i have a 9 1/2 week old gsd that i am feeding on a raw diet. she has been on it for about a week and a half, and everything is going good except for one thing...i cant find a butcher that will sell organs, backs, necks...ect. they all tell me everything is shipped to them pre-cut and they dont throw anything out anymore. i live in santa fe new mexico. i need to find something soon...she is eating all the food for us!

I don't feed raw anymore, but I know a lot of people who have your problem feed through whole chickens and cornish game hens.

I'm sure Michael Wise and Connie will be here to help you. They know everything.

Edited by Lauren Jeffery (03/03/2011 10:26 PM)
Edit reason: dang touch screens!

Sante Fe has ethnic diversity, there are likely to be places where lamb/chicken/goats are butchered. Look up "meat" or "meat locker" in the Yellow Pages. Or, try the newspaper - classified.

You can also cut off a lot of the meat from the breats and leg quarters and use that for the humans and give the rest to the pup. Look for small packages of chicken hearts and gizzards not necessarily large organs.

nice thanks for the suggestions

I feed a pre-made, commercial raw diet to all of my puppies to make sure they are getting the appropriate amounts of what they need. I know a lot of people who successfully feed/"grow" pups on a homemade raw diet, but I just like to know the #s/ratios exactly when raising a pup.

To answer your question though, the bulk of the meat in my dogs' fall/winter diets come from hunter scraps. If you can find a large game butcher, you'll likely be able to get loads of scraps. The bulk of their diet the rest of the year (when I run out of the game scraps) is made up of store-bought whole chickens that we cut up. We buy the chickens in bulk when/where we find great prices, cut them up, bag them and freeze them. It's usually cheaper than buying the pre-cut parts. At 9 1/2 weeks, some of the chicken leg bones might be a bit much for your pup to handle. If you have a big freezer, you can save those for when the pup is a bit older.

We're always on the look-out for deals too. I talk to hunters and farmers, and they are usually happy to give me what they aren't going to use. For example, a friend of mine has beef cattle and he recently butchered 3 cows. I brought over several buckets and took away meat scraps, tripe and liver. All free, but a little labor intensive to process the tripe.

Welcome to the forum, Daryl.:smile:

I usually buy whole fryer hens and cut them up myself.

Keep looking around. SOMEBODY around there can get fryer backs. People use them all the time.

Try restaurant suppliers, too.

They aren't a must have thing, though. Whole cut up chickens are just fine, and will take a lot of guess work out of the whole meat to bone deal.:smile:

Most grocery stores should sell chicken livers. My local Walmart even sells beef liver. The rest of the organs are going to be harder to find in a grocery store. Especially if nobody will even order you fryer backs. Never hurts to ask, though.

I have a slaughter house that will let me take what leftovers I want. I take a wheel barrow, and they will drop the guts right out of the cow or pig into it for me to cart off and dig through. Again, it never hurts to ask.:smile:

Good luck, and let us know if you need any more help.

Oh yeah, if it is legal in your area, and you don't mind doing the work, fresh roadkill counts, too.:wink:

You can save plastic grocery bags to keep in your car for later use as small animal body bags.

 Quote: Michael_Wise

I have a slaughter house that will let me take what leftovers I want. I take a wheel barrow, and they will drop the guts right out of the cow or pig into it for me to cart off and dig through.

Braggar. I'm so envious.

 Quote: Barbara Schuler

 Quote: Michael_Wise

.... I take a wheel barrow, and they will drop the guts right out of the cow or pig into it for me to cart off and dig through.

Braggar. I'm so envious.

Yeah ..... see, me: not so much.