That is some fine information Natalie. Thanks alot.:biggrin:

 

Thanks. I was just thinking about how many people ask me how much it costs us to feed our troops raw. They are taken aback when we tell them that we feed them all for so cheap.

And that breakdown is is based on the high end of our cost :biggrin:

 

More than worth it!

Saved money on vet bills!

 

WOW - what a great post. It's an eye opener and a definite reason to switch. Where do you typically buy all the meat?

Thanks for the great info.

- Jean

 

We buy from a company called Harvest Meat Company here in Denver
Welcome to Harvest Meat Company!

They have locations across the US

San Diego
Sacramento
Phoenix
Denver
Dallas/Fort Worth
Kansas City
Sioux City
Orlando
Portland
Los Angeles

You can try looking for a similar distributor or find a co-op in your area

 

Wow, thanks! I am looking in to switching to raw for at least one of my Danes. After I saw your cost I might switch them all! I spend way more per day per dog. They are currently eating Solid Gold kibble and Merrick and Evangers canned.

Diesel is having some skin issues, they lady I purchase my food from recommended the honest kitchen, Its really a great food but he doesnt like it. I have been adding raw chicken and giving him a turkey neck which he loves but still wont eat the other food! I am going to try raw and see how he does on that. He is a 10 month old Dane. He is just over 34", I havent weighed him for awhile. He has lost a bit of weight since he doesnt like his food. Any recomendations?

 

Nice to see you post up!!! Hope all the Danes and horses are all doing well!

I highly, highly recommend following this guide to get him started. You will really need to use the tough love approach to get him used to raw foods.

How to get started feeding a Prey Model Raw Diet | Prey Model Raw

 

We have 4 dogs that weigh:

Shiloh: 65
Emmy: 65
Akasha (currently growing): 65
Bailey: 115

are those numbers in kilograms or are your dogs puppies?

ETA-10/2009

 

Their weight is in pounds....

 

Thanks again! All my Danes and horses are great. I havent been on this site for awhile but am needing it desperatly right now! All my other dogs have done well on the food I have been feeding them. My husband's has decided to keep his Boston on Honest Kitchen. He takes her to work with him and feeds just before he goes. I am deffinitely switching Diesel to just raw. I bought more turkey necks and chicken parts today! Lol. He gobbled up dinner!

By the way Diesel is my newest baby, a beautiful Harlequin male we imported from Russia. I will have to post some pictures of him. I am in the process of getting him AKC registered and then we plan on showing him. Once I get his skin cleared up! Poor boy! He is very fair skinned.

 

how's the wolf hybrids temperment/ do you know the percentage of wolf? does he have different eating preferences?

 

Shiloh (wolf) has a wonderful disposition. A lot of other hybrid owners say that we are very lucky with her. She is ~50% wolf hybrid with husky. She is the most open and friendliest dog of ours. She goes up and says hello to all dogs and people. We can even take her to off leash parks and weekend long camping trips in the middle of no where and have 99% trust in her that she will stick around.

She eats just the same way as our other dogs, although she is more protective of her food.

 

Yay, now that I've gotten Chocolate readily accepting chicken via the
tough-love method LOL and we are no longer limited to expensive beef necks and pork ribs. My cost estimate has really gone down. It may cost us $0.42 a day to feed raw *does the happy dance*. Since a pack of 8 VERY meaty chicken legs is now 2.82-3.00 at the grocery store.

 

Thanks for the info danesmama08.

I did a breakdown of what EVO has been costing us per month. Frankly, I am shocked. I also broke that down to per dog costs but it isn't quite accurate because Barnum eats more than Bailey right now. He's still growing but the growth has slowed down.

Per day on EVO: $3.84 per dog! Yikes!

We are making the switch starting in June 2010.

Bailey last weighed 130 lbs
Barnum weighs 105.2 lbs as of 5/25/10.

 

Glad to hear that you're making the switch...you wont regret it and we will all be here to help and guide you along the way. I would start getting your ducks in a row now and finding connections for meat (wholesale distributors, ethnic markets, butchers, etc), look for a freezer if you don't already have one and do as much reading into getting started on the switch as possible. I have written a "getting started" article (link below) that goes mcuh in depth about what to do and what not to do. Read through it, I wrote it because I have yet to find something similar on the web that goes through things quite so extensively. There is also a "quick start" guide for easy reference on the same site, as well as the "why's" to feeding raw and other's success stories to help give you confidence.

How to get started | Prey Model Raw

Getting Started (quick start) | Prey Model Raw

 

Diesel has been on Raw for over a month now and is doing great. I just switched my husbands Boston yesterday. Her name is Pie. She loved her meal. Grant is not thrilled and is worried she is going to choke on a bone. I told him just to shut up and deal with it! He thinks I am crazy now! maybe I am!!! Pie has had issues with ear infections and itchy skin. I will keep everyone posted on her progress. I plan on also switching over Magnum who is almost 6, I am waiting until after June 5th. I am walking Magnum and Diesel in a local Doggie Dash for SPCA and don't want to deal with diarhhea just in case he has a reaction. When I add up how much it is costing me to feed him on kibbe and canned it just makes sense. Magnum eats an average of 10 cups dry and 2 cans daily. Just his canned food is costing me almost 5 dollars a day!

 

grant will be thrilled when pie's ears clear up, as bubba's did....that brown gunk was awful....the vet thinks i'm using one of my home remedies....LOL...he can't quite bring himself to admit that sugar is the culprit....

as to cost....i'm really not sure yet...i don't know that we're really saving money because we feed them so many different foods. i think the cost savings will be per year....and we're not there yet.

 

I did a DFC search for Kansas, where I live, and I found Harvest Meat fairly close by. I went to the website and couldn't find prices. Do I need to call that information?

 

We order from the Denver branch all the time. The prices vary...but seem to be relatively constant. For example, turkey necks are about .68-.92 per pound on average.

I would give them a call and ask for them to email you or fax you their weekly "menu" with current prices.

We just picked up an order of almost 700 pounds of turkey necks, organs and beef hearts and ribs for .70 per pound on average. This order should put us through the next couple of months LOL

 

are you getting these prices, natalie, because of the sheer tonnage you're ordering? or are these prices DFC's pricing?

 

Our Harvest distributor has a "Colorado Raw Meat and Bone Feeders" club that you order through...not sure if the prices are special for that or what? I doubt it though....

 

we have a harvest meats in portland, OR

but we don't have one here....

this is plymouth poultry and it's in seattle....

we do have willamette valley in portland.....some of their prices are cheaper...but it's a four hour drive....

even our co op doesn't get pricing like this, although i did get chicken frames for 43 cents/lb -- not quite sure what they look like, tho. my dogs are small, so chicken frames for bone is easier for them...turkey necks are a little too heavy for what they need...although i always have some around.

although, right now we have chunked bone in grass fed/grass finished beef real cheap

 

I have discovered that Harvest Meat will deliver in my area which is good. I can't find pricing and am also wondering if there is a minimum amount one must order for them to deliver?

I will be getting a small freezer, (if I'm allowed to have it outside), that will be about 5 cu ft which should hold quite a bit of meat in addition to the freezer in the fridge in the house. Will they deliver to someone only ordering about 100 pounds of meat, (if that much), at a time?

 

Harvest Meat Company - Sales Contacts

this is the contact page.....

with email addys and phone numbers....apparently, harvest meats and western boxed meats are married...

so there is one in portland and one in puyallup, wa....for those of us in the nw.

 

The harvest here doesn't require a minimum order at all...they might if they deliver. I would call and ask

 

I don't shop around as much as others because I only have one 30lbs. dog to feed that eats around .75lbs. a day. I'm guessimating I spend around $40 a bucks now because I mainly feed beef now. When I was feeding primarily poultry, I was spending less than $28 a month.

 

we have two dogs....one 36 lb corgi mix and one 18 lb pug.

i belong to this co op.....and it's all their fault that i have all these options. LOL

if i didn't, i probably would not be exposed to all of these foods, other than grocery stores and ethnic markets.

not complaining.

 

The kibble we fed before breaks down to $2.50/lb. Right now, in our learning phase of RAW, we are probably feeding at about $1.50. But have started hunting as recommended on here (thanks) and have found some amazing deals on chicken quarters, necks and backs, that will take us almost under $1.00 including beef livers and chicken livers. Hell even if the price stayed the same at $2.50/lb, we can feed sirloin instead of kibble.

 

New Member here...

I fed our last Bullmastiff raw for the 1st few years of his life. We found a meat packing company that would sell us 'bricks' of ground beef with some bone, fat, and carrots mixed in...
$50 for $50.

Anyways, I've been reading here and learned that there may be a better way to do things.
We now have a new Bullmastiff puppy (7 months and 85 pounds).
He has not been fed raw yet (except for some bones with scraps from the local butcher).

We have tried a bunch of 'premium' kibble and the dehydrated 'raw'. Not working for him. He gets terrible allergies, and is itching himself raw.

My puppy is allergic to chicken (and I suspect all poultry)...
I called Harvest Meats today, and inquired about ordering through them.

I didn't know what to order. I asked about the mutton (He does good with lamb), and beef (sales guy recommended shanks)...

The shank (cut) is 1.55lb for a 65-70lb box
The mutton (cut) is 2.55 lb for a 45 lb box

Is shank and mutton good meat to start him on?

Can I just buy 1 of the 2 or do I have to give him both to mix it up?

I have a small fridge/freezer that I can dedicate for his food. Will that be large enough to hold the 45 pounds of mutton and/or 65 pounds of mutton?

Thanks for your help.

By the way, I agree 100% that feeding raw is way better for our dogs. But buying through a pet store can get really, expensive.

 

Hello and welcome! Glad to hear you're choosing to feed raw to your pup. Since he hasnt had any raw just yet you need to be careful and switch him over gradually. I suggest you read through the "getting started" guide provided by the link below in my signature. It'll answer all the questions you have asked thus far and will set you on the right track.

Dogs who show symptoms of chicken allergies on kibble do not show allergy symptoms on raw chicken. It has to do with proteins not changing shape due to cooking and not causing an allergic response when in their natural form.

 

Thanks.
I did read that a couple of days ago. I will re-read it, and see if it clears up how I should order his food.

 

Basically the guideline for switching a dog successfully to raw is to start out on nothing but bone in chicken for two weeks. Then add in turkey alternating with chicken for another two weeks. Then add in fish alternating with chicken and turkey for another two weeks. And so on so forth until you have all your protein sources added in. Save boneless red meats til the end and organ meat (liver and kidney) for very last.

So, as far as ordering goes I suggest you start off with chicken leg quarters only for two weeks. Make sure to trim off any extra skin, fat and organ meat for the first few days and then gradually trim less and less once he does well on it for several days.