones because he's a gulper.

I agree, too much organ mean. It can lead to bad things.

Bone-wise a dog can eat anything from a chicken or turkey. Well, some people won't feed chicken necks because some dogs inhale them and can choke. The only bones you really need to worry about is weight bearing bones on large animals like cows.

My dogs eat expired food.

The Super Walmart by me sells 10 pound bags of chicken legs/thighs for $5 (50 cents a pound). They also have pork necks for $1 a pound when they are on sale. I try to keep my average below a $1 per pound, including the green tripe and beef bones which are more in the $1.50 to $2 range.

Honestly I saved a lot of money by switching back to raw- I was going to schedule teeth cleanings on both my adult dogs this spring but as soon as I got them on the raw, their teeth cleaned right up The freezer was an investment, but it lets me buy the super cheap stuff and only drive to the butcher every few months.

Too bad I don't have a deep freeze, wish I did. I will check out my neighbor today and see if he has any info. for me on some local farmers. I will try giving my dogs the bones with their chicken today. I am nervous because I have always been told to not let dogs have them for choking and obstruction reasons. I guess I can try and see what happens. Its hard to say what they will do with them, gulp or break them up. They are kinda the in between. They haven't had raw chicken yet, I have only been giving them raw for about 6 days now mixed with their other food. lol I bet they will try to carry it off somewhere to eat it. Its hard to say if Bender will gulp but I doubt Sophie will, she has the typical Basset teeth frame and so Bassets eat a little different. Yup for the both of them I have to cut it up and mix it in their food.

I'm not sure how you look up poultry farms; we just have a big sign on the road near my house that says "Adam's Turkey Farm" and an arrow. You could check the meat at the grocery store and see if any lists a local farm; I had someone tell me about the chicken farm, but I've noticed they sell some stuff at the grocery as well. I plan to visit the turkey farm in late October and find out how I get on the list for the necks/tails. I know people who come home with trash bags full for very cheap!

The person who processes meat may very well have a lot of parts that the person bringing the meat in doesn't want.

They did o.k. with the chicken and liked it. Bender had a hard time breaking up the bone to eat it but eventually.

:yikes: I don't spend anywhere NEAR that on chicken! I average $1/lb on their meats. But I get stuff from .50-1.50. Most of the time what I do is I check the local paper for what places are having sales, and I go in and buy enough to fill my fridge freezer(with a small section for my own food! lol). Or sometimes I see the "manager's special" which is half-price because it only has a day or two before they can't sell it, and I buy as much as I can cram in my freezer. You'd be suprised how much you can actually cram in a freezer... sometimes if it's a REALLY good deal I steal freezer space from friends and family! LOLOLOLOL

How big are your dogs? My big dogs get 2 or 3 oz of liver when I feed it and they are 90 and 115lbs. Our small ones get a tiny piece maybe an inch square, and not every day. I will feed it for 4-5 days, then take a week off from it. There's no need to sear it, just give it to them.

If chicken is expensive where you live, look into other sources of food. What do they farm in Michigan- pork, beef, turkeys?

Look for meat that is on clearance and is reduced in price. It's fine for the dogs. I can keep my cost to around a dollar a lb too, buying in bulk and looking for bargains.

Bender is 45 and growing probably up to 75-90lbs. Sophie is 44lbs.

I have had no time today to look into farms or contact my neighbor, I have been so busy today but I have time tomorrow. I bet in MI they farm just about everything, I just need to get talking to find contacts.

I always look for clearance for everything lol. I never buy meet even for my family unless its on clearance.

Sophie hasn't pooped since the chicken I fed her which is weird since she has been on a non stop pooping schedule for months. And Bender had half normal half diarrhea couple few times hes had diarrhea on raw. Sophie has vomited a couple of times since I have introduced raw and a few with the diarrhea. Is this normal when introducing raw? They still have kibble to go along with so its not all raw.

o.k. Sophie finally pooped! lol I'm just a mama worried about her babies

O.k. another question. Do you wash their bowls with each feeding? I usually do it once a day but now with raw added I feel like I need to each time, only takes a couple seconds any ways. They eat twice a day, both pretty active and one of them is growing.

We rarely wash bowls if at all here.