Making My Own Raw Food

So, I have decided to start making my own raw food. I was going to be a distributor for someone but I realized to make it is cheap and they sell it for a whole ton of money. I am just going to make my own and not buy off of them and not sell for them.

This is my recipe. Let me know if you think it sounds ok

Beef, beef heart, carrots, peas, apple, potato, egg (whole), grapeseed extract, cod liver oil,

Its hard to tell because each recipe needs to be tailored to each individual dog regarding age, weight, lifestyle, activity level, health, etc. For example in the winter time my guys get some raw beef fat for that extra fuel to keep warm but if a Husky of the same proportions as OC but who lived as solely a pet and only went outside for his 1 hour walk every day and never got any more excercise than that and always lived in the house, got fed the same amount, it is very likely he would end up fat whereas OC would stay fit and trim simply due to the different lifestyles and activity levels...make sense?

Gotcha. My boy I am trying it on is extremely active. He goes goes goes all the time. Thanks for the input

Thats good! His diet would likely be different than that of your pup as he probably is out and doing a lot more than she is at the moment and you also have to cater to her growing body.

What would be good for her? Do you know? She eats like a horse and is gaining about 3 lbs a week right now. She is also very active and gets walked at least once a day if not twice.

I dont, sorry! That would be something to consult with your vet. I would assume a high muscle meat diet...it would be best to consult a vet who you is pro-raw, or if you want I could get you in touch with my dog nutritionist.

That would be great OC, if you could talk to your dog nutritionist. My vet is pro vet food This is what is ina 4lb batch of it. Let me know what he/says. I hope it is good for them. If not I can change it no problem. Thank you soooooooo much.

2 lb beef
1 lb beef heart
.25 lb apple
.25 lb carrot
.25 lb peas
.25 lb potato (I am going to try this, if they don't do well it will be switched to green beans)
1 whole egg
grapeseed extract
cod liver oil

if feeding raw you REALY need to keep the bone and meat ratio right, and keep it very simple at first. most will suggest picking one protein and feeding it for a week at first, (ie chicken backs or quarters)

I dont' think you want to be feeding cod liver oil every day. You'll need to get a fish body oil for everyday feeding and then feed offal occassionally (or however you work it).

edit: plus you really need a calcium and other mineral source like soft, raw bones

Thats why the egg shell is in there. Should I add more egg shell?

I would like to feed beef. Its easier for me to get my hands on. So do you think that I should just stick to beef and NO heart for the time being?

heart counts as muscle meat not as organ meat. And the egg shell won't be digested whole. It needs to be ground up first.

Yup, I had plans on grinding it. Right now I need to use what is available to me. Bones won't be that easy to get ahold of either (I don't think), but I will check into it. What would be more appropriate? Egg shell or bone?

I think bone is more natural for them. It shouldn't be too hard to get bone. Do you have a local butcher? Ask if they can collect the tails for you. Mordy told me to just feed it whole with the hair and everything. I never got mine to collect them (he's lazy) but with the right guy it should be easy enough.

Should I use both organ and muscle meat? Like liver? Sorry for asking so many questions but I really don't know much about feeding raw. Still doing research and I want to get them on MY raw as soon as possible. The stuff I am buying right now is 70 cents a patty and 75 cents a patty to have it shipped. That is $1.45 a patty and Magnus needs 5 a day alone. That is $7.25 a day or $227.50 a month JUST for him. Not to mention the rest of them. This whole dog food recall has just got me scared to death.

Hmm, not sure if I want to feed the dogs hair and everything. Not that it is probably bad for them but just because it would gross me out lol. What other bones can be ground easily?

You're going to grind it too? lol Well you are putting a lot of work in.

Here's what I fed when they were 100% on raw (and they still get raw meals occassionally)

- Chicken necks and backs (bought at the frozen discount section of Extra Foods)
- Ground pork or beef (bought same place) I only added this after they got used to the chicken
- tried to feed them fish once a week but salmon was the only really option (they won't eat 'green' fish) and salmon made them sick
- kidney or liver once or twice a week. Usually it was beef but sometimes chicken or turkey was on sale
- veggie mix (usually whatever was leftover from my meal) or baked yams...
- salmon oil capsules (they love these!)
- and a healthy powder mix that mordy shared with me. I can't find the recipe right now but it included ground egg shells, vitamin C, and nutritional yeast (b vitamins)

For my four dogs (300lbs roughly) it cost me $5 - $7 a day to feed them.

id avoid organ meat at first, and then when you add it in do so very slowly. heart is clased as muscle meet so no worries, but kidney liver ect should be added slwoly or youll likley have an icky tummy on your hands.

since your already feeding the patties, are they chicken based or beef based? your at a head start from that.

beef ribs are good if you can get the meaty beef ribs, dont even bother grinding....ox tail also good, esentailly the bones you want are non weight baring bones (ribs, necks, tail, backs, ect) the weight bearing bones are better as rec bones and good for keeping the teeth clean/as a treat.

The patties they are on right now are beef based. I would like to keep it that way because like I said, it is easy for me to get ahold of around here. Not too much chicken unless I want to buy from the hutterites and to be quite honest I don't really trust their food. I wouldn't eat it myself and therefore wouldn't feed it to my dogs.

Really? I'd love to buy from the hutterites if we had a local colony. I've thought about buying from the white russians but they overcharge

Yeah, I am not fond of the hutterites around here. My husband is an agricuture construction worker and sells graineries and that sort of thing. He deals with them all day and they have brought some of their product to him. All I have to say is YUCK!