The Dogmother Posted March 11, 2009 Share Posted March 11, 2009 I buy all my meat from free range farmers, so am assured of the ethics of it. It's all by-product from their butchery. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gamebird Posted March 11, 2009 Share Posted March 11, 2009 I buy all my meat from a local organic shop and I know they butcher their meat on the premises so they must have wings. If not I shall make some internet enquiries. Feeding a more natural diet has made all the difference to Oliver's skin and coat. He used to be very itchy with a lack lustre coat. The itching has stopped and his coat gleams (even though he loves to roll in sand and mud ). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted March 11, 2009 Share Posted March 11, 2009 My supplier of 'chicken bits' gives me wings, legs with the thigh meat taken off and hocks. The dog loves them all, but the cats aren't keen for some reason, they do however like the minced up meat s"Ooops, word censored!"s and offal that I give the dog. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lesley Posted March 15, 2009 Share Posted March 15, 2009 We use the same supplier as Clare but also buy some chicken wings and 'doggy bags' from http://www.sheepdrove.com We also bought an ox heart from them - it was massive and made lots of meals. Jazz isn't fond of liver but will eat it semi cooked. Jazz has never had any problem with kibble and raw meat but it's good to know that it can sometimes cause problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alfred Posted March 16, 2009 Author Share Posted March 16, 2009 I am most interested and encouraged by all your comments. 3 more questions: How does it compare cost wise with standard dog food Is it fairly easy for people who are busy/ a bit clueless or do you need to be a committed owner? I mean what are the potential pifalls? Has anyone had any bad experiences eg salmonella or e coli, problems caused by choking on bones or anything like that? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted March 16, 2009 Share Posted March 16, 2009 I am most interested and encouraged by all your comments.3 more questions: How does it compare cost wise with standard dog food It's far cheaper and smells a lot less (as does what comes out the other end!) Is it fairly easy for people who are busy/ a bit clueless or do you need to be a committed owner? I mean what are the potential pifalls? I'm busy and with a little planning and an undercounter freezer from Freecycle, I manage it. I order the meat and bones on the phone from my suppliers and pick it up at the farmers' market, which is every fortnight. I get back and bag the bones into smaller packs and freeze then, then pop the mincer attachment on my Kenwood and spend 10 mins mincing up all the meat and freezign it in plastic tubs. Has anyone had any bad experiences eg salmonella or e coli, problems caused by choking on bones or anything like that? Never, and raw bones aren't usually a choke hazard Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lesley Posted March 17, 2009 Share Posted March 17, 2009 There's no problem with raw bones but they are better from a young animal. This is not usually a problem with any bones from a butcher as animals for meat don't usually live to a great age anyway but we are careful not to give bones to Jazz from our own animals if they were animals who'd lived their lives out here and are quite elderly. Jazz was fine with all bones from just a few weeks old but lately she seems happier with chicken wings and necks than the lamb bones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chooklady Posted March 20, 2009 Share Posted March 20, 2009 I am most interested and encouraged by all your comments.3 more questions: How does it compare cost wise with standard dog food Is it fairly easy for people who are busy/ a bit clueless or do you need to be a committed owner? I mean what are the potential pifalls? Has anyone had any bad experiences eg salmonella or e coli, problems caused by choking on bones or anything like that? Thanks! I spend about £40 every 3 months with the supplier I use, plus my local butcher gives me lamb and chicken bones. Previously I was spending about £40 a month on Burns food. Once you have got the hang of doing this diet it takes no time at all, the worst thing is forgetting to get some meat out of the freezer!! The dog's digestive juices are so strong things like that do not affect them. If you are talking about humans then just make sure you are careful not to contaminate worktops etc and make sure everything including your hands are washed thoroughly as you would anyway handling raw meat. Only cooked bones are dangerous. Beef bones are very hard and better as gnawing bones but most others are fine the only one we had a slight problem with was a lamb shank bone everything else disappears without trace. Your dg will love you forever if you make the switch. Best wshes Nicola Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lesley Posted October 31, 2009 Share Posted October 31, 2009 Just bumping this thread.... We're just changing Tali from the puppy kibble she was on at the breeders - she had the most awful dog breath (Tali, not the breeder ) We've changed her onto Burns and are in the process of changing that to BARF - she smells lovely now We all thought she had a problem with the other end Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Space Chick Posted October 31, 2009 Share Posted October 31, 2009 I give Henry raw food but not bones, I also give him cooked food aswell (chicken, rice and veg etc) He has never had dog food, and is great and healthy on it. He's 14 and still plays like a puppy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted October 31, 2009 Share Posted October 31, 2009 I hope she takes to it Lesley - Ruby swapped over really well and does well on it too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowy Posted October 31, 2009 Share Posted October 31, 2009 Well if it suits her the way it suits Jazz, she will be a beauty (although she is anyway ). Even OH commented on what a beautiful coat Jazz has - it's like satin! I asked our vet about trying to convert Candy onto a BARF diet and she suggested trying her with some marrow bones to knaw on. Candy didn't even look at them As a compromise I am going to try converting her to CSF - still kibble, but a better option than Bakers I feel (and a lot cheaper!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lesley Posted November 1, 2009 Share Posted November 1, 2009 A lot of Vets aren't too keen on BARF Snowy, it might be worth trying Candy with a little meal of raw food and see how she gets on? There is plenty to read online about BARF and you can see if there's anything which will suit your dog and lifestyle. It's a little like beekeeping - ask 3 beekeeepers a question and you'll receive 4 different answers We make food up once a month and freeze in bags with 2 days worth of food. I think Claret makes batches as well. Tali is very different to Jazz and eats anything, I don't think it will be a problem changing her fairly quickly. I couldn't believe how bad her breath was on the Pedigree Puppy kibble - in fact, it seemed to exude from every pore Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lesley Posted November 1, 2009 Share Posted November 1, 2009 I just found this site when looking at the BARF forums http://www.naturalinstinct.com/ These people do a free range chicken version.... A lot of information and an FAQ section. and another.... http://www.landywoods.co.uk/about_us.html More info. on here as well. I've no idea how the prices compare as we mostly use our own meat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nutmeg Posted November 1, 2009 Share Posted November 1, 2009 Has anyone used Landywoods? My local supplier has cut right down on what she can offer now and I need to find a new supplier. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted November 1, 2009 Share Posted November 1, 2009 I do make mine up in batches like Lesley. Ruby was weaned onto James Wellbeloved puppy kibble and food, which I gradually changed. Luckily, like most lurchers, she's not at all fussy about her food, so it was easy. She now has a bit of James Wellbeloved Ocean fish and rice kibble (no cereals as they don't suit canine guts) and ther majority of her food is minced up raw meat s"Ooops, word censored!"s and offal. She also has raw bones once a day. The meat offcuts and offal come from our free range farmer, who chops up all the s"Ooops, word censored!"s, hearts, kidneys, liver etc and sells it to me in 2kg bags for next to nothing. I then mince it up with the attachment on the Kenwood and freeze in plastic pots from Lakeleand, which hold about 3 days worth each. He also gives me for free as many bones as I like, so I freeze those too and defrost a couple of days worth at a time. I also buy chicken trimmings (wings, thight bones and hocks) from a free range chook farmer - these are a real treat for her. Ruby is very healthy, as lean as only a saluki cross can be and has bags of energy. No dog breath either. Her diet is supplemented with the odd can of pilchards in tomato sauce. On the odd occasion, I add some Norwest Herbs Easy Greens to her food, or some garlic powder, she also loves a dab of cod liver oil, but only if I remember. As Lesley said, try her on a bit of raw food and see if she likes it, not every dog does. Lurchers are generally easy to feed on it as they are hunting dogs and have the 'blood lust' Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunshine Posted November 1, 2009 Share Posted November 1, 2009 This is really interesting reading. I think the raw food diet is really good and would love to change Lola from her Hills Science plan stuff to BARF. I need to convince mum first though. Snowy-what is CSF? Does anyone have a site recommendation with a meal plan to plan from. I'm still slightly confused. Are you all feeding raw minced up meat in the morning and evenings and then a raw bone during the day? Where do vegetables and kibble come in. On this thread some people feed kibble and some don't? When you mince up meat can it be all mixed together? For example: minced lamb, pork and chicken livers together? When feeding veg, can it just be any that is leftover from that nights tea mixed in with the raw minced meat? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowy Posted November 1, 2009 Share Posted November 1, 2009 Sorry, CSJ! It's a brand of food produced in wales by a dog owner - all natural ingredients, none of the artificial additives or colourants contained in the likes of Bakers (also owned by Nestle by the way ). Lots of gundog owners swear by it and it is half the price of Bakers. http://www.csjk9.com/ If you fill in their email contact form they will send you a free pack of samples. I had a mail from Ceri herself regarding whether or not Candy may have a food intolerance - she was very helpful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted November 1, 2009 Share Posted November 1, 2009 Emma, I give Ruby kibble as well as meat because lurchers have a very high metabolism and need the carbs, so she's not on a strict BARF diet, but one which is tailored to her. I have yet to meet a vet who agrees with BARF or raw bones, but then they have to sell the expensive dried foods that are stocked in the surgeries. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jools Posted November 1, 2009 Share Posted November 1, 2009 My two terriers were on a half and half, they had raw meaty bones for breakfast and then Burns dried food for their evening meal. It was brilliant to see them so excited about their food and really, really enjoying it. Certainly their breath was very much sweeter and their teeth lovely and white. Unfortunately one of my boys developed pancreatitis earlier this year so I've had to cut out the raw meaty bit as it's too high in fat for him to be able to deal with. That means they're both back on boring Burns for breakfast and dinner, but at least they're fighting fit again. I do have one question though and that's about feeding raw and cooked together. I thought you were supposed to have a gap between raw and cooked, something to do with digestion? I can't remember the source now, or even if I have it right, so please someone put me straight!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted November 2, 2009 Share Posted November 2, 2009 I heard that too Jools, but can't remember where from either - I just didn't retain it as I never give her cooked food. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lesley Posted November 2, 2009 Share Posted November 2, 2009 I can't remember either as we don't give Jazz cooked food. We feed kibble separate from any raw food if she's having both, mostly she just has raw food. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jools Posted November 2, 2009 Share Posted November 2, 2009 You mean I spent the best part of two years convinced I shouldn't feed raw meaty bones at the same time as kibble! And worse still, I mixed the left over cooked veggies into their kibble. Oh boy did I get that wrong! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lesley Posted November 2, 2009 Share Posted November 2, 2009 You mean I spent the best part of two years convinced I shouldn't feed raw meaty bones at the same time as kibble! And worse still, I mixed the left over cooked veggies into their kibble. Oh boy did I get that wrong! but I bet the dogs still look good on it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lesley Posted November 4, 2009 Share Posted November 4, 2009 Tali has just had her first BARF patty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
