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Raw Feed Help

trob56

Member
Hello all I am new to the forum and I have searched around for a menu for raw feeding. I have a puppy who I have been using 110 pounds as guide for adult weight, and I understand the feed breakdown. What I am looking for is more of a step by step breakdown on chicken necks, livers, tripe how much to introduce and when? Also I have already began feeding the puppy chicken necks which she loves the first day she ate 1.5lbs of neck but regurgitated it later in the night . The next day was alot better as she didn't throw the food up that time. When i got her from the breeder she was a very lazy eater not completing meals at all, but since I have introduced raw she eats every bite.
 

Elsa22813

Well-Known Member
Welcome! I'm new too.
I follow the book "Holistic Guide for a Healthy Dog" by Wendy Volhard, it provides break downs your looking for as to how much and when of everything you mentioned.
 

Hank DDB

Well-Known Member
Best to feed big portions, like whole thigh or 1/4 chicken or 1/2 chicken, necks are too small and have high bone %, too much calcium, try to feed like a wolf would eat in the wild, e.g whole chicken including heart, liver , etc. my boy is 11 weeks old and can eat all / any bone of a chicken, at 8. & 9 weeks old he couldn't eat the drum stick bone.
 
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ruthcatrin

Well-Known Member
Are you looking to do Prey Model Raw? Thats what your description sounds like.

Neck is ALOT of bone. If thats all you fed her she puked it up cause her stomach couldn't handle the mass of bone all at once.

Your ideal PMR diet is 10% bone, 10% organ and the rest meat. For starting feed chicken meat and bone yes, but she needs more meat than whats on the necks. Also, divide it up into three meals for her, its easier on her stomach. Once she's eating chicken with only 10% bone daily with solid poop and is for several days you can introduce her to her next meat type. You may need to up the amount of bone again and most of us use poultry as our bone all the time so you can just slowly reduce the chicken meat and add in the same amount of the new meat. You can either intro organs next or a third kind of meat, and so on.
 

trob56

Member
Yes I am feeding the Prey model raw she actually does really well with any foods I give me and I can tell by her poo that she needs more meat her poo looks like dust and hard so I will begin adding thighs or quarters she has not thrown up in the last couple days and she really seems to enjoy her food so much more! I am open to any advice you may have that will assist. Thanks
 

Hank DDB

Well-Known Member
how much are you feeding your boy daily?

10% of his current weight. I dropped him down a little, but he is having a growth spurt so I put him back onto 10% again. He is 12kg so he gets 1.2kg of raw a day in 3 x 400 gram meals.
 

NeSaxena

Well-Known Member
Boone's eating about 1.8 kilos every day (his expected adult weight is between 60 to 65 kilos). He was on about a kilo and a half, but was looking too thin - I could see too many ribs and was lanky overall. I guess you just have to adjust the feeding amounts on the basis of how they look.

It's easier for me to feed according to the expected adult weight - I tried the puppy weight formula and it didn't work for me. He eats three times a day, about 600 grams each. I'd started with chicken necks and backs for the first couple of days (he had really bad loosies, hence the extra bone to firm up his poo). Once his poo started getting better (end of day 1), I gave him a full leg and a back. Turns out, that was too much bone as well, so I reduced it to one drum and three quarters of a breast (all bone in).

Once he was used to this, I simply moved him to one full breast every meal. After his poop was good and solid, I intro'd beef, about a 100 grams every meal. The proportions then were half a breast, a thigh (or a drum) (bone in) and a 100 gm beef chunk (no bone). He is now at 1 full breast in the morning, 1 (about) 550 gms of beek chunk in the afternoon and 1 full breast at night.

Every time you into new meats, her poop might run loose. This is okay, just up the bone slightly to balance it till her poo is hard enough for you to remove the extra bone. Pasty poo is fine, don't change the bone content, it irritated my bullie's intestines, leading to a little blood in the poo. I have been assured that I don't need to freak out if I see a couple of drops, so I'm passing it on to you as well :)

His latest intro is organs. I've discovered the hard way that you have to go REAL slow with organs (not like any other meat) or they get the runs SUPER quick and the poo stinks to high heaven! Then you need to reset their system, which is also a pain. With him, without changing his food intake, I started off with about 50 gms of chicken liver and stomach (half and half) once a day. Once his poo was solid, moved up to 50 gms twice a day. Then 100 gms once a day, then 100 gms twice a day (while reducing the beef the same amount). Now he eats 200 gms once a day, which is how much he should be eating according to the PMR 80/10/10 ratio. He gets half a drum extra in his evening meal to balance out the runs he might get with organs, but it looks like tonight's the last time he'll get it. I'm planning to move him to two full meals of only organs in a week, with extra bone those days, instead of a little each meal. It'll be easier for me this way, but you can find whatever suits you.

The important thing to remember is watch her poo - too dry/chalky, too much bone, too loose, not enough bone. DON'T give her load bearing bones (like the leg - femur) of beef, or other bigger animals. These are too hard and might break their teeth. Overall, the best decision you can take for your puppy - the first couple of weeks are a little troublesome, but once you get the hang of it, it's smooth sailing all the way!

I agree with the don't break it down part - their teeth and gums get the required exercise while tearing off raw meat. Also, good idea to invest in a freezer. There are some meats (like beef, pork, salmon) that you should freeze for at least a week, if not more, before giving it to her.

Sorry about the long post, I just couldn't resist! :)
 

trob56

Member
Thanks for such a detailed post this is very useful information I plan on addidg more meat to her diet I found a pack of thighs on sale in meat dept. So I gave it t her for dinner last night and also for breakfast. I was a little concerned about making sure she gets all her nutrients so I also give her supplemental k9 puppy gold. She is having more solid poops so I have been making sure I try to get to right meat to bone ratio.. I have heard a lot of people mention chicken quarters any thoughts there? Also when it comes to measuring foods are you weighing all foods or guessing? I try to let her eat until she's full so sometimes she may not complete full meal and ill just put what she doesn't eat in the fridge. I already see I will also need to buy a freezer as all meats I am finding are filling up my freezer quickly
 

ruthcatrin

Well-Known Member
I weighed everything till I got comfortable with my ability to judge by eye. Mind, I cheat a bit by repacking everything into packages by the pound. So, I can look at a 3lb package of pork and know if I feed half of it I'm feeding 1.5lbs without having to re-weigh everything.

Also you don't have to balance her meals daily. If she eats less meat today she gets less bone and organs tomorrow. More meat today, more bone/organs tomorrow. Some folks even balance by the week, feeding a weeks worth of organs in a couple meals with a large portion of the weeks bone.
 
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Hank DDB

Well-Known Member
A whole chicken is about 30% bone, a thigh with skin on is about 20% bone, a drumstick with skin on is about 30% bone. I feed hank mainly thighs and drumsticks because I get them on sale, but if a whole chicken is on sale I will buy it before I buy the pieces. If u find the stools are too soft/runny it may be worth cutting some skin off the chicken until the stools are good.

Oh and the supplement, yep I give hank a vet approved supplement daily but at half dose.
 
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