[kiara]

just a few questions,

when feeding chicken carcasses, what is the stuff inside that looks like kidney's? and does it count towards the offal?

how much turmeric should i add to there food and how often? iv bought this. East End Turmeric Powder 100G - Groceries - Tesco Groceries

how much garlic? is one clove a week ok or more? do i just let them eat the clove whole? adult dogs 15-19kgs pups 6-8kgs.

dogs are not drinking any water! whats the best way to get water in them?

is one egg a week enough?

is vegetable oil of any benefit?

and last but not least,

i feed sardines in oil once a week, i buy 3 tins which each has 3 fish and i share between the dogs. is this enough?

 

[SLB]

Don't worry about the water. They get their moisture from their food.

As for the supplements - wait for someone more knowledgeable comes along. I'm not too sure.

As for the tins. My 27kg dog gets 3 tins Sardines, my 19kg dog gets 2 tins.

 

[Shitzulover]

Is it a lot more expensive to feed a small dog a raw diet than a good quality complete food?

I really like the idea of feeding raw when I get my dog but there just seems so much involved and different aspects. Is it easy to get the hang of?

 

[kiara]

iv found it a lot cheaper. its costs me 34p a day to feed a 19kg Staffordshire bull terrier.

and once you start its easy. best thing I ever done for my dogs. :thumbup:

 

[Shitzulover]

iv found it a lot cheaper. its costs me 34p a day to feed a 19kg Staffordshire bull terrier.

and once you start its easy. best thing I ever done for my dogs. :thumbup:

Really? wow. I thought it would be more expensive if you're feeding meat, fish, eggs and any other stuff. Do you get your meat from a butcher in bulk?

 

[Lil Doglets]

just a few questions,

when feeding chicken carcasses, what is the stuff inside that looks like kidney's? and does it count towards the offal?

how much turmeric should i add to there food and how often? iv bought this. East End Turmeric Powder 100G - Groceries - Tesco Groceries

how much garlic? is one clove a week ok or more? do i just let them eat the clove whole? adult dogs 15-19kgs pups 6-8kgs.

dogs are not drinking any water! whats the best way to get water in them?

is one egg a week enough?

is vegetable oil of any benefit?

and last but not least,

i feed sardines in oil once a week, i buy 3 tins which each has 3 fish and i share between the dogs. is this enough?

1. Have often wondered that myself lol
2. You only need a very small amount of turmeric, i have very small dogs (both around 3.5kg) and they get about 1/8 of a teaspoon or less each day, you want to be careful you don't over do it as it thins the blood.
3. I give half a clove each per week, yours would probably be fine with half a clove for the smaller and whole clove for the bigger
4. There's alot more moisture in raw so it's quite normal for them to barely drink at all
5. 1 egg each a week is fine, wouldn't hurt to give 2 if you really wanted but not much need
6. Can't see how vegetable oil is of much benefit personally, not heard of anyone using that
7. I feed 1 tin each per week, it makes a fairly large meal for my tiny dogs though, just go with what looks like a decent sized meal for your dogs

 

[DirtyGertie]

Is it a lot more expensive to feed a small dog a raw diet than a good quality complete food?

I really like the idea of feeding raw when I get my dog but there just seems so much involved and different aspects. Is it easy to get the hang of?

I've been feeding Poppy (5.7kg) raw for about 18 months. I feed her up to about 50% DAF minces (this gives lots of variety I can't give otherwise as some of it is seasonal, e.g. rabbit, venison, then there's different varieties of tripe with something, plus the usual lamb, chicken, turkey, etc.) and the other 50% or so is made of of meat chunks I am able to get more easily and chicken wings, pork ribs, lamb ribs, pigs trotters, ears, etc. plus whole rabbit and salmon chunks from DAF, fresh caught mackerel from the sea (my grandson goes fishing) and sometimes tinned fish.

I recently posted my latest DAF order on the My Raw Order thread.

Poppy needs about 140g per day in total and I worked out that the average cost of a meal from that DAF order (including the more expensive whole rabbit, salmon chunks and delivery cost) is 20p. Chicken wings I get locally from Iceland, Co-op or with an Asda order, if I can get them reduced they cost about 10p each, otherwise they cost about 15p each. One chicken wing is one meal. So I can feed Poppy, on average, for about 35p - 40p per day. For me that's cheaper than when I was feeding a good quality commercial food (Naturediet wet and some Burns dry). I wish I could feed my cat that cheap, tried twice with raw and she wont touch it.

 

[Shitzulover]

I've been feeding Poppy (5.7kg) raw for about 18 months. I feed her up to about 50% DAF minces (this gives lots of variety I can't give otherwise as some of it is seasonal, e.g. rabbit, venison, then there's different varieties of tripe with something, plus the usual lamb, chicken, turkey, etc.) and the other 50% or so is made of of meat chunks I am able to get more easily and chicken wings, pork ribs, lamb ribs, pigs trotters, ears, etc. plus whole rabbit and salmon chunks from DAF, fresh caught mackerel from the sea (my grandson goes fishing) and sometimes tinned fish.

I recently posted my latest DAF order on the My Raw Order thread.

Poppy needs about 140g per day in total and I worked out that the average cost of a meal from that DAF order (including the more expensive whole rabbit, salmon chunks and delivery cost) is 20p. Chicken wings I get locally from Iceland, Co-op or with an Asda order, if I can get them reduced they cost about 10p each, otherwise they cost about 15p each. One chicken wing is one meal. So I can feed Poppy, on average, for about 35p - 40p per day. For me that's cheaper than when I was feeding a good quality commercial food (Naturediet wet and some Burns dry). I wish I could feed my cat that cheap, tried twice with raw and she wont touch it.

I'm impressed. Seems like raw feeding is the way to go! Sounds like I will need a seperate freezer for puppys meals though!

I just need to do research on exactly what needs to be fed each down etc so I ensure it is a balanced diet. That seems to be the tricky part.

 

[terencesmum]

You sort of neglected to tell us how many dogs you've got and what weights they are.
In a later post, you say one of your dogs is a 19kg Staffordshire Bullterrier. My own Staffy weighs 23 kgs and gets 2 tins of sardines per meal several times a week.
Bear in mind that Staffies are prone to dry skin and need more oily fish than a lot of other breeds.
You don't need too much turmeric and garlic, but would reserve judgement on how much you need until I know how many dogs we are talking about.

 

[springfieldbean]

I don't think there are definitive answers to these questions (except number 1 which I can't answer because I don't feed whole chicken carcasses, but I'd imagine it would be offal ))

So here's how I do it:

Sherlock (13.5kg) gets four eggs a week - but that's partly because he's skinny and incredibly energetic, and eggs are a good way of keeping weight up.

I don't add any turmeric to his food, or veg oil. Garlic is the only supplement I give him, except some occasional apple cider vinegar.

He usually gets garlic capsules, one every other day. When I've given him fresh garlic I usually give him half a clove crushed up in his meal, a few times a week. He won't eat it whole, so I have to mix it into his food!

Yep, Sherlock gets one tin of pilchards or sardines a week, which I add to whatever he's having for dinner because one tin on its own isn't enough for him. Usually he gets his weekly fish from a meal of raw oily fish mince though. A couple of days after he's had the oily fish you can see the shine in his fur - it's amazing how quickly it shows!

As Lil Doglets said, raw contains a lot of moisture anyway, so dogs don't tend to drink a great deal. Sherlock drinks after a walk, but that's about it.

 

[kiara]

all staffies

19kgs 8 yrs spayed

15kgs 4 yrs spayed (lots of allergies, bad skin, stiff joints, hard to keep weight on. rescued as a parvo puppy)

14kgs 1 yr

8kgs 16 weeks

foster pup 6kgs 16 weeks

 

[DirtyGertie]

I'm impressed. Seems like raw feeding is the way to go! Sounds like I will need a seperate freezer for puppys meals though!

I just need to do research on exactly what needs to be fed each down etc so I ensure it is a balanced diet. That seems to be the tricky part.

Honestly, it's so easy once you've read up and got started. I was like you and worried a lot to start with but it's very easy to get the hang of it. Just do your research and make sure you understand what your dog needs.

Read the raw feeding stickies and just stick to chicken for the first couple of weeks, then introduce one new meat a week. That way you can make sure that whatever new meat you're feeding is agreeing with pup, introduce too much too soon and if there's a problem you wont know what's causing it.

It will take a good few weeks to introduce a variety of different meats and then you can start introducing offal very slowly, a tiny bit of liver at a time or pup may get the squits. I find that I can't feed a full meal of heart (which is classed as a muscle meat), it's too rich for Poppy, so I go half and half with another meat such as chicken.

And don't get hung up on the ratios being absolutely spot on. I think all of us raw feeders are guided by poops. Constipation, too hard and struggling to get poops out mean too much bone, just lower the bone content. I quite often substitute what would be a chicken wing meal for a meat meal if Poppy's poo seems too hard or crumbly.

Roughly 80% meat, 10% bone and 10% offal (half of which should be liver). I find it easier to work out in grams for such a small dog (even though I was brought up on the old imperial measurements) and work amounts out over 10 or 20 or 30 days.

 

[Shitzulover]

Honestly, it's so easy once you've read up and got started. I was like you and worried a lot to start with but it's very easy to get the hang of it. Just do your research and make sure you understand what your dog needs.

Read the raw feeding stickies and just stick to chicken for the first couple of weeks, then introduce one new meat a week. That way you can make sure that whatever new meat you're feeding is agreeing with pup, introduce too much too soon and if there's a problem you wont know what's causing it.

It will take a good few weeks to introduce a variety of different meats and then you can start introducing offal very slowly, a tiny bit of liver at a time or pup may get the squits. I find that I can't feed a full meal of heart (which is classed as a muscle meat), it's too rich for Poppy, so I go half and half with another meat such as chicken.

And don't get hung up on the ratios being absolutely spot on. I think all of us raw feeders are guided by poops. Constipation, too hard and struggling to get poops out mean too much bone, just lower the bone content. I quite often substitute what would be a chicken wing meal for a meat meal if Poppy's poo seems too hard or crumbly.

Roughly 80% meat, 10% bone and 10% offal (half of which should be liver). I find it easier to work out in grams for such a small dog (even though I was brought up on the old imperial measurements) and work amounts out over 10 or 20 or 30 days.

Thank you so much for the advice. I will definately do my research!

I looked online for the DAF food and unfortunately they don't deliver in my postcode. Is there similar companies?

 

[StuW]

Thank you so much for the advice. I will definately do my research!

I looked online for the DAF food and unfortunately they don't deliver in my postcode. Is there similar companies?

I'd email DAF and ask them. They don't have my postcode listed yet still delivered to me twice!

 

[SLB]

Try Manifold Valley Meats.

Facebook delivery co - ordination group.
Log in | Facebook

Their selection.
http://www.manifoldvalleymeats.co.uk/barf-diet-products/

I've worked out to feed my two dogs 27kg & 19kg for two months it'll cost me £77.50 (excluding delivery).

£10 is steep for delivery but you can order as much as you want. Also if you go on the FB group you can sort out orders with people in your area so it gets delivered to one house, then you share the delivery charge.

I've just ordered from them and I'm happy with the amount I got. Can't wait to put in a full order with them. I liked the variety that DAF did, however having a dog on an exclusion diet it was difficult to source things that hadn't got Beef in it. The tripe for example and the price of bones also. £5 for 15kg was brilliant, however they were mixed and £7 for 5kg of Lamb bones - that lasts 3 weeks in our house, if that. So MVM looks better for now.

 

[BessieDog]

Have a look at Manifold Valley Meats. They seem to deliver to Birmingham. Take a look at their FB page Log in | Facebook. Their meats look good and prices are reasonable.

 

[DirtyGertie]

Thank you so much for the advice. I will definately do my research!

I looked online for the DAF food and unfortunately they don't deliver in my postcode. Is there similar companies?

Raw2Paw supply DAF minces and will courier for £10.95 (including the polystyrene boxes) if you're not in their delivery area.

I used to use Raw To Go but their service was absolutely abysmal this time, ignoring emails, etc. I got in touch with DAF who told me that no-one else would deliver to Wales. A PF member suggested Raw2Paw and I contacted them, they were more than happy to arrange a courier delivery and I had it immediately. It took 2 days to sort out a Raw2Paw order and get it delivered, I waited 2 months for Raw To Go and got nowhere, despite being an established customer of theirs.

 

[pogo]

just a few questions,

when feeding chicken carcasses, what is the stuff inside that looks like kidney's? and does it count towards the offal?

how much turmeric should i add to there food and how often? iv bought this. East End Turmeric Powder 100G - Groceries - Tesco Groceries

how much garlic? is one clove a week ok or more? do i just let them eat the clove whole? adult dogs 15-19kgs pups 6-8kgs.

dogs are not drinking any water! whats the best way to get water in them?

is one egg a week enough?

is vegetable oil of any benefit?

and last but not least,

i feed sardines in oil once a week, i buy 3 tins which each has 3 fish and i share between the dogs. is this enough?

No i don't count the organs in chicken carcasses as part of offal

I put a teaspoon of turmeric on their food once a week

I give them a clove each every other day

My two don't drink much don't worry!

i give an egg every other day

No i don't give veg oil

I give whole raw fish but that sounds fine to

 

[Amy-manycats]

I do add veg oil...

One of mine is hard to keep weight on, so a little drizzle ups the calories. Also helps on boney days to ensure she doesn't get too bunged up (offal can help too) it also helps with a bit of shiny coat.

My other one has herbs for her joints- she hates them. Mix them with oil and she laps them up. She can be prone to dry skin and it help her too.

BARF pet food website had a bit about veg oil I think. They don't get it everyday but it certainly wont hurt.