corvus Posted October 3, 2011 Share Posted October 3, 2011 We used to get all our meat for the dogs delivered by Just Food 4 Dogs... until they delivered us 10kg of chicken necks that were off. It's such a pain disposing of 10kg of rotton chicken. I couldn't be bothered complaining about it, so just stopped buying from them. So I started getting meat from Bully Beef in Menai instead... until I bought 5kg of lamb breast and put them in the fridge overnight because I didn't have time to pack them right away. By the time OH got to packing them the following evening, they were off. What's more, it became apparent that the mince we were getting from them was not preservative free. Apparently it can sit in the fridge for a week uncovered and not lose any colour. We tried some lamb brisket from Pet Barn and it had been in the freezer for 6 months according to the packing date and had a bad case of freezer burn. Dry, dry, dry when it thawed. Is anyone else encountering these sorts of problems? I'm now at a loss where to get mince from. We were only paying around $4/kg. Buying human grade is at least twice as expensive. We are relying heavily on chicken carcasses from various chicken stores, but I don't want to give the boys exclusively chicken. I don't like the bones most places sell for dogs. Not enough meat and too much fat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PooMother Posted October 3, 2011 Share Posted October 3, 2011 Yes I would upwards of 40kg from Just Food and it would be off so stopped buying. Im at a loss aswell as to where to get it from :-( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stormie Posted October 3, 2011 Share Posted October 3, 2011 Yep Orbit is allergic to lots of things so buying certain meats is hard. Used to by from Just Food 4 Dogs, which was supposed to be Turkey, but in the end I was pretty certain I was getting Chicken, which is number 1 on the allergy list. Tried Myella Pet Foods who kept stuffing up my order and sending me the wrong things or delivering to the wrong address. Lately have been using Burns Pet Foods who I have been mostly happy with, until I was requesting a certain regular order which they just couldn't seem to fulfill and would just substitute the tail bones with large neck bones which were completely inedible. I've learnt to be specific with them because some of the cuts they offer are just large pieces of fat or sharp bones. I'm back to Myella for turkey necks now, but I drive out there to pick it up so I can ensure it's correct. I also use Burns for my red mince meat and tails if they remember! It's annoying having to go to two different places, but just means that I'm back to buying in bulk to save lots of trips! Probably the best people I dealt with were Canine Country Barf, though unfortunately their prices were just too high. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alyosha Posted October 3, 2011 Share Posted October 3, 2011 Another here that has had a rotten load from Just Food 4 Dogs. My first and last. Yuck. We're lucky that we have a small local butcher who has been doing mince and bones etc for ours, especially with our recent litter. Sometimes you can forge a relationship with a smaller butcher. Do you have any abbatoirs in your area that may sell offcuts direct? Sometimes good Greyhound supply places are a little goldmine as well. We're at the point of arranging our own large freezer in the shed, and going to the local sales every now and then for a sheep or two and home butchering. But we're lucky to be in the country and have experience with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
espinay2 Posted October 3, 2011 Share Posted October 3, 2011 If you are going to Burns it is not that much further to go to Luddenham. Fresh, and I have been happy with quality of what I was getting there but limited opening hours and not for the squeamish. Too far for me to go on a regular basis, and limited weekend hours do make it difficult (but they are not really a retail outlet after all even though they sell pet meat on site....) After buying from so many places that think 'dog food' means it can be rotten, I actually buy most of my chicken from Lenards outlets now. Never had any rotten frames from them and the price is still pretty reasonable if not the cheapest (cheaper than chucking it out or dealing with the stench that is for sure!!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inevitablue Posted October 3, 2011 Share Posted October 3, 2011 Try here http://www.sydneypetfoods.com.au/production.asp They do home delivery, and package all the meat for Petbarn, Australia wide, so the turn over is high. I've been in the mincing rooms, and it's pretty much raw meat in the mincer, then straight into cryovac packs. Not the cheapest, but certainly quality guaranteed. They also do discounts for people with ABN's or breeders prefixes. If you don't want to buy their 1kg cryovac packs call them and ask to buy in more bulk. The other place that I have been happy with is Petcare2000 at Caringbah. $21 for 5kg of roo, minced onsite. $5 for 2kg of chicken wings, frozen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tinhat Posted October 5, 2011 Share Posted October 5, 2011 I've always been happy with Petcare 2000, Taren Point Rd, Caringbah. They sell their meaty bones frozen and you can also buy the mince rolls frozen too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WreckitWhippet Posted October 5, 2011 Share Posted October 5, 2011 I buy my food direct from wholesale, who supply for human consumption. I get back wings and other meats through them. Have a look around at your local food wholesalers and ask for a catalogue, it's amazing what some of them supply and you can be gauranteed it's fresh and you could eat it. I think the minute you mention the work "pet", the quality starts to slip and to be honest I don;t think many people care, if they make your dog sick or not Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MonElite Posted October 5, 2011 Share Posted October 5, 2011 My dogs LOVE chicken that is slightly off, I would hae fed it to them. Anyway - I buy most of my meat from Human butches, as any chicken shop for a box of carcasses and they will sell it to you pretty cheap, I buy mine $5/10kg at westfields in Hurstville. Also asian butchers sell cheap offcuts. I buy chicken carcass mince from a local chicken shop for $1.20/kg and can get beef mince from a meat wholesaler for about $4/kg. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corvus Posted October 5, 2011 Author Share Posted October 5, 2011 I'm okay feeding them a little off meat, but I'd rather not feed them exclusively off meat for weeks on end. I know a dog that gastro from eating chicken that was a little off and she was quite sick with it. My dogs seem to think if it's been sitting around in open for a week, they should roll in it, but if it's been there for 2 weeks or more, it's food. It astonishes me what they can eat without getting sick, but I've heard the bugs in chilled meat are particularly nasty. Not sure if that's true, but at any rate I'm not keen on my freezer stinking like off meat. Who is the meat wholesaler you buy beef mince from? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MonElite Posted October 5, 2011 Share Posted October 5, 2011 Its in Hurstville, I cant recall the street name, it runs off Princess Hwy to the left, about 2-3 streets before Office works in Carlton (traveling to the city) Little industrial area with lots of smash repair shops etc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corvus Posted October 5, 2011 Author Share Posted October 5, 2011 Thanks. That's a fair bit closer than Burns or Myella or Luddenham. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MonElite Posted October 5, 2011 Share Posted October 5, 2011 Its wholesaler that supplies meat for human consumption, I eat the same mince as my dogs :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leema Posted October 5, 2011 Share Posted October 5, 2011 I just look out for specials in my junk mail, and go and buy a tonne when I can. Most of my dog food comes from the deli section of Foodland and IGA. They do get a lot of chicken, but they also get plenty of lamb. Sometimes even fish is on special! I have only recently upped my spending limit to $5kg, as it was $4kg until recently. There is also a butcher in my local area that is very fresh. It took a bit of looking around to find him, but I'm going to be getting all my carcass mince from him from now on. (I only really use carcass mince for 10% of puppy diets, but it's still a good filler if I get low). I've recently discovered that two pet stores near me are preservative free. This is cool, though I haven't needed to get anything from them yet. I think it's just a matter of shopping around and seeing what you can find. I've been living here 4 years, and it was only a year ago that I discovered that my local Foodland has chicken necks for $1.60 always! Most other shops charge $3.30. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westiemum Posted October 5, 2011 Share Posted October 5, 2011 Leema don't forget Jo's home brew at Adelaide Dog - although its a bit of a hike for you I suspect, if you're ever up on Payneham Road I suggest that you stop in there. Here raw mix is fantastic and only 4.50/kg. My guys love it. I just look out for specials in my junk mail, and go and buy a tonne when I can. Most of my dog food comes from the deli section of Foodland and IGA. They do get a lot of chicken, but they also get plenty of lamb. Sometimes even fish is on special! I have only recently upped my spending limit to $5kg, as it was $4kg until recently. There is also a butcher in my local area that is very fresh. It took a bit of looking around to find him, but I'm going to be getting all my carcass mince from him from now on. (I only really use carcass mince for 10% of puppy diets, but it's still a good filler if I get low). I've recently discovered that two pet stores near me are preservative free. This is cool, though I haven't needed to get anything from them yet. I think it's just a matter of shopping around and seeing what you can find. I've been living here 4 years, and it was only a year ago that I discovered that my local Foodland has chicken necks for $1.60 always! Most other shops charge $3.30. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raineth Posted October 5, 2011 Share Posted October 5, 2011 (edited) Corvus I would reccommend finding a good butcher or two. I buy the dogs' raw meat and bones from a butcher and I have a general cut-offpoint at $3.50 per kg... a bit more for the offal like kidneys, but they eat less of that anyway. the only thing I don't get from the butcher ischicken necks, which I buy from Coles for between $2.50-$3.50 per kg. everything is human grade and good quality and nothing is frozen so you don't have to go through the painful process of thawing and re-freezing. Edited October 5, 2011 by raineth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Asalei Posted October 6, 2011 Share Posted October 6, 2011 I buy Canine Country BARF, but maybe we can get it cheaper up here as they produce it in QLD. I buy a 12kg box for $50.00 which equals $4.16 per kilo. I don't remember ever having issues with these rolls and we've been using them now for well over 2 years. Only ones we had issues with her red composite, but I think that was more my girls than the food. I noticed when using the red meats that they were each vomiting a little amount often. I went back to white meats and haven't had an issue again. I believe it was my girls stomachs, not the food. I guess getting it down to NSW adds to the cost of the product. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minyvlz Posted October 6, 2011 Share Posted October 6, 2011 This is interesting. There are some pet meat suppliers in my area and they are almost always more expensive than human grade meats, so I never use them. The butcher in the mall here sells chicken wings for $1.99/kg and another butcher sells chicken at $3/chicken. This is in comparison to $4/kg for chicken wings from pet meat suppliers. Pet chicken mince at the butcher is $0.69 for almost 1.5kg while at the pet meat suppliers it is $3.50, while chicken necks are $1.50 butcher's but $3 from raw suppliers. Personally I feed mostly red meat so I get beef, pork and lamb at 5.99/kg. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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