Well after months of researching and talking myself in and out of it, i did it!!!
we got our first raw order from DAF yesterday and as from today kiva's diet will be all raw
I wanted to make a bit of a diary on here, 1 so i can keep a bit of a record of how we are doing 2 to maybe help out any other 'wannabe' raw feeders that may be feeling a little overwhelmed by it all (as i was, and still am a little ha ha) and 3 ask any questions that crop up as we go!

Kiva is a GSD and currently 7 and a half months old, i will be feeding her based on her ideal *adult* weight which is 37kgs, and will be starting with around 2.5% of her adult weight, which works out as 950g per day
I will increase or decrease the amount as we go depending on how she is looking, she is quite lean at the moment (typical teenage puppy, all legs and ears ) and i would like to keep her that way, especially as she is growing.

Kiva has been eating raw chicken leg quarters since she was around 4 months old, and chews them like a pro with no upset tums so i already know we have no issues with chicken, so her first week on raw will mainly consist of chicken, but i will also be giving her tripe mince for breakfast 4 times a week....so her first weeks menu looks like this..

monday
am chicken mince 1lb (454g)
pm chicken carcass 500g
tuesday
am tripe mince 1lb
pm chicken leg quarter 500g
wednesday
am chicken mince 1lb
pm chicken carcass 500g
thursday
am tripe mince 1lb
pm chicken leg quarter 500g
friday
am chicken mince 1lb
pm chicken carcass 500g
saturday
am tripe mince 1lb
pm tinned fish in tom sauce 420g + whole raw egg
sunday
am chicken mince 1lb
pm chicken carcass 500g

her first week was supposed to also include chicken necks alternated with the carcass, but DAF didnt have any in stock so she is stuck with the carcass' for now. I was a bit gutted that its not as varied as i would like within the chicken, but then i thought raw chicken carcass, mince and leg quarters, tripe and fish is A LOT more varied than her eating boring old kibble every day

so......my first order.....OMG what a day yesterday!!!!!!
I had planned on using one of the drawers in our freezer to store a weeks worth of food at a time, and store the rest at the freezer at OH's work and top ours up from that one weekly. so i put my order in, the guy turns up yesterday with looooaaaadddsss of frozen raw food, i take out whats going into the freezer at home and take the rest to OH's work to put in the freezer there. open the freezer..............and its warm!!!!!!! nooooooooooooo!! so i have about 4 boxes of raw meat in my boot and nowhere for it to go. i start looking for a cheap freezer on places like gumtree etc but everyone i find has already been sold, by this point i honestly think i am going to have to end up throwing it away but luckily i have the best SIL in the world who just happened to have a spare freezer at hers that i could use unfortunately its to go back into a flat she rents out so i couldnt buy it from her, but it was just a relief to get it all into a freezer wherever it was!!

ready for some pics?? ha ha
so my DAF order was
chicken carcass 10kg
chicken mince 1lb (454g) x20
minced tripe 1lb x 20
turkey necks x 8
mixed raw pork bones 5kg
mixed raw lamb bones 5kg
raw trotters x 4

I was a little suprised by the amount of boxes the guy delivered!



trotters, sold in packs of 2 (the cd is to give an idea of the size of stuff )



turkey necks, a lot bigger than i was expecting



kiva aquanting herself with the turkey necks



chicken carcass' packed in 2's (i think ha ha)



lamb bones....




pork bones....




chicken mince




minced tripe




that little lot filled 2 and a half drawers in my freezer and 4 drawers in my sister in laws freezer

I havent included any offal in kivas menu as yet, after lots of great advice from you guys i am going to wait until i have introduced a few different meats first, then start throwing in small bits of offal

so after this week of 'boring' chicken, i am hoping to introduce the turkey necks next. but i will post about that when i do it, no need to bore you with it just yet

Kivas breakfast this morning was chicken mince and a dollop of natural yoghurt



and she loved it! funnily enough, when i tried feeding her kibble for tea yesterday she flatly refused to eat it and looked at me as if to say 'you have all that in the freezer, and you expect me to eat KIBBLE?? pffffffffft' ha ha ha ha ha

well i think that is enough waffling for now, but i'll be back later with pics of tea! ha ha

thanks for looking x

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ive just started my 6 month old staffy on raw and just looking for a freezer before i order from DAF can i just ask how much you paid for all that as it seems you got quite alot

Very exciting - will look forward to seeing how it goes .

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That little lot cost me £55 with free delivery

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I will certainly be following this thread How exciting for you and Kiva!!

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thats really good value and will prob last quite a while am def going to order from them next month when i get my freezer

It is very exciting and daunting at the same time ha ha

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Kiva has one packet of the minces for breakfast so they will last her 40 days, and the carcass', lamb and pork bones weigh 20kg altogether so that is 40 evening meals, and the turkey necks will be an evening meal each so thats another 8, plus 4 trotters, so it should last just over 7 weeks! and thats without the 3 days a week when she will be having chicken leg 1/4 or fish (bought from asda)

so based on her eating the DAF order for tea 4 times a week, thats 13 weeks worth of evening meals

However, once she is used to another meat other than chicken, i will probably stop getting the leg 1/4's and work our way through the DAF stuff lol

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fantastic pics and thread

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The New Look Willow's Place Website
http://willowsplace.weebly.com/

Love the first photograph of the dog looking up at the boxes.