B.A.R.F. 101

[tjbsandy]

Oh, good question about the organ meat! All I've found has said that not much is required, but that it is necessary. So how much do you all feed? I just took the stuff from the chicken and divided it as evenly as I could between the bags I made. Is a little bit a day too much or too little?

[chance's mom]

well i just went to the grocery store and got a bunch of chicken that was on sale. i pulled it off the bone, mixed it with different organs in different bags, i am using court size bags, and a chicken per bag. i believe its the breast i am dividing. but not much of the organ at all. i plan on adding egg and my veggie cubes to that. since i am using smaller bags i will do 2 bags a day, one breakfast one dinner.

[barbponys]

I feed chicken 4 times a week, give or take, and each day a different dog gets the organs........ they usually don't get it more than once a week.....

You can separate the organs too in the different meals, and then once a week feed them a straight organ meal, like beef liver, kidney, whatever you can find.

[chance's mom]

thanks again guys. i already seperated into baggies so we dont give him as much. he takes to it all really well, and he will keep eating so i wasnt sure what was enough. i dont think he will get more than 2lbs a day. again thanks a lot, we appreciate the feedback.

[satanscheerleader]

Wouldn't it be wicked to have a grinder. Just throw the whole carcass in there.... bones, organs, everything and dish out a suitable amount for each pup. I would think that would be fairly balanced meat, bone and organ wise. I wonder how much a grinder goes for?

[chance's mom]

i wish i knew, and am afraid to find out. that would make this all a lot easier thats for sure.

[RescueRules]

Wouldn't it be wicked to have a grinder. Just throw the whole carcass in there.... bones, organs, everything and dish out a suitable amount for each pup. I would think that would be fairly balanced meat, bone and organ wise. I wonder how much a grinder goes for?

Grinders that can do bone need to be good quality and are of course very expensive. There's a butcher on 176th who does raw food (exactly what you mentioned, bones, organs etc all ground up) very very reasonable. He's been doing it for years.

I remember you posting that you don't have a freezer so that makes it difficult to buy bulk.

[tjbsandy]

The Maverick meat grinder is recommended on this How-To BARF page, at only $99.00. http://www.touchmoon.com/dotters/raw/tools.html

[satanscheerleader]

Wouldn't it be wicked to have a grinder. Just throw the whole carcass in there.... bones, organs, everything and dish out a suitable amount for each pup. I would think that would be fairly balanced meat, bone and organ wise. I wonder how much a grinder goes for?

Grinders that can do bone need to be good quality and are of course very expensive. There's a butcher on 176th who does raw food (exactly what you mentioned, bones, organs etc all ground up) very very reasonable. He's been doing it for years.

I remember you posting that you don't have a freezer so that makes it difficult to buy bulk.

Is that 176th in Surrey?

[pblove]

that is cheap for a gridner!
I got one last winter, paid several hundred for it.
I then had some "issues" with barf, so sent the grinder back as I had not even opened the box at that point.
I still have the new food processer I bought for barf too.

[SunnyDays]

If you were going to grind, I'd add a RMB in as well. I prefer it all unground for the dental benefits.

3% is too much for a pit bull. My cocker gets 3% and normal pits are about twice the size of Shadow.

For supplements, you don't really need them. You can if you want, but you're really just making it more complicated for yourself.

I toss a partially thawed hunk of meat on the ground and sit there while he eats it. Wipe the floor with vinegar wipes, and I'm done for the day.

Organ meats aren't needed often. I toss in a pork kidney piece about three times a week. On occasion my chicken backs have organs attached.

You can feed your puppy raw from the moment you get it. Billinghurst has a book on it I believe.

What I want to do is get my boyfriend to get me a whole rabbit or chicken, that hasn't been cut, or skinned and seperate all the organs, bones and meat and find out the percentages of each. It would help a lot in meal planning.

[chance's mom]

i agree sunny, that would make it a lot easier. as for the processor, thank you for the link, sounds great. i also agree about giving the rmb for the teeth, the only bones i want ground up are chicken, i dont trust giving them to chance becuase they are sharp and have cut me. ill grind those.

[stella]

My girls get organs 2X per week, more heart than liver. RMBs 2-3X per week. Raw Buffalo tripe once/week and fish at least 1X/week.

[pblove]

You think YOU'RE confused!!!! It is not sinkng in here .

[barbponys]

If you were going to grind, I'd add a RMB in as well. I prefer it all unground for the dental benefits.

3% is too much for a pit bull. My cocker gets 3% and normal pits are about twice the size of Shadow.

For supplements, you don't really need them. You can if you want, but you're really just making it more complicated for yourself.

I toss a partially thawed hunk of meat on the ground and sit there while he eats it. Wipe the floor with vinegar wipes, and I'm done for the day.

Organ meats aren't needed often. I toss in a pork kidney piece about three times a week. On occasion my chicken backs have organs attached.

You can feed your puppy raw from the moment you get it. Billinghurst has a book on it I believe.

What I want to do is get my boyfriend to get me a whole rabbit or chicken, that hasn't been cut, or skinned and seperate all the organs, bones and meat and find out the percentages of each. It would help a lot in meal planning.

I'm right with you guys.......... If I fed the pug more and Fancy less I would have a 30# pug and a 40# bag of bones for a boxer, not to mention AC would be called cuz Garion would be 70# and also a bag of bones..........