Hello, i feed all 3 of my dogs a ground pre-packaged raw we buy from the pet store. We pay $1.60/lb. They eat 6lb a day. 2 eat 1.5lb the other 3lb. I have bin doing some research on here and realized when you are speaking of raw you mean actual animal parts?...not ground and pre-packaged. My question is if im to go into a butcher shop, what exactly do i ask for? They are large dogs, my cane corso has swallowed a chicken neck whole, so chicken necks dont work for her. What parts? do i ask for? What price should i expect to pay per lb? I couldnt afford more than we pay now, which is the cheapest we can find, and it still is hard to do. Thanks in advance!!!

http://leerburg.com/pdf/feedingrawdiet.pdf

Hi Cat, Yes, we are talking about actual animal parts just like our dogs would be eating if left to their own devices. The bones are a huge part of the diet and if possible - not ground up so that they are able to provide the most benefits to the dogs.

If you haven't read the above post, I'd recommend you start there. I look for chicken leg quarters on sale (recently hit .49 cents per pound) but also feed whole chikens, rabbits occassionally, pork neck bones, turkey necks, etc...

Prices are going to depend on where you live, what is available, etc... so it is going to be hard to tell you what to expect in your area. Most of us don't feed raw to save $$ but to provide what is best for our dogs, at the best price we can find, and yes, we all look for the lowest price. :-)

Do some more reading, you are going to find tons of info on what to feed!

Check out restaurant wholesalers in your area. Some will sell to raw feeders. I get chicken necks or backs for $.30 - $.35 lb in 40 lb cases,10lb rolls of ground turkey for $.85 LB, 10 lb rolls of 80/20 ground beef for $1.65lb. I get pork neck bones, turkey necks, gr. pork. cases of chicken gizards & hearts,leg quarters, etc. etc. I could go on & on. Obviously you need to have the freezer storage space to be able to purchase in the larger quantities, but it is so well worth it. I would say that the purchase of a freezer would pay for itself in the savings off of supermarket prices within months. Well worth the purchase. If you can't store that much, find others that will share the boxes with you. It is well worth the effort. I have feed 3 dogs (2 adults & 1 8 mo old pup) for what it would cost me to feed 1 adult dog on supermarket prices even with their sale prices. You may have to travel to a supplier. I travel 3/4 of an hour 1 way. But still worth it even with the gas prices & the more freezer space the bigger purchase you can make at one time. I usually take the trip every other month or so.

Hello, thanks for all the help. Im going to go the butcher tonight. I will have to check into that restaraunt wholesaler idea, never thought of that....such a good idea! We dont have much freezer space, enough for about 50lb, we dont buy frozen foods for us anymore, hahah...but are thinking of getting a deepfreeze and keeping it outside on the deck, no room inside. I didnt mean to sound cheap, i buy my dogs the best treats, bowls, leashes, supplements, food,toys, vets, etc. Just lately i've had health issues with a couple of my pets and im feeling the financial heat lol. I was wondering if there was a better way, short of buying my own farm and animals, which i really want to do one day.... Thanks again!

Hey, so if I buy a whole animal, ie: chicken, rabbit, turkey..whatever.. How do i cut it up and give it to them exactly? You have to spell it out for me very simply, haha, I've never done this before, i dont cook, so dont know about chopping etc. How big the parts need to be? Can they have all of the animal? Any parts bad?

Hi, Cat,

Have you read any of the threads here on raw feeding? http://leerburg.com/forums/ubbthreads.php/ubb/postlist/Board/12/page/1

Folks will help you with questions, but there is also so much info that a half-hour on the raw feeding forum is invaluable.

Also, http://leerburg.com/feedingarawdiet.htm

and http://leerburg.com/feedingdogs.htm

If you can get chicken backs, that's a great start, and inexpensive.

 Quote: Anne Jones

Check out restaurant wholesalers in your area. Some will sell to raw feeders.

Any suggestions on how to facilitate this? I've emailed/left a phone message but so far, no reply. Did you go personally to the place and speak with someone face to face? We bought the biggest chest freezer Sears had and would LOVE to fill it up with better priced goodies!

I've never had much luck with restaurant suppliers. Wish I did. What I have had good luck with are small independent (mom and pop) grocery stores. Talk to the meat department manager and ask about ordering things in bulk. They have the resources and are happy to make the sale. Especially if you tell them that this is an ongoing thing--you'll be ordering stuff every month.

I've also had good luck shopping in ethnic grocery stores--Asian, African American, Hispanic. Those cultures eat more "parts" than you can normally find in the big chain grocers.

 Quote: Tracy Collins

I've never had much luck with restaurant suppliers. Wish I did. What I have had good luck with are small independent (mom and pop) grocery stores. Talk to the meat department manager and ask about ordering things in bulk. They have the resources and are happy to make the sale. Especially if you tell them that this is an ongoing thing--you'll be ordering stuff every month.

Great idea - I'll give that a try.

I heard about wholesale suppliers sometimes helping out raw feeders on a raw feeders site. I contacted one of the gals that had posted on the site that lived an hour + away from me & asked her what kind of prices she was getting. She agreed to split a few boxes with me the first couple of times. After Mike got to know me, I just started going myself. The main guy at the wholesaler that fed his own dogs raw was willing to sell to people that fed raw. There are a couple of places that do this in the same city, but the one that is a bit closer to me has better prices. He is a great guy & is happy to give us great prices. I have heard of co-ops that place huge orders & share. But the ones that I head about are a couple of states away from me. I'm not sure if they are getting better prices or not. Try googling raw feeder sites or raw feeder co-ops in your area.

Before I found this gal to split orders with, I had started just calling wholesalers that I could find listed on line or the tel book, but hadn't gotton to the M's so I hadn't called this place yet. I would guess that he would have still sold to me when I called & told him that I feed raw. I found that the local butcher shops couldn't come close in price. They were 2- 3x's or more for the same cases. I did buy a couple of cased from them about 4 years ago, but it didn't turn out that much cheaper then the regular stores. I have been buuying from the wholesaler for about 3+ years. Just keep calling places. You may need to go up to a couple of hours drive away. I think that the bigger the city area the better chance that you will find a place that will sell to you.

ETA...I also get 50lb bags of carrots for my horse for $10. LOL