Barf - Raw Mince?

[Love my Sonny and Neko]

Hi all

Am making the move to BARF for my 2 puppies but an slightly confused about feeding raw mince. Seems 50% do and 50% don't. Steve seems to be the BARF gun and he says not... ;)

I have made the effort to search through the 22 pages of info on this topic but would appreciate any advice.

Thanks!

[Malamum]

I do feed raw mince but not excessive amounts.

The main staple of my dogs diet is chicken. Backs, wings, necks, thigh pieces which all have bones. They also get a bone of some type in the morning depending upon what I have available but it's generally a lamb flap or something similar.

I give them mince as I want them to get a variety of meats. Their meaty bones tend to be chicken so I give lamb or beef mince as a source of red meat. I also like to give them something that doesn't have bones as I noticed at one stages their poo was just a bit too hard and was causing them discomfort.

[Cavandra]

I have been raw feeding for alot of years now, and havent heard of the not feeding mince thing before. I am uncertain of what reason that would be, but then I havent read the 22 pages you speak of

Bones like chicken carcass/wings/necks, Turkey necks & lamb ribs make up at least 60% of my dogs diet, and the rest is made up of muscle meat/mince, organs, eggs,Mackeral/sardines, occassional fruit & veg, yoghurt & a variety of other things like dinner scraps, brown rice, cooked pumpkin occassionally too.......

[Love my Sonny and Neko]

Thanks!

Also - should clarify that Steve said 'no meat off the bone'. Not exactly no mince!

I was looking to mix the raw mince in with the veg/fruit mix to freeze in addition to the meaty bones... will re think that now.

[oonga]

Thanks!

Also - should clarify that Steve said 'no meat off the bone'. Not exactly no mince! :D

I was looking to mix the raw mince in with the veg/fruit mix to freeze in addition to the meaty bones... will re think that now.

firstly Steve is a female :p

secondly you may find that the reason she said that about the meat off the bone is because it doesn't provide the correct ratio of calcium to phosphorous.

so might be worth adding other sources of calcium such as cheese, powdered milk, egg shells etc... to balance it out,

if you are going to just use muscle meat ;)

i agree Steve has an excellent wealth of information

[Love my Sonny and Neko]

I so knew Steve was a female... i read it in one of the forums then promptly forgot!

Sorry Steve!

Am feeding various chicken items and bones of all descriptions but have added beef mince to the veg mix. Neko has to have 300ml of water added to each of her 2 meals so the mince would be helpful to make a slurry.

[Staffy-Lover]

i feed my 2 staffies mince - lamb mince is a little better as it has less fat.

but u need to mix it up - same as with humans

[Sayreovi]

I have only just started the BARF diet and i follow what Cavandra feeds, though perhaps a little more vegies/fruit.

I feed human grade beef mince at the moment i will give pork/lamb a go eventually, just want to figure it all out before i change anything.

Finding it hard to buy really meaty bones and until i find a constant supply i will continue to feed mince regulary.

[poodlefan]

I feed mince. Only human grade and only in their veggie mix.

Two out of three meals are RMBs.

[ashan]

I dont know if what I am doing is right but I feed my BC x Kelpie (6mth old) Kennel Mince (chicken, beef, turkey, lamb and pork mix), rice and vegies. I also break and egg over it twice a week. He gets bones and chicken necks and dry food (will not drink with milk on it). Don't know if thats any help but goodluck. Oh and he also gets one tin of Pedigree once a week (for variety)

[sandgrubber]

There's mince and there's mince. My local bulk supplier of chicken mince just takes chicken frames (from the same supplier as I use for frames) and runs them through a mincer, hence their chicken mince has exactly the same nutritional content as frames -- and is only 10 cents a kilo dearer. The problem is that chicken mince does nothing for teeth and gums, so frames are better, but mince is not bad.

When you get mince from most of the red meat animals, it contains little or no bone. If you try putting beef bones through a conventional mincer, you'll understand why. So all the concerns about Ca:P ratio pertain.

[Dog_Horse_Girl]

Before we came back to Darwin, I hardly ever gave minced meat to my dogs. But buying decent raw meaty bones is a challenge here, and so I'm adding some human grade minced meats to their diet. I buy three different minces: beef, lamb and chicken and I rotate them through the meals. One day will be minced meat and yoghurt in the mornings then RMBs in the evenings. Another day will be RMBs in the morning, minced meat and offal in the evening. Dogs need variety to their diet the same as people do.

I also use yoghurt, eggs, sardines and veg/fruit pulp in their diet in varying quantities at various times. The bulk of their diet is, however RMBs and offal.

[Love my Sonny and Neko]

Thanks

[Love my Sonny and Neko]

Ok... an additional question...

I have read that you feed approx 2 - 3% of body weight (dividing into 2 meals if appropriate). How do you factor in the bones though... are they included?

Thanks

[Sayreovi]

Yes bones are included. Pretty sure that you should be feeding two meals anyway.

For me 70% of my dogs diet is bones.

The rest is made up of vegies, mince, offal and other bits and pieces given during the day.

Edited July 26, 2007 by tollersowned

[Love my Sonny and Neko]

Thanks Tollersowned.

600g per day broken into 2 meals doesn't seem like much though when including bones? Bones are heavy....

I am confused!!!

[Dog_Horse_Girl]

Thanks Tollersowned.

600g per day broken into 2 meals doesn't seem like much though when including bones? Bones are heavy....

I am confused!!!

Bones shouldn't be too heavy if you're using the more suitable ones - including lamb neck and chicken parts. It's the meat that's weighty rather than the bone. If you've got heavy bones then it's likely they are 'recreational' bones rather than 'food source' bones. What I mean is that a marrow bone is more bone than flesh and is classed 'recreational', whereas a chicken frame or wing is more flesh than bone and is classed as a food source bone.

[Love my Sonny and Neko]

Lillysmum... you are a champ!

It's like a lightbulb just went off in my head... thanks so much.

[sandgrubber]

I'd say the 2-3% number is just a starting point. Keep your eye on the dog. If he's getting fat, he's eating too much. If he looke emaciated, he could eat more. In the boarding kennel I find huge differences between dogs, often breed related. I have a fat Lab cross who eats almost nothing and stays fat. I get 30 kg GSP's who stay lean given 2 kg+ a day.

The type of bones matters. Eg, marrow bones and well-trimmed lamb necks do not count as their weight, and you can see from the white turds that most of it is passing straight through.

[Love my Sonny and Neko]

Thanks Sandgrubber!!!!