[MoosMom]

Yoshi has been eating raw for I guess close to 2 weeks now. We buy chickens on post for .59 a pound(what a steal) and Yoshi is getting half of one a day. I quarter it all up,cut the back in half and divvy up the organs between the 2 days(no we don't go every day to get food, I get 4 at a time). He seems to be doing well, no weight loss or anything.


Does this sound right? Or should I be adding anything else? As he grows we will be feeding more of coarse.

[Kathyy]

If he is eating the organs and all and everything is going well time to start a new protein! *Substitute* part of the chicken for the beef, pork or whatever, don't *add* it right now. Too much food can cause loose stools. After a few days I bet the back plus the new meat would be a good meal. Then use backs and meat for both meals. Once that is fine go to the next meat. As you go on you will be able to cut down the amount of bone fed as well as in one chicken quarter for a meal and boneless red meat for another. Chickens are a great starter because the bone is edible and bone content is high enough for kibble fed dogs to adjust quite easily to the lower waste raw diet but it does have more bone than is needed.

Ideally you want to feed as much red meat as possible as it is higher in minerals dogs need than poultry. Best to feed as many meats, organs and bones as you can find to provide for everything your pup needs. Just do as you have been, small changes and watch the poop.

[MoosMom]

Awesome. Thanx Kathyy. We did give him some round steak cuts we got on sale the other day and he seemed Ok with it. I've been lucky because he never even got a single runny stool when we started. **smiles**

[phoebespeople]

Yes, good advice Kathy. You might want to look for beef heart, it's a very good source of lean red muscle meat and usually quite cheap. Turkey necks are another good alternative to chicken backs, and once again, very inexpensive. Pork shoulder is another cheap meat alternative. Eventually you should have a rotation of as many different animals as possible. Variety over weeks and months is a good thing. You can also supplement with green tripe, raw eggs, sardines, salmon oil, kelp/alfalfa powder, veggie puree, digestive enzymes...
Well done so far though, I'll bet your pup is very happy with his new diet.

[MoosMom]

Yea Its hard to find those things where I live. There are absolutely no butchers or meat markets! I was thinking about hamburger as on option as well. I've seen on here people who offer that to their dogs too.