Scott, I don't pay that much more for raw than I do kibble. I feed Canidae kibble, which runs me $33 for a 40 pound bag. It lasts around 5 weeks (feeding 2 cups a day), so that rounds out to about $0.83 per pound. Depending on the deals I get, it averages out to about the same price for raw, give or take a few cents.

Will, watch Publix. I've noticed their chicken meats will go on superawesome sale every now and then, like 50-70 cents/lb, give or take. Last I saw this on was a pack of thighs. Also, sometimes Costco has better deals than Sams Club. I remembered getting a 2-3lb salmon fillet for about $8 when usually the fish is $8/lb. Winn Dixie will have good meat sales as well. Hope that helps.

A small local ethnic grocer supplies fresh chicken backs for $16/40#. My connection is through my Sch club; she set up the deal with the guy, and all the raw feeders order through her. It is a nice deal.

Turkey necks, ground beef and heart, I get through the wholesaler. But a new ethnic market opened near me, and the prices are better for some things than wholesale!

It's worth a shot to go to the meat dept and ask; small and local are the keys for me.

Of course, the prices up north will vary from what you guys are seeing - for better or worse.

Hey Will - the primary ingredient in my dog's raw diet is whole chicken quarters. I get these in 10 pound bags from Wal-Mart for $0.43/pound anytime.

400 lbs!?!
Good Lord.... <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ooo.gif" alt="" />

Unfortunately, I live so far out in the sticks that an "ethnic grocer" in my area would be considered anybody without an Irish sounding last name.

will, i also live in a remote area and have cheaply and successfully fed raw for 3 1/2 years. it just takes time and patience to line up your suppliers, but once you do, the whole thing is very easy.

my breeder is in florida and she's feeding something like 15 mastiffs. she goes directly to a wholesaler who delivers on a regular schedule right to her house. she used to go to an organic meat market who let her buy in bulk and charged her only .10 cents a .lb. over their wholesale.

we don't have large meat processing plants in my state, so meat is expensive, even though we are in cattle country. right now my best supplier is the meat department at the albertson's supermarket chain. i get case lots of whole fryers, pork necks, turkey necks, beef hearts, beef ribs, and beef liver at very good prices. the thing that is great about the supermarket is they break the cases down and individually package everything for me to order. so when i get home all i have to do is dump the individually wrapped portions in the chest freezer in the garage. simple.

i probably average $40/mo. for a very lean mastiff with an incredibly fast metabolism (he easily consumes 5 lbs. of RMBs a day).

veggies are free--we just save the trimmings from cooking and also pull stuff from our garden. we get eggs and cottage cheese from costco pretty cheaply. the only supplements i use are fish oil capsules and dried kelp powder.

it's important to feed the ground veggies, i've found. once a week minimum, twice a week is better. i had a huge vet bill when i neglected this and my boy got impacted. doggie enemas are NOT fun. pork neck bones are a common culprit.

if your dog doesn't like veggies, mix with beef liver and blood or a can of salmon or mackerel. i wait for the salmon to go onsale and buy several cases at once. we got it for .88 cents/lb. last time.

i also am always on the lookout for unadvertised specials at the supermarket. some saturdays i'll just visit a few markets and pick up drastically discounted stuff.

the other source, which is free, is wild game scrap meat, spines, ribcages, and heads. make friends with your local meat processor and go collect the goodies during hunting season. where i live, it is illegal to charge for it. you just need the containers, and the stomach for it.

i save giant yogurt and cottage cheese tubs all year, head down there with a pair of rubber gloves, and go to the back door where they pull the tubs of wild game scrap meat for me to pick through. i always make sure it smells fresh (when it is good, it smells delicious even raw), and i fill my freezer. i date each of the tubs and freeze them at 0F for ten days to kill parasites.

don't ever feed any part of the GI tract from wild animals. also, don't feed weight bearing parts like legs. the bones are too hard and can break teeth.

lastly, don't feed bear or mountain lion as they carry trichinosis.

Thanks all!
Everyone gave me good sound advice and I appreciate it - hope I can return the favor someday!

I'm really new to raw feeding. I did have the good luck to start out by finding chicken leg-quarters on sale at Harris-Teeter for $.28/lb (with their "VIC" card -- $.58/lb without). My big dogs (Tibetan mastiffs) need about 1/1/2 to 2 pounds a day; my Jack Russell terrier considerably less, but it still adds up. Also, whole chickens at Costco are $.69/lb -- and a good meat cleaver is an investment for life. I plan on adding other varieties of raw as time goes on, but for now, the cost seems pretty reasonable.

There's a Yahoo group dedicated solely to sources of raw food. I don't have the URL at work, and am not allowed to access Yahoo from here anyway, but there may be something useful for you there, Will -- not that it was any help to me in my area. (I live in Northern Virginia.) The geographic coverage tends to be spotty. It's called something like Carnivore feeding or Carnivore supplier.

It is related to, but separate from, the Yahoo Raw Feeding group -- which is overwhelmed in touchy-feely messages from people who really overthink/overworry the dietary issues. I am about to quit that list, because it is too hard to find worthwhile information amid the posts about Fluffy's new poo habits and in-laws who don't like the idea of feeding anything but Purina. (Sorry -- end of mini-rant.)

Bryan Veis

Will, try to find a local poultry processing plant or possibly a slaughter house near you. We get chicken from the local processing plant at $6 for a 40lb case. We also get free miscellaneous bones and chunks of meat from a local slaughter house.

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There's a Yahoo group dedicated solely to sources of raw food. I don't have the URL at work, and am not allowed to access Yahoo from here anyway, but there may be something useful for you there, Will -- not that it was any help to me in my area. (I live in Northern Virginia.) The geographic coverage tends to be spotty. It's called something like Carnivore feeding or Carnivore supplier.

Here's the link: Carnivore Feed Supplier