Ok, I found a place where I can buy chicken backs and necks for $.29/lb only catch is that I have to buy 400 lbs at a shot.

I am wondering if anyone else here buys in bulk for less than a kennel full of dogs. Any tips on dealing with thawing and or re-freezing would be appreciated. Right about now I am considering using the bathtub. A commercial sink would be great.

I got my first order today and lets just say that is a LOT of chicken. I am splitting the order with another barfer, but I get to store the majority of the meat since I have the larger freezer.

Thanks in advance for any ideas.

A woman at our local AKC obedience/agility club picks up mass quantities of necks and backs in 20-lb cartons and everyone pays her for however much they want. She gets a list together ahead of time of who wants what and we meet her and distribute it. I put mine in gallon sized ziploc bags for easy thawing later. You might try contacting any local clubs; you're bound to find others who are feeding raw meat too and would be glad to take some off your hands.

Neat, wanna spend an entire weekend? You could do what I do. I don't buy 400lbs. of anything, but I do buy a healthy amount of chicken parts.

Get a food saver, and make individual portions. Then freeze them. They will last nearly friggin forever in that zero air package. All you need to do is put 7 in your fridge a week and feed as they thaw out. I don't have time to do that shiznit every day, or even every week. I will do it for a month at a time for all of the dogs. I just take one sunday afternoon and do it.

Boy does the kitchen reek of chicken and hamburger, all raw and bloody. My son walks in and gags. . .

Then you have to drive 700 miles for that next Flinks seminar you can take some frozen ones and stick em' in a cooler for the trip. They actually stay frozen for quite a while on ice.

Yeah, I already have three people(7 dogs between us all), just one is out of town. These came in 40# cases. I wish they were in 20's. The 40#'s are just a little too big for thawing in my kitchen sink.

I was kidding about the bathtub thing poultry fat is nasty.

I worry about getting too many people involved at least in the summer, because I can only get 300# in the freezer and the rest has to leave. With my luck I would get stuck with a bunch of rotten chicken.

Ah - bulk dog meat buying! Yes, 400lbs of meat is one big honking pile of meat! Have you checked out any suppliers that sell to sled dog racers?- most of these people will be feeding meat or will be able to give you some tips on where to "shop".
Maybe check out http://www.sleddogcentral.com and check out the kennel listings for somebody in your area.
Also maybe check out the mink or fox farmers if there are any in your area. The local mink farmer where I lived in quebec sold meat to mushers. Also plants that process chicken often keep only the meat and discard the frames, necks and backs - this is where we got our chicken at one time and it was human grade meat. Some of these sources will freeze it in 40-50 lb blocks and if you are lucky they will freeze it into a smaller format - I used to get my supplier to freeze it into 10 lb bags - much easier to handle.
Maybe if you present your supplier with some plastic tubs of the appropriate size or ask him to put in cardboard dividers in the blocks before freezing - this makes it easier to chop with the
axe. If it is frozen in large blocks a splitting axe seems to work the best to chop off smaller chunks - you will end up with a strong swing and shapely arms! My dogs react to the sound of an axe as if it is a dinner bell.
Make sure you check out a new meat supplier well and ask for a walk thru of the cutting floor etc
and see some of your meat in the unfrozen state
so you can check it out for freshness and quality.
Make sure that they don't sell meat that has been
needled down or is way dead.
For storage maybe try and find someone selling one of those big old freezers - most people want the small ones now and will sometimes sell the big ones for under a hundred bucks - you can pack a lot of meat in them and buy in bulk and if you keep them covered or in a shed you don't have to wrestle the beggar down the basement stairs!
If there is any trappers in your area you might be able to get beaver, it is very good meat and doesn't require cooking if it is hard frozen before use. If you are lucky they will give you the carcasses for free. Most dogs really love beaver and will eat it above all other foods. I hope some of this of of use to you and has given you some ideas to help with the 400 lbs of "meat mountain"!

You could always get more dogs....
BTW 400 lbs of would barely last me a month!
With all the chopping and hauling there are no little girly arms here! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

Re: thawing - if you can get hold of some of those 5 gallon plastic buckets from a restaurant they are a good option to the sink as you can put the lid on it and not gross out everyone that isn't a dog person. You might be able to get some smaller pails from a deli- the size that salads come in are great for thawing smaller amounts. I feed beef that comes unground in large roast size chunks and use a drainboard reserved just for that purpose to cut it up. If you have to cut up meat it is easier to cut it up a little frozen. Get a good knife and keep a shapenening steel right at hand and use it frequently as it will make your job much easier.
Chicken can often be cut up with kitchen shears or
pruning shears if you got nothing else. I keep the bags that 1 litre of milk comes in and use them to freeze small amounts of dog food such as when I kill rabbits I put the entrails in the bags
and save them up. Rubbermaid containers are great as they come in sizes from tiny to huge and are pretty useful as molds for meat blocks, storage, keeping different meat seperated etc. You might be able to rent some freezer space from someone that has a walk in freezer especially if is human consumption meat to store your excess meat.

Good luck. This is what I do for a living. You made a big mistake.PM me I have work to do, maybe I can give you some suggestions before you stink up your car and house.

pm sent milt.