I still feed canidae but have been reading up on raw... some questions came to mind. They're probably in some of the recommended books but I haven't gotten that far, so please humor me

Where do you guys feed your dogs (on raw) to minimize contaminating everything with chicken/meat juice? I've seen posts that indicate some feed in crate and wipe down afterwards. Are there any other suggestions? I was raised pretty strictly with the chicken police as far as the kitchen goes The thought of the dogs carrying their food around makes me cringe.

Also- what part exactly is a chicken back? Does this include the rib cage? I bought a whole chicken Sunday and while I was cutting it up for the grill, and the dogs' noses were working overtime, I got to thinking about raw again. I grilled the heart, liver, and small scraps for a min or two, let it cool and fed it to them with dinner. They were bonkers to finish. Sometimes they don't finish all of their kibble, but mix some meat in there and everybody out of the way!!

When referring to "chicken quarters" I'm assuming this means leg+thigh?

Also- I'm going to keep searching, but where would I look for a co-op or similar to order from/with?

Thanks!!

I feed mine in their crates after the kids have gone to bed.
The back is spine, ribs and all associated flesh.
Leg quarters are leg, thigh and the rear part of the back split at the spine.

 Quote: carolyn pike

I still feed canidae but have been reading up on raw... some questions came to mind. They're probably in some of the recommended books but I haven't gotten that far, so please humor me

Where do you guys feed your dogs (on raw) to minimize contaminating everything with chicken/meat juice? I've seen posts that indicate some feed in crate and wipe down afterwards. Are there any other suggestions? I was raised pretty strictly with the chicken police as far as the kitchen goes The thought of the dogs carrying their food around makes me cringe.

Also- what part exactly is a chicken back? Does this include the rib cage? I bought a whole chicken Sunday and while I was cutting it up for the grill, and the dogs' noses were working overtime, I got to thinking about raw again. I grilled the heart, liver, and small scraps for a min or two, let it cool and fed it to them with dinner. They were bonkers to finish. Sometimes they don't finish all of their kibble, but mix some meat in there and everybody out of the way!!

When referring to "chicken quarters" I'm assuming this means leg+thigh?

Also- I'm going to keep searching, but where would I look for a co-op or similar to order from/with?

Thanks!!

My personal preference is to feed outside.

http://s161.photobucket.com/albums/t214/farwesttoller/?action=view&current=chickensummer.jpg
http://s161.photobucket.com/albums/t214/farwesttoller/?action=view&current=chickenwinter.jpg
http://s161.photobucket.com/albums/t214/farwesttoller/?action=view&current=venisonribs.jpg

A chicken back in my parts has back, ribs and often neck attatched.

Quarters often have leg, thigh and some vertbrea/back as well.

You can order cases of chicken backs and turkey necks and such things from your supermarket quite often.

All my dogs are fed in their crates ( RAW ), I've never had any problems there.

Will, do you wipe everything down afterwards? or is that considered extra extra cautious?

 Quote: Will Rambeau

All my dogs are fed in their crates ( RAW ), I've never had any problems there.

Ditto....and the outdoor dogs eat in their kennels.

I clean crates once a week. All of my dogs eat so fast that they do not usually slop it around. Couple chomps and it is GONE...

Carolyn, where do you feed your dogs now? There's no reason to change where you feed your dogs because you make a switch to raw. It's pretty much where you're comfortable feeding certain raw foods.

If I'm giving anything with bones in it, it goes outside, on the lawn.
If I'm giving tripe or mackerel, it goes in a bowl, DEFINITELY outside because of the stink.
If I'm giving raw patties, it goes in his bowl in the kitchen.

Carolyn,
It's funny, since I'm a Chef now in real life you'd think that I'd be hyper regarding cleaning up after raw chicken ( I certainly am at work, by the way, I don't want any food borne illnesses to affect a client ).
However, my dogs consume it so fast that it just goes from the food dish to their mouths and two crunches later it's gone.....no mess.

Here is a thread related to finding raw food suppliers. When I first started I had a couple of the books that Leerburg sells, this web board and lots of meat on "sale" at Sam's that I was buying. I also was supplementing with honest kitchen for a long time.

http://www.leerburg.com/forums/ubbthreads.php/ubb/showflat/Number/163634/page/1#Post163634

Eventually through a member on this site, I found a meat supplier who was local and now I am saving a lot of money, ordering by the case and have a freezer that I can store lots of meat in. I probably only order from the supplier 3-4 times a year and if I run out of something, then I will go to the supermarket. The Taylors Pond supplier on the thread has a raw food calculator you can use to know how much you will need to order for 30 days worth and breaks it down by meat, bones and organ meats needed by %.

You'll get used to it and other than cutting up beef hearts, nothing really bothers me much anymore with the raw part of it.

Give it a try and some time to learn. My dog is now two and it's become routine and I learn more all the from here about what else I can try!

By the way, I do feed outside if it's stinky and in the crates, otherwise!

Edited by Lisa Simms (04/08/2008 07:03 PM)
Edit reason: forgot one thing

The dog bowls are usually in the kitchen here- although, for the last two months they've been fed in their crates because of my ongoing kitchen remodel. I'm almost done (hallelujah) but I may continue to feed them crated anyway.

I bet they would probably inhale it... that or want to take it out to the back yard to enjoy. I'll just have to wait and see

Sounds like I'm going to need a freezer chest to do this... that or try and incorporate more meat into my diet so that if the dogs are having chicken for dinner so am I, lol. It's hard to buy for one or two people anyway.

How much do you think you guys spend on meat (only, not counting supplements, eggs, etc) per month? I will check out the Taylor's pond site; thanks Lisa!

Best regards, all.