Hi All,
This whole switch to raw has come together in a whirlwind! This morning I contacted a wholesaler who was driving right by my town this afternoon! I am now the proud owner of 40 lbs of backs and 40 lbs of necks! Best news is, she comes through several times a week and has a wide variety of foods at really good prices! Seems meant to be. I need a freezer.
Cali had her first chicken back meal tonight! At first she had NO idea what the heck was what! Sniffing and licking and looking almost scared of it. Took about 10', and she was crunch, crunching away looking for more. It was completely gratifying!
If I could ask for input on my plan below to do the intro properly that would be much appreciated. The learning curve is steep, but we'll get the hang of it. I just want to be sure to take my time doing this, and figure out clearly how she does on what.
RAW FEEDING INTRODUCTION PLAN
General Strategy and Questions
Chicken backs only for first 3-4 days
Defatted, skinned, and any organ meat removed
No supplements for 2 weeks
I would like to keep her on a probiotic. Cindy mentions it might be wise. Yes or no?
No organ meats, eggs, mackerel, or canned fish for two weeks
I have seen differing percentages for feeding once we’re up and running with a complete raw diet. Which one is closer to what you do?
Version 1
5-10% organ meat
10-15% RMB
80-85% MM
Version 2
50% RMB/50% MM, some organ
After two weeks add salmon oil, Vit E, probiotic, vit C. Anything else?
For a puppy (she’s 8 months) feed her 3% of her ideal adult body weight (according to the vet ~ 66 lbs). She is a very active dog, and we spend easily 2 hours/day doing physical things with her. It’s about 2-21/4 lbs per day. Correct? A little more because of high activity level? Over time, I'm sure we'll learn how to increase/decrease.
MENU (Assuming all poop is good)
This is based on a ton of reading, and two past in-depth threads in this forum.
Days 1-2
Defatted, skinned chicken backs with organ meat removed—only.
Day 3
Chicken backs with a little skin and fat added back in
Day 4-6
Chicken backs with a little skin and fat added back in; introduce chicken neck?
Day 7
Regular chicken back with no trimming; introduce bit of MM. What would you do? Beef? Turkey? Stick with the same MM for a few days?
Day 10
Chicken backs or neck; introduce a bit of organ meat.
Then continue this process, keeping a journal, as we continue to introduce one item at a time over several weeks--fish, turkey necks, beef necks, varieties of organ and MM. An introductory process to be done in full should take about how long? A month?
I am on overload right now--training, what's that? But I know it will become second nature in short order. Thank you for bearing with me.