Another "how's My Barf Recipe Sound?" Thread

[Lucy's mama]

This is for an adult goldie, and a 12 week Aussie. Both are used to eating almost all the ingredients seperately. They have kibble in the am (sometimes with an egg, sardines, or yoghurt), a bone (chicken necks, frames, wings, beef soup bones, lamb flaps, roo tail etc) through the day and this mix with a handfull of kibble in the pm.

4 kg chicken mince (bone in)

3 kg beef mince

1 kg roo mince

500gm liver

500gm tripe

500gm kidney

750gm sardines

500gm natural yoghurt

8 eggs (inc. shells)

5 kilo pureed vegies (peas, carrot, beans, sweed, turnip, beetroot, broccoli, cauliflower, spinach)

6 cloves garlic

big bunch parsley

What do you think? If it's no good I can use it as a 'treat' meal once or twice a week.

[dancinbcs]

The most important part of a BARF diet is the fact that digestion starts when the dog chews the bones. Whole meaty bones should always be fed, not minced meat which lands in the dogs stomach in one big lump.

The rest of your menu is fine but ditch the mince and get some meaty chicken or lamb bones instead.

[Tilly]

I feed minced barf mix but also feed approximately the same amount as digestable bones.

So if I feed 250grams of the BARF mix I also give approx 250 grams of chicken necks or something else they consume completely. Usually brisket bones, chicken frames, chicken necks, chicken wings, turkey necks, rabbit etc

They also get recreational bones a couple of times a week - large bones which they chew on but don't eat completely.

I have heard mixing raw with dry is not a real good idea as it has different digestion rates ...

[dancinbcs]

I feed minced barf mix but also feed approximately the same amount as digestable bones.

So if I feed 250grams of the BARF mix I also give approx 250 grams of chicken necks or something else they consume completely. Usually brisket bones, chicken frames, chicken necks, chicken wings, turkey necks, rabbit etc

They also get recreational bones a couple of times a week - large bones which they chew on but don't eat completely.

I have heard mixing raw with dry is not a real good idea as it has different digestion rates ...

Yes, you are right. Before I changed mine to BARF 10 years ago I thought one of mine couldn't digest raw bones. Once I cut out the dry food completely he was fine with the bones. If you still want to feed some dry feed it at the opposite end of the day to the raw.

[Lucy's mama]

O.K, now I am confused! I had been buying the Dr Billinghurst Barf. Is that no good either as it is minced not whole?

I might start feeding it only every two or three days untill I have a btter idea of what I'm doing.

I think I better buy the books and have a proper look at the whole BARF diet or go back to 100% commercial.

[luvsdogs]

I feed minced barf mix but also feed approximately the same amount as digestable bones.

So if I feed 250grams of the BARF mix I also give approx 250 grams of chicken necks or something else they consume completely. Usually brisket bones, chicken frames, chicken necks, chicken wings, turkey necks, rabbit etc

They also get recreational bones a couple of times a week - large bones which they chew on but don't eat completely.

I have heard mixing raw with dry is not a real good idea as it has different digestion rates ...

Billinghurst says that the diet should consist of 60% raw meaty bones the rest being offal & veggie mix. On the other hand Tom Lonsdale says that the diet should be predominately rmb with offal once a fortnight & very low fat table scraps & veggie peelings when available.

I wouldn't give dogs the large weight baring bones of cows because they are too hard & can break teeth.

[luvsdogs]

Lucy's mama I would hold off on the mince as dancinbcs said & also be careful of too much garlic. A little is ok but it belongs to the onion family & that has a cumulative effect when eaten over a period of time.

When I 1st bought Billinghurt's 1st 2 books back in the late 90's he gave the ideas of what to put in the veggie mix yourself using a food processor or better still a juice extractor & to use the pulp. I used to do this for a couple of years & it was very time consuming.

The Barf Diet book was published in 2001 & I don't know when he 1st introduced his patties. I think the idea was to feed the appropriate no of patties at one meal & raw meaty bones at the other. The mince mix with crushed bone in it is only meant for young puppies until they can start to eat the raw bones which can be as young as weaning age. That sounds double Dutch but would depend on the size & breed of puppy.

[dancinbcs]

Have just pm'd you some more detailed information.

[APBT]

i was told by my vet that the offal throws out the calcium to phosphate ratio so its not good mainly in young pups, tho people have done it for years with no problems.

[Red Fox]

I dont think what you have done is too bad, but from what I can see you have about 4kg of RMB (minced) to approx 16kg of food which is around 25% and you really need it to be at least 50% or more

I would feed your BARF mix for one meal per day and RMB's only at the others.

At night I feed my dog a mix of roo mince (no bone), yogurt, vegie slops, and a few supplements. Then add either a can of sardines, some offal, a few chicken necks or wings, or an egg (w/shell) on alternate nights.

He has RMS's every morning at breakfast time though which is a larger meal and accounts for at least 60% of his diet. Works well for us

Definitely get the books, they are great when you are starting off