Ok, so after about 3 months of reading stickies, books and articles and turning my brain to mush, talking myself in and out of it several times I'm just gonna do it!!!

Kivas food is going au natural aka raw!!

Now I know all you experienced raw feeders don't do menus, and hopefully when I've been at it a while I will be confident enough to not bother too, but for now and my own piece of mind I need one! Ha ha

So I was wondering if you could be so kind to have a look over this weekly menu and let me know what you think? I plan on getting my first raw order delivered on 30th Jan
A few things to point out first, kiva has been eating chicken mince and leg quarters for about 3 months now so I'm gonna jump straight in and add tripe, would that be ok?and secondly there is no liver, kidney, heart etc on the menu because that's one of the things I need advice on do I not give her any for the first week or so and then add small amounts every day after that? Or would I maybe add say 100g to her pm meal a couple of times a week?
Anyway here is my 'menu'

Monday
Am. Chicken mince 454g
Pm. Chicken carcass 500g

Tuesday
Am. Minced tripe 454g
Pm. Chicken mince 454g

Wednesday
Am. Chicken mince 454g
Pm. Chicken necks 500g

Thursday
Am. Minced tripe 454g
Pm. Chicken mince 454g

Friday
Am. Minced tripe 454g
Pm. Chicken carcass 500g

Saturday
Am. Chicken mince 454g
Pm. Tinned fish in tom sauce 400g + whole egg

Sunday
Am. Minced tripe 454g
Pm. Chicken necks 500g

I will also be giving her a quarter of a tray of wainwrights wet for supper every night, mainly just so she isn't going too long without food between tea and breakfast, and secondly so she is still used to the ww incase I ever run out of raw the day before a delivery etc will this be ok??

And the couple of nights I have put down chicken mince for tea, once she is used to full time raw I will hopefully substitute these for other things like beef chunks etc....

One last thing, I promise
Another thing mashing my head is 'extra stuff' we can add to their food for different benefits for example garlic for fleas? The other ones I have seen mentioned are acv, de (d?? Earth?) Etc etc soooo if you add supplements to your dogs food what do you add, what for and do they work?

I have already had fantastic advice from you guys on this subject, and if it wasnt for your help I wouldn't dare do this, but I can't wait to watch kiva enjoy every meal like she does her leg quarters, and also looking forward to reduced output! I actually look for to poo scooping after she had a raw day, how sad is that

If you got this far, well done and if you have any comments regarding my ramblings I would huuuuugely appreciate it

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I'm watching this thread with huge excitement!

I'm a bit in the same boat with Nikita but just a little bit behind you, I'm going to start giving her some chicken wings to try this weekend, then a bit of fish and build it up, see how that goes then finger crossed get her onto raw full time eventually.....but my brain is mushed from the worry of knowing how to go about it all.

I've read all the info I can find and asked quite a few questions about it, all of which is fantastic so far, people keep saying "well give her anything you want...chicken, lamb, tripe etc...the list is endless", I do appreciate the help I've been given hugely but I just worry about getting it right and rather pathetically want someone to say "right, on Monday do this...on Tuesday do that...and so on", just until my confidence is a bit higher and I'm happy to go it alone so to speak (I do realise that must sound very pathetic to the experienced raw feeders ...sorry I'm a worrier).

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Lisa x

Mummy to : Leila, Sophie and also Nikita the Siberian Husky.

RIP - Koda-Bear the Bernese Mountain Dog (my best furry friend and canine soulmate), Scott the Newfoundland (miss ya big guy) , also Fliss, Tara, Sophie, Ben, Poppy and Scamp.

This is who I really am - 30 Seconds to Mars (The Kill)
I am not afraid…I was born to do this - Joan of Arc
Love is being stupid together - Paul Valery

I'm also starting raw when my delivery comes. Are you going for 10% of Kivas current weight? You need to maybe add some offal in (try supermarket bargin bins - we got kidney and liver for 9p a box).

*Didn't see the bit about needing advice on kidney ect. I'd like to hear someone experienced in raw can help?)

Wow, there's alot of chicken on that menu!! I know you said you would substitute some for beef chunks etc but what other kind of RMB's were you thinking of introducing (if any)? For example, have you thought about whole rabbits, turkey necks, lamb ribs, pigs trotters etc? I know it's early days but was just wondering whether you were going for a very varied menu eventually or sticking with just 2 or 3 meat types...

As for the organ meat, i'd just introduce a little bit at a time, making sure Kiva isnt having any negative responses to each thing. Same applies to each type of meat variant you introduce.

As for the supplements, my dogs do have them but I never seem to see any results, even after several months. They've had garlic capsules, salmon oil, cod liver oil, glucosamine, seaweed granules and at the moment are on kelp tablets and brewers yeast as well as some Easygreen. I've ordered some ACV after reading about it's wondrous properties so will see what that does.

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I am exactly the same, I've lost count of the headaches I've given myself reading and planning and reading and planning! Ha ha
I think it's just a confidence thing, I'm sure once we have been doing it a few weeks we will wonder what we were so scared of lol

I'm going for about 2.5% of her ideal adult weight, as that's what advice I have had from my many annoying raw questions on here ha ha
Yeh I know she needs some offal, I have asked about that in my op it's just knowing how much and how gradual to add it lol
I am a nightmare really, I need some sort of 'plan' for everything, I sometimes wish I could just do it! Ha ha

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This ie basically my 'starting out' menu I do plan to add other meats along the way, but I just wanted to get the starting out sorted in my head before I get ahead of myself, which is very tempting to do
The main reason for the chicken mince on a couple of nights is I thought if I gave her carcass or neck etc every night it might be a little too much bone?
Which meat would you recommend to introduce first after a week or so of her starter menu? I was thinking maybe lamb?

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As a starting out menu, I think that's about spot on, and then obviously add in the other proteins as you go along. Have you already introduced raw chicken? If not, I'd do that before you switch over, just to ensure there are no adverse effects. I'd also swap a couple of the mince meals for either tripe or chicken carcass, there's a lot of minced stuff in there, which is ok in the short term, but I prefer to see more meaty bones longer term

Edited to add, have you had my guide? If not, it lists other additives in there, or some of them at least.

It doesnt really matter which meat type you introduce, I guess it depends on the types which are readily available and easily affordable. I tend to stick with chicken carcasses, turkey necks/drumsticks, pork variants and tripe as my 4 main menu items with other things in between to break up the monotony.
They dont get alot of lamb because it's expensive so only get it once in a while if it's going cheap.

I dont worry about percentages of offal. They have liver in one of their minces (since they arent keen on straight liver) and I also mix kidney in with a mince of some description and I just do that when I think about it really. I'm one of those raw feeders who doesnt have a menu, doesnt weigh anything out and doesnt do percentages so i'm perhaps not the best person to advise!

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completely agree the menu looks great as a starting menu, you will work out the amount of bone that suits your dog. One of mine needs a little less bone than my other two so I vary my diet accordingly. But I tend to do mince for brekkie and then either rmb or chunks of meat for tea and alternate evening by evening.

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I do have your guide yes, thank you it's very helpful
Do you think a 'boney' meal every tea time would be ok? That's the only reason there is a coyple of minces for tea, didn't want to overdo the bone?
As for the chicken, yes kiva has been having chicken for around 3 months now she has the prize choice chicken mince most mornings for breakfast and a few times a week she has chicken leg quarters, so I know we have no issue with chicken

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