Well I've cleared out some space for a chest freezer I found on Home Depot - it is a 7 cubic foot freezer. Think that'd be large enough for stocking up?

The dimensions are 22" deep x 37" wide x 33" tall. Home depot is asking $200 for it, and the stated cost per year to run it is $30. Doesn't seem bad at all!

Here is a link for those interested: here

Oh heck yeah! That's the size that two folks at our club have. Theirs are manual defrost, but that's part of why it's cheap to run (they tell me).

I was listening to a discussion once where I heard an owner of that size one saying that now she uses it better and more efficiently than her old 20-something cu ft one because it's inefficient to run a 1/4 or 1/3 filled freezer -- something about frozen food keeping it cold better than air does.

All I want is the 5 cu ft one (which is not even cheaper, from what I have seen, but might fit into my kitchen better).

That price you found is $30 less than I have seen for that one so far!

I am getting by with just an in-fridge top-freezer, and I manage, but even that 5-cu-ft one would change my life.

Awesome!

Yeah I had to do some major cleaning around the apartment, as the freezer atop the refrigerator is super small. Not sure the wife is 100% with me on this, but we'll see. Applied to the Yahoo Group that Melissa had kindly linked, so just awaiting my approval there - then get a gauge for how much I can pre-order, then just explain to my wife how much we'd save buying bulk vs. buying local retail.

Thanks all!

Jonathan, Just make sure to send the email to the list owner. He's pretty quick to approve after that.

Glad to hear things are moving right along. ^.^ Let us know if we can help.

 Quote: Jonathan Holen

then just thaw and cut up the portions? I got a nice little digital scale that I plan on using

What I like to do is get 10-20# or ground meat (beef or turkey) 3-4# of something like chicken hearts/gizzards, 8-10 eggs and mix it all together (egg shell included) add in some kelp/whatever other supplements you want to and mix it all together. Sometime I put 2-3 can of salmon or mackeral in this mix.

I then have bulk packages of RMBs like pork necks, chicken parts, lamb ribs. And organ meat chunked up into 1-2 oz portions.

I get a box of sandwich bags and in each baggie put 6-8 oz ground meat mixture, about a 6 oz RMB portion and a chunk of organ meat. I put these in the freezer and I've got my dog's food all set for the next month or so, just pull out a bag in the morning and stick it in the fridge to thaw - very simple.

Note - these are the portion size for my 40# dog, adjust accordingly for your own!! But this system is pretty simple for me - I've got an hour or so of mess one day and then it's pretty easy for the next few weeks. I vary the meats/organs/RMBs from one time to the next to make sure I'm getting good variety in.

I do the same thing. I get the meat and mix my own. I used to put the veggies in there with the meat, and then freeze it but the dogs didn't like it that way. I get steamer bags from the store and when I defrost the meat for the dogs, I steam some veggies for the dogs and add it to the meat. The dogs like it this way. I add plain greek yogurt. I get my chicken ground with bone from a meat supplier, but the rest I prepare myself.
The dogs look great too. My dogs are terriers and their hair is corse but now after eating the raw diet, their coats are shinny and healthy looking.
sharon

Well I just joined a BARF group on Yahoo, and it seems they have some good prices for ground meat available in 25 lbs boxes. Ground beef (80/20 or 90/10) go for $1.20/lb and ground chicken (inlcuding bone/liver) is $1.60/lb.

Here is the actual list of what is available:

Ground Beef Lean (90/10) - $1.20/lb
Ground Beef (80/20) - $1.20/lb
Ground Heart - $1.20/lb
Ground Green Tripe - $1.20/lb
Ground Beef/Tripe Mix - $1.20/lb
Ground Chicken - $1.60/lb (Includes livers and bone)
Chicken comes in coarse or fine grind.

With this in mind, and considering I've found no local grocer to have chicken pieces available, or able to order them, would the ground chicken and ground beef be a good starting place?

Prices seem very reasonable.

Thanks!

The prices are alright but I would stay away from the ground beef or grinds of mystery ratios until your dog is settled on balanced chicken meals. There is nothing wrong with stocking up though if you find stuff on sale, that meat seller however does regular trips through WA at a pretty consistent rate and with one dog I wouldn't rush out to buy a bunch of stuff you won't need for awhile.

I know Double DD Meats in Mountlake Terrace will do special orders and used to have fair prices (I haven't been there in a LONG time.) I know it'd be a bit of a drive but 20lbs of backs will make the transition to raw so much easier.

You might try checking with Golden Steer Meats in Bellevue, Better Meat Inc in Ballard/Greenlake, I'm not sure if the Winco is open in Mill Creek yet but that's another spot to check. Even their cheap gamehens skinned imo is a better choice than a mystery grind to start with.

Thanks Melissa,

You've been a great help in this! What typically do you find yourself getting from that group on Yahoo? I just checked out the website for Golden Steer Meats in Bellevue - seems promising, I will have to contact them on Monday and see what they could offer.

Maybe I'll try some more QFCs and see if I can find one to order some chicken backs.. also going to call Double DD's

On a sidenote, my LB package should be here tomorrow! Woohoo! So excited Will be getting to reading those two books and watching my DVDs

I use that yahoo service for finding good deals, harder to find things like tripe and organs, and for variety at a reasonable price. I'll likely also use them for rough grind once I ponder the dogs having puppies again. At this point in raw feeding though 5 of my six dogs are pretty iron stomached and I'm pretty sure I could throw week old roadkill over my fence and my dogs wouldn't even so much as have above average gas.

It takes a little time to get the gut flora to balance correctly after an all kibble diet but once you're there and start adding variety it's amazing how much at least my dogs can handle without an issue. It just takes some time to get there. Chicken backs minus the fat are one of the best places to start for a large-medium dog.