Hyshqa Posted July 31, 2012 Report Share Posted July 31, 2012 (edited) One thing I've found lacking in my quest to switch my pups onto raw is individual, detailed accounts of how people made the switch, how people found their suppliers, what sort of food/meals they feed and how much it costs. So, I figured I'd start a little diary to explain in detail every step I've taken and every decision I've made so that if anyone else decides to change to raw they've got a specific case study to turn to I'm also being a good little saver and not spending my HOD so I can turn this into a sticky eventually The Decision I've always fancied the idea of moving Kiska onto raw - I used to feed her chicken wings occasionally as an evening meal and she loved it. Freya is crazy for meat too, though I've never given her more than off-cuts from chicken breast I've had for dinner. I have given her fish before though! She loves sprats which are SO cheap from Tesco, especially if you pick up pre-packed bags from the reduced isle - I picked up about 400g for 40p once! The only things that put me off of the idea though were the costs (student budget!), the storage space (I had 1 shelf in a freezer for my food as I was in shared student accommodation), and I thought you HAD to feed veggies and stuff too Kiska likes bits of carrot, apple and a few other bits, but I know I wouldn't have been able to properly include it in her meals, she'd have picked around it. Then I had a read of this website and it pretty much kick started my plans and really got me into gear http://rawfed.com/myths/ It's basically made me realise that I could not be feeding my dogs anything healthier - this was something I had always assumed anyway though as I'd read an article a year or two ago when I was researching for a dissertation idea (http://holisticvetpetcare.com/ethoxyquin.htm) stating that dogs used to live from 20-25 years old back when there were no commercial foods available and dogs were fed table scraps and/or leftover meat from hunted animals! As far as I'm concerned, anything I can do to potentially increase the lifespan of my dogs is a bonus! If I can have my dogs both around in 20 years....wow! It's worth a try My plan has really gotten into motion since I've moved home - now I have the space to do it! I don't have the money, but I'll figure that part out later The Supplier This was my biggest concern - how the hell do I find someone who sells meat as dog food? Butchers and supermarkets were off the cards from the start - that would be WAY too expensive! And I'd never seen anyone link to one, refer to one or anything. Even googling, it seemed as though people would never answer specifically with where the source of their meat was, simply stating things like "online supplier, butcher and local abattoir". That's no help to me! How does that help me find a supplier I can contact? So I'm going to get specific I found this thread on Pet Forums: http://www.petforums.co.uk/dog-health-nutrition/197702-raw-food-supplier-list.html and from there I selected all the companies that would deliver to my area. Of those, I compared prices to see which were the cheapest, which offered the biggest range of food, etc. I ended up settling on 'David's Doggy Dinners' because it's only a 10 minute drive so I could pick up food whenever I needed it, and it has a great range! I also selected 'The Dog Food Company' because certain things they sell are insanely cheap!! For example, chicken mince with DDD's is 60p while with TDFC it's 36p!! So I'll be ordering the cheaper things in bulk from TDFC and getting the rest (and a bigger range) from DDD's down the road In the mean time I'll be checking out local butchers to see if any of them are willing to give me any bits and pieces, or sell things for really cheap. Storage! When I came back to Kent to live with my family (after having been at uni for 3 years!) I was told by my parents that they were getting a new fridge freezer and they were happy to give me the old chest freezer. I was chuffed as it meant I'd have as much space as I wanted - probably enough for 2-3 months worth of food at a time! But then my mum got her car serviced and boom, no money for a fridge freezer =/ I then planned to get my own freezer as my parents said I could get a little one and put it in the kitchen, so I arranged to collect one from a member here....then my parents changed their minds and said they didn't want to have it in the kitchen (meaning there was nowhere to put it!) and weren't happy about my "adding mileage to the car for a freezer" which was a bit of a flip-flop on what they'd said before, but what could I do? Then another unexpected twist - my parents have decided to kick me out of my bedroom and put me in the dining room downstairs because my sister is sick of me having to walk through her room to get to my own (stupid layout of the house!). My room is due to be switched round soon which will make me feel like a bit of a lodger, but it means I'll have room in my bedroom for the freezer But I still wasn't allowed to travel far for it...to eBay! I got quite a find...a £450 Ben and Jerry's freezer for £42!! Still more than I'd have paid for the other one, but at least I was 'allowed' to get it And it's awesome Ordering Scott at The Dog Food Company is SO difficult to contact! I emailed him weeks ago and never received a reply, then I called a few days ago and nothing. I finally managed to get hold of him the other day on the phone and asked for the delivery day to my area (Kent is Fridays every 2 weeks if anyone wants to know! The next one is Friday 10th August) and he asked me to email him my order. I did, and have had no confirmation or anything back from him, so it's a bit of a guessing game as to whether he's actually going to deliver to me or not Hopefully he will because his prices are incredible! In the mean time I'll be calling David's Doggy Dinners tomorrow to place an order and hopefully pick it up the same day, or Thursday. My order is enough for 2 months worth of food because I had to reach the minimum order limits for both companies My orders for both companies consists of a lot of chicken mince (as this is what I want to start them on), minced chicken and tripe/chicken and liver/beef/beef and tripe, chicken wings, chicken carcass, beef and lamb bones, and a lamb breast and whole rabbits as a bit of a treat The total orders come to £37, but I have to pay £5 delivery for TDFC's order. I've counted out each meal and the order will include 64 days worth of food, but since I have 2 dogs that'll only last 32. So it's basically working out at £42 a month to feed both dogs - and that's with some more expensive things added to the order to bring the cost UP to meet the minimum order Once the food all arrives I'm going to defrost it all a little so I can bag it into individual meals before it gets refrozen, so I can defrost individual meals at a time to make things easier for myself I'll keep updating this thread as I get on with this EDIT: I've changed the font colour - this will be the colour for all 'updates' to this thread so people can skim over the general thread and get right to the bulk of it Edited August 1, 2012 by Hy'Shqa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MollynDiesel Posted July 31, 2012 Report Share Posted July 31, 2012 I can tell this is going to be SO helpful! Thanks Steph! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosemary Posted August 1, 2012 Report Share Posted August 1, 2012 Wow Steph, this is a great thread I love your freezer, I wouldn't mind one like that. What would be great is if you take some photos of how you process/pack the food. If you like I can post a pic of how I do mine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hyshqa Posted August 1, 2012 Author Report Share Posted August 1, 2012 Thanks guys What would be great is if you take some photos of how you process/pack the food. If you like I can post a pic of how I do mine. That would be awesome I should be getting some of the food either today or tomorrow so I'll make sure to get some photos and detail the whole process, I'd love to see how you to it too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MollynDiesel Posted August 1, 2012 Report Share Posted August 1, 2012 Always wanted D on fully raw but theres so many options out there i have no idea what to do! Hopefully this will help loads of people Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosemary Posted August 1, 2012 Report Share Posted August 1, 2012 I pack their food for two months. In this photo I was still using the larger tubs - all their food for one day in one tub. I have now changed this to smaller tubs, so that will be one meal for two huskies rather than the larger tubs which had two meals for two huskies. I take the morning meal out of the freezer at night, and the evening meal I take out in the morning and defrost in the fridge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hyshqa Posted August 1, 2012 Author Report Share Posted August 1, 2012 I pack their food for two months. In this photo I was still using the larger tubs - all their food for one day in one tub. I have now changed this to smaller tubs, so that will be one meal for two huskies rather than the larger tubs which had two meals for two huskies. I take the morning meal out of the freezer at night, and the evening meal I take out in the morning and defrost in the fridge. [ATTACH=CONFIG]54660[/ATTACH] WOW! That's a lot of meat! Is it all chicken wings and steak? Or are there other bits they get? How much does all this cost you? (especially if that really is all steak!! o0') Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosemary Posted August 1, 2012 Report Share Posted August 1, 2012 No that is not steak - it is beef heart They will only eat small amounts at a time, so it works for us to slice it up and give them a slice/day. The organs are also cut up small and mixed with beef/chicken mince, otherwise they won't eat them either You can't really see them in this photo but there are frozen sardines in the tub as well. Over weekend they get treats like ribs, or any other meat which is too expensive to feed daily, so we are always on the lookout for specials. We spend about R500/month on raw at the moment (£40) This changes from month to month, and is sometimes more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hyshqa Posted August 1, 2012 Author Report Share Posted August 1, 2012 No that is not steak - it is beef heart They will only eat small amounts at a time, so it works for us to slice it up and give them a slice/day. The organs are also cut up small and mixed with beef/chicken mince, otherwise they won't eat them either You can't really see them in this photo but there are frozen sardines in the tub as well. Over weekend they get treats like ribs, or any other meat which is too expensive to feed daily, so we are always on the lookout for specials. We spend about R500/month on raw at the moment (£40) This changes from month to month, and is sometimes more. Yeah I realised it was probably heart after I posted, d'oh! That's a really good price for what you've got! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stranger Posted August 2, 2012 Report Share Posted August 2, 2012 Just to pre warn you, as i went through the thread about suppliers, Scotts can be quite un predictable, if you go to the last 2 pages (i think page 12 and 13) they mention him being un reliable and if i remember correctly suggest others.... I found your whole thread really interesting, in september we are planning the swap over, just trying to find a supplier for Northampton.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharloid Posted August 2, 2012 Report Share Posted August 2, 2012 How exciting for the girls (and you too, we loved shopping for bargains and finding new things)! Makes me sad that we have to take Broder off raw while we go travelling though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hyshqa Posted August 2, 2012 Author Report Share Posted August 2, 2012 Off to pick up their first order of food this afternoon! Excited! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hyshqa Posted August 2, 2012 Author Report Share Posted August 2, 2012 (edited) The Food Arrives! I drove over to Sittingbourne this afternoon to collect my order from David's Doggy Dinners - it wasn't as much as I thought it would be, it only took up 2 small boxes! The can of Tango is a size reference through the photos This is what it looked like once I'd gotten it all out of the boxes - I ordered 6 x chicken mince, 6 x chicken & liver mince, 6 x beef mince, 6 x beef and tripe mince, and 4kg of beef bones. I was a bit bummed out at the weight of bones I received; I ordered 4kg but it came in 2 bags of 1.7kg and 1.9kg, so it was a full 400g off what I ordered. However this was made up by the fact that the bags of mince, which should be 454g, were all at least 465g (and one was as heavy as 535g!), so I won't complain I decided to leave the bags of mince as they are - I calculated that both dogs need about 450-460g a day, so I would get one bag of the mince out to defrost and that would cover one meal for both of them. The bag of bones I separated out and put them into bags that covered one meal each, however because of their awkward sizes most of these bags weighed 280-290g (instead of the 225g they should have to cover one meal for one dog). I don't mind about this though, since it's just bone. This is what the lot looked like at the end of all of that: Here's a few closer shots. This is a typical bag of beef bones, and how I've labelled them: And here's a peek inside: And here's one of the bags of mince - beef and tripe - SMELLY!!! The only meat that actually smells like a dead animal! And here's a peek in at the chicken mince (the white bits are ice lumps) - I've left all the bags of mince as they are because I couldn't be bothered to defrost them and use up lots of other bags. If I could be bothered, and I had a lot more little bags, then I'd have weighed it all out exactly - I could probably get another meal out of the extra that was put into each bag! And here's how my Ben and Jerry's freezer is holding up - LOOOOOADS of room left! I can fit about 6 months worth of food in here! This total order came to £19.90 and will give me 18 days worth of food for BOTH dogs, so it's working out at £1.11 a day to feed both dogs, or £33.17 per month to feed them both. This doesn't take into account what I've bought from the other raw food company (which arrives next Friday) as this will draw up that price because I added more expensive things to the order to meet the minimum order limit Check back in a couple of days for an update on how the dogs enjoyed their first day of raw food! Edited August 2, 2012 by Hy'Shqa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hyshqa Posted August 2, 2012 Author Report Share Posted August 2, 2012 Oh bummer, [MENTION=7158]Staff[/MENTION] could someone move this to Food and Diet section? NO idea why I put it here?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christine0925 Posted August 2, 2012 Report Share Posted August 2, 2012 Great post!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LittleLuka Posted August 3, 2012 Report Share Posted August 3, 2012 This is so helpful! I've been wanting to switch luka to raw and had no idea how! I'll def be looking further into it now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosemary Posted August 3, 2012 Report Share Posted August 3, 2012 Great post Steph, looks good Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hyshqa Posted August 3, 2012 Author Report Share Posted August 3, 2012 The First Meal Well the pups' kibble ran out this morning so when I got home this evening I got 2 bags of bones out of the freezer for them to have for dinner! They had them still frozen and they lasted ages - I deliberately chose two of the bags that only had one bone in each as Freya's a right thief, I still need to figure out a way of feeding them where Freya won't steal what Kiska has! Freya loved it! "It's MY bone!" I'm really not convinced there's enough food to sustain them with this - those bones counted as one meal each =| If they were to get that on another day, the only other thing they'd get would be HALF of one of the bags of mince :eek: I might up the amount they get Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosemary Posted August 4, 2012 Report Share Posted August 4, 2012 Steph, if I feed Ozzy & Micah what they should be getting as non-working huskies they pick up a lot of weight. They have been on raw for over two years now and neither of them are on the recommended amount. Micha was fine for two years and then started picking up a LOT of weight all of a sudden - I am still struggling to get her weight down. They are both on close to 400gr/day. The best I can advise is to see how they do and adjust accordingly, but don't feed more than they should be getting to start with. You are doing great Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hyshqa Posted August 4, 2012 Author Report Share Posted August 4, 2012 Steph, if I feed Ozzy & Micah what they should be getting as non-working huskies they pick up a lot of weight. They have been on raw for over two years now and neither of them are on the recommended amount. Micha was fine for two years and then started picking up a LOT of weight all of a sudden - I am still struggling to get her weight down. They are both on close to 400gr/day. The best I can advise is to see how they do and adjust accordingly, but don't feed more than they should be getting to start with. You are doing great Yeah I realised when I weighed out their mince this morning that it's more than it looked when it was in the bag (and once defrosted ). They have had a little extra today so far (250g instead of 225g, so they'd be on about 500g each a day instead of 450/460g), but I'll probably give them the correct 225g for dinner tonight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosemary Posted August 4, 2012 Report Share Posted August 4, 2012 Yeah I realised when I weighed out their mince this morning that it's more than it looked when it was in the bag (and once defrosted ). They have had a little extra today so far (250g instead of 225g' date=' so they'd be on about 500g each a day instead of 450/460g), but I'll probably give them the correct 225g for dinner tonight.[/quote'] That's great All dogs/huskies are different and you will soon find the correct balance for each of them - be it more or less than the prescribed amount. Feeding more, or less, on any given day will not make much of a difference in the long run, it is when you feed more, like I did, every day, that you run in problems as I did with Micah who always seems hungry. Getting the extra weight off is not so easy, and it is affecting her movement already Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hyshqa Posted August 4, 2012 Author Report Share Posted August 4, 2012 First Breakfast Well I got mixed reactions when I gave them their breakfast this morning! I asked them the usual "Are you hungry? Do you want some puppy food?" which sets them off doing zoomies around the house because they get so excited to eat I got the packs of chicken mince out of the fridge that I'd put in there yesterday to defrost but they were still partly frozen so I'll have to take them out well in advance of them eating them! I ended up weighing the meat out individually, they both got about 250g of the chicken mince, and I put the rest back in the fridge for this evening. This is what their breakfast looked like: Kiska is the one I've fed raw to before - every now and then I would substitute one of her evening meals with a couple of chicken wings as a treat and she loved it. However this morning I got this reaction: "What the hell is this...?" Freya on the other hand....I barely managed to get a photo, it was gone so fast!! More please Kiska did eventually settle into it and eat it all - then looked for more! She was pestering me the whole time I was packing the rest away They'll have more of the chicken mince tonight. And on tomorrow's menu - the last few dregs of the chicken mince packs I got out mixed with some minced beef Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosemary Posted August 4, 2012 Report Share Posted August 4, 2012 Fantastic Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hyshqa Posted August 4, 2012 Author Report Share Posted August 4, 2012 I'm picking on a staff member now - [MENTION=2355]BlueWolf[/MENTION] could you please move this thread to the food and diet board? I put it in the wrong place Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueWolf Posted August 4, 2012 Report Share Posted August 4, 2012 I'm picking on a staff member now - @BlueWolf could you please move this thread to the food and diet board? I put it in the wrong place Done Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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