Variety?

Postby pitbullmamaliz » May 3rd, 2011, 11:11 am

I've been looking at going back to feeding raw so I've been doing some price shopping. If I can feed raw for less than a dollar a pound I'll do it. I found a local place to get a 40lb case of chicken thighs/quarters for $19.95. Obviously a great price (if I can find a super cheap freezer on Craigslist).

However, it seems when I check prices of everything BUT chicken, it's exorbitant - $2-$3 per pound. So my question is, how often do you vary their protein source? I have no problems finding liver and kidney and organ meat to supplement with, but I'm talking as a main meal. How many days per week do you feed chicken? Does it make a difference if I do turkey instead of chicken, or is poultry just poultry? How often do they need beef or pork?
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Postby copperlegend » May 3rd, 2011, 11:21 am

We are lucky to have a raw food distribution list via a yahoo group. Maybe your area has a similar group/list?
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Postby pitbullmamaliz » May 3rd, 2011, 12:19 pm

I looked and the ones for my area hadn't had any posts for a couple years.
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Postby DemoDick » May 3rd, 2011, 4:47 pm

I honestly think that variety is overrated among all mammalian diets, including humans. Even a raw diet comprised of 98% chicken quarters with basic supplementation (still doable for under a dollar a pound) is going to have more nutritive value than the very best kibble.

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Postby pitbullmamaliz » May 3rd, 2011, 5:20 pm

Thanks Demo - that's kinda what I was hoping to hear. And quite frankly, how much variety does her kibble give her, right?

I just want to make sure I'm not shortchanging her of essential nutrients (iron or something?) by not doing beef twice a week or what have you.
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Postby TinaMartin » May 3rd, 2011, 6:20 pm

I don't think it matters as much as some people want it to. Gator has to be limited because of his allergies, Sorsha is fine. I give Sorsha a variety of protien sources. When the vet looks at them and their bloodwork she says Gator is just fine. Nothing is off in his bloodwork.
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Postby SisMorphine » May 4th, 2011, 10:12 pm

Mine eat chicken backs for breakfast every single day of their lives. It's the cheapest thing ever (plus I like the bone/meat ratio better than any other meat cuts out there). Right now they eat kibble for dinner, which is NON chicken based. I also usually purchase Bravo tubes of other proteins and feed maybe 3 other proteins (so not chicken and not what the kibble base is . . . this experimental kibble is Bison) a month (so 2 days for each protein) and it works for us. If only you lived closer I could get you Bravo at cost!! It still isn't cheap by any means, BUT it's a good way to add some protein variety into your dog's routine.

Also I'd look into finding backs. I get a lot less regurge (you know, those lovely bile vomits with hunks of bone in them) when I feed backs vs. quarters, and backs are way cheaper. Right now I'm paying $10 for 40 pounds of backs.
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Postby mnp13 » May 4th, 2011, 11:19 pm

We feed backs and quarters mostly, but occasionally I find pig feet on sale for Ruby and Connor.

During the fall, they eat almost exclusively venison.

We supplement with Missing Link, Solid Gold Sea Meal, salmon oil, and glucosomine. And Riggs gets extra stuff to help him pee. They get canned veggies about once every week or so, and the cuts off of any fresh that we are having for dinner.
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Postby BullyLady » May 5th, 2011, 3:49 am

Alright, I may take some heat for this..... But I exclusively feed chicken quarters. I can get them for $.68 a pound at Walmart all the time (no checking every effing meat warehouse for prices), and they often go on sale or get close to expiration and marked down so it's even less. The organs are obviously a little bit more but you feed so comparatively little, I'm sure it comes out to well under $1 a pound, still.

Shelby is always excited to eat and her bloodwork comes back perfect every year, so..... :|
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Postby mnp13 » May 5th, 2011, 9:28 am

Do you add supplements to them? Single meat protein isn't a big deal to me, but if all they are getting is meat and bone - especially commercial meat - I think they do need some exra. Missing Link is about $12 a bag and lasts over a month.
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Postby pitbullmamaliz » May 5th, 2011, 9:58 am

Thanks for the feedback! I joined the Yahoo rawfeeding list and they're kind of zealous - red meat is critical and should actually be the majority of the meals.

On a side note, found a small chest freezer on Craigslist for $50 so hopefully the owner gets back to me. :)
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Postby DemoDick » May 5th, 2011, 11:04 am

pitbullmamaliz wrote:Thanks for the feedback! I joined the Yahoo rawfeeding list and they're kind of zealous - red meat is critical and should actually be the majority of the meals.

On a side note, found a small chest freezer on Craigslist for $50 so hopefully the owner gets back to me. :)


Some of those people are just living in fantasy land. They claim to be all about mimicking the diet of a wild dog, but if you threw a less than fresh caribou carcass in their living room while their dogs ate it ass-first they would change their tune.

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Postby TinaMartin » May 5th, 2011, 12:42 pm

I don't think red meat is critical at all. Gator flairs up on red meat allergy meds or not. He does just fine on chicken thank you.
Demo you would be correct. My only concern with doing that is rotting the floors! Don't want to fall through.
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