Help with understanding RAW

[*Marie*]

I've been a member since Sept 2012 but to be honest not really posted much just lurking as I've been lucky to have a problem free doggie, now I could do with your help! Bracken's been on Raw for 2 weeks this is his 3rd week on it, I just can't get my head around the balance thingy, for one I ordered 16 packs of chicken mince with 10% bone now a tub of that if I split it in half hubby says that be 5% bone total is that correct? another is if I feed bracken that in morning can he have something with bone in, in the afternoon? See I have no idea maybe I should have done some more research before I started, all I can say Bracken has become a lot happier on Raw, he is a changed dog, eating everything up and knows the new freezer is his lol! I don't want to do him harm by not knowing or understanding things! 

[twiceover2]

I'm glad Bracken is enjoying his new diet.  Recommendations are to aim for 10-20% bone, 10% offal (half of which should be liver) and the rest muscle meat.  You don't have to be precise and don't have to make every meal in these quantities.  You're just aiming for that kind of balance over time.

If you feed half a tub of your chicken food, you will still be feeding 10% bone, not 5%.  It means 10% of any amount of the tub will be bone, which is great as that's what you want.  Does the chicken mince include offal?  It probably does, but if not, you'll need to add some in.

If you give him chicken mince in the morning and feed him something else with 10% bone in the afternoon, it will balance nicely. 

Above all, don't worry too much.  As long as your feeding mainly muscle meat with some bone and some offal including liver, you won't go far wrong.

[*Marie*]

Thanks, that's made me feel better, I thought the 10% was the same even if halved! still have a lot to learn!

[Patp]

I have been feeding Jinley raw since she was 4 months old (now 3) and it does get easier I promise!!

I try to balance the variety over a monthly period eg for main meal she we will have a couple of days a month eating liver / kidneys / tripe / sardines or mackeral and the rest of the time just ox heart (great if you have a good local butcher), mince, turkey or anything else on offer at the supermarket.  Every morning she has a chicken wing and that amount of bone just suits her (you will become an expert poo observer)

I have tried the frozen foods from PAH, but she doesnt like mushy food, prefering her meat chopped.  I flash fry the meat / offal just for a couple of minutes which releases the smell for her.

As for vegetables, she doesnt bother with them unless I buy some raw peas (pods as well) or she will have the occasional cooked carrots.  She eats grass occasionally but never to be sick.

Salmon or Kronch oil on main meal.

Hope this helps. 

[*Marie*]

I have become a poop watcher and loving the fact that I'm only picking up 1 or 2 poops a day instead of 9-10 huge sloppy poops,  The mince I got has no offal in it, but I do have some offal in his freezer, yes I brought Bracken is very own freezer and he knows it's his lol!

[elaine.e]

10% is 10% regardless of the total weight!

It's lovely to hear that Bracken is enjoying his new diet. As this is his third week you can now start introducing other meats and offal and maybe some oily fish too. Try one new protein source at a time just in case you find one that doesn't suit. My 2 eat pretty much everything but they weren't keen on liver, kidney or oily fish at first, so I used to sneak a little bit in to help them get used to it. My friend's Golden Retriever turns her nose up at duck and just refuses to eat it, presumably she just doesn't like it.

If you aim for roughly 80% muscle meat, 10% bone and 10% liver/kidney over the course of a week, and feed a variety of meats, you should get the balance correct. If you find that Bracken becomes a bit constipated feed a bit less bone. William doesn't cope with as much bone as Louis so sometimes Louis might have a chicken carcass while William has boneless chicken. I also add some raw, blitzed veg. to their food sometimes, mainly to help ensure William doesn't become constipated.

This is roughly what I feed over a week, just to give you an idea of what (I believe) makes a balanced and varied diet. I feed 2 meals a day -
1 meal lamb or ox heart.
1 meal oily fish. I feed sardines or sprats when in season, but if I can't get raw oily fish I'll feed tinned sardines or pilchards after draining off the oil or tomato sauce.
1 meal chicken foot and boneless chunks of beef or chicken or lamb and some liver or kidney
2 meals green tripe
2 meals beef or chicken or lamb chunks with liver or kidney
7 meals Natural Instinct minces, various types, with bone in
Sometimes Louis has a duck neck or chicken carcass instead of NI mince and William might have a chicken wing with some bone free meat.

This evening they're having something new to them, goat mince with liver and kidney added.

[chrisp]

There are lots of companies that you can buy it already mixed.  Natural Instinct, Nutriment etc.  If you are on FB there are also some good sites 'Raw Feeding UK' and 'Raw Feeding UK Suppliers and Distributors'- the latter you can ask for suppliers (quite a lot produce their own) in your area.