*Raw Feeders*

Im curious where you get your meat from? Do you pay full grocery store price or do you go elsewhere?

For my raw meat I get all chicken and turkey scraps from work (I work at a restaraunt). Sometimes I get rabbit and venison from trophy hunters in the area but this is very rare. Anytime I wanted beef I would pay full grocery store price but now I found a little butcher shop close by that gives me a grocery bag full of meat scraps and ground beef (human quality stuff, it just got caught in the machine so it doesnt have the perfect ""string texture"" and therefore grocery stores wont accept it and people wont buy it - picky pricks LOL) for $1/bag. Same price for a grocery bag full of bones. I just sift through the bags keepign what I want and tossing things like rib tips and portion it all to freeze. This source has cut down on my food bills so much!!!! I save on kibble too, woohoo!

Duke and I just switched today and for now were starting off on Healthy Paws pre-made patties with added raw chicken breast ( as there bone and offal percentage is rather high compared to meat). There are quite a few butchers in my area that I've been looking into to get my organs and such from and whenever possible bulk amounts of meat as well. Keeping him on the pre made raw for about two weeks to let him get used to it before starting to switch him onto my own stuff.



This is what Duke's meals look like at the moment ( the white stuff is probiotic yogurt that I added a little bit to help with the transition)


I think that's one of the fun parts of feeding raw your always on the hunt for sales at grocery stores and specials at butchers and do on.

Cheers
Kayla

We're planning on going to a butcherer's, but the only problem is we have to find one first...



We're still setting up this whole raw feeding thing. We can't wait to get started.

Hmmm being that you are in Texas there should be many considering the high amount of ranchers...

One tip to keep in mind, aim for small private butchers instead of large, expanded butchers. The ""bug guys"" often dont want to risk something going wrong and ending up with a law suit so they stick to the code more whereas small-time butchers have an easier time bending the rules a bit and keeping things hushed.

Actually, I'm in OK. I go to school in TX but live out of state. There should be some small ranchers around OK as well. We're surrounded by cows here... lol.

Moo.

LOL Sorry about the mix up! But yes either way, there are usually small butchers no matter where you are, its just a matter of finding them that is the very tricky part! Sometimes they are so ""closed"" that they only butcher meat for themselves and close family and friends so no advertising gets done...

We do Sam's club for a lot of things- chicken quarters by the case, 20lb packages of pork shoulder, cases of pork ribs, ground turkey, big beef sirloin roasts that we trim up and make bags of stew meat, strips for stir fry or fajitas, a few nice steaks for us, and then all the trimmings go to the dogs. Sam's also has good prices on big bags of Whiting fish fillets, so we'll buy one of those and give Daisy a fish meal once a week from that. Also, we get our eggs there, they have the double 18 packs for about $3, which lasts both the dogs and us for more than a week.

At the grocery store I get the organ meat since we don't use more than a package a week. We also look for the "buy it today or we throw it away" stuff, many times you can get great deals like that. I've found whole pork picnic roasts (basically a whole shoulder with the skin and all) for .50 a lb like that, and often whole fryer/broiler chickens, etc. I also wait for sales, one store near us has ground beef for around 1.30/1.40 a lb now and then, so we'll stock up. They will also order whole beef hearts for me for .99/lb. They love the heart and we use it as a muscle meat source.

The only butcher near us really doesn't give us a great break in price when we order stuff. They do have frozen beef shortribs for .79/lb pretty often, and those are good food for them. I'm looking at a provisioner that is about an hour away, they are the places that sell to the butchers. I want to see if they will sell to the general public if I buy a certain amount of stuff.

Other good sources- your friends freezers. People will buy stuff, and then not eat it, then it gets freezer burned, and they will throw it away. I have standing agreements with a few of my friends who will pass on their stuff to me. Also- hook up with hunters. My brother hunts deer, I've had probably 50lbs of free meat given to me this year so far. Stuff that he won't eat- ribs, front leg/shoulders, other meat that would be made into burger. Another friend did a hunting trip with a sales client, and had a bunch of pheasant and rabbit that he didn't want, so he gave those to me. We just used the last bird last night, they lasted several months feeding 1 a week to one of the dogs.

You really just need to shop around and search out bargains. Even if we run to the store for something like milk, we always scan the meat dept for possible bargains. Those of you in areas where there are cattle, etc, can probably find some great deals. I'm in chicken country so getting chicken for under .50/lb is pretty common, but finding beef for cheap isn't as easy.

we pay grocery store. its not too much because its mainly just they scraps they package for dogs anyway.

We have a deal with our butcher. He gets extra meat with less fat & such just for us for about 5euro for a kilo.

I have an excellent source nearby me called Blue Ridge Beef.

I buy from there about every 6 weeks. I just bought 270 lbs for $135.00.

Each case has 6 5 lb tubes of meat.

I bought:

3 cases ground chicken with bone
3 cases 30% fat ground beef
1 case ground kidney/heart/liver/tripe mix
1 case ground green tripe
1 30 lb box of knuckle bones

This will feed my 3 adults, with occasional additions from the table or great deals from the local grocery, for about 6 weeks.

It is a beautiful drive up through the country from where I live to where I pick up the meat, so I look forward to "Dog Meat Day".

thats my problem right now, i need to find a good resource for fresh meat for when i get my dane, im planning on switching to raw for the dane but keeping the chis on home cooked (they have turned their noeses at raw)

I have a local Co-op group here in AZ, and I just got my first order from an Oma's Pride distrubitor that is about 45 minutes away from me. I do keep a watch for sales from my grocery store and check in often to see what they hapen to have. I just found pork necks last week for .99 a lb so I syocked up on them.

Grocery store for me but it's kind of discount meat. I get a bag of chicken necks (clear produce size bag) for $4. Those are good for bone but don't have a lot of meat on them. At the same store I can sometimes get chicken necks and backs together (lots of meat) for half off. 8-10 pieces for around $6. Now that's a good deal!

At another store I buy in the frozen section their discount meat. Sometimes they even get a steak lol But usually it's chicken thighs and necks plus some organ meat and ground pork or beef. I usually get it for around a dollar a pound but will pay more for a treat.

That's for posting that Redyre! I'm wanting to switch to raw and that place is pretty close!

I emailed Blue Ridge Beef, now I am waiting to hear back from them too.
Looks like a good place, there is a place not too far from me either.

Well then ladies, we need to have Lunch and Blue Ridge Beef day. I can haul probably half a ton in my van. I usually get between 250 and 300 lbs at a time.

I have one rear passenger seat in it now. I don't need to resupply, so just PM and let me know what day you want to go.

Redyre, how much do you pay for each case?

For how much you pay total and how much you get, it seems VERY good prices.

Oh, definitely! I'm going to be tied up with finals soon, but I can go anytime after May 4th!

you will have to talk to them there about prices.

My last order was
3 box chicken with bone (90 lbs)
3 box 30% fat ground beef (90 lbs)
1 box organ meat mix (30 lbs)
1 box tripe (30 lbs)
1 box knuckle bones (30 lbs)

270 lbs, I paid 135.00. Bones are less expensive. Tripe is more expensive. I don't really keep up with the per pound price any more...

I've been buying from grocery stores, but today in my frantic search for something more unusual I ran into a guy who was *also * looking for raw bones for his dog and having no luck. He told me that there's a small butcher/meat packing company not too far away, so I'm going to pay them a visit and get some rec bones and rabbit if they have it.

Wish I had a place like Blue Ridge nearby. Red, how did you come across them?