# HELP! Negotiating price with a meat packing place



## Oisin's Aoire (Jun 17, 2013)

I found a meat packing that is will to do a grind for me! They have all of the "red food" which is the stuff they would not normally sell . Like all the organs , green tripe , etc.

Can someone tell me ingredients , percentages of each? I tried looking around but see various info.The most popular formulas I see are starting with 40% RMB? I do not plan to do veg or fruit.

Also , what percent of weight to feed per day:

GSD pup , 5 months old , 48 pounds , moderate activity
Boxer/hound mix , 90 pounds , should be 80 pounds , moderate activity
English Mastiff , 8 to 10 years , 130 pounds , very low activity

Thanks!!


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## jae (Jul 17, 2012)

what place? i swear i looked everywhere in NNJ and found not a single meat distributor except for chickens.

2-3% of dogs weight in raw food.
what i do is 10% of that formula in organs, 40% rmb, 50% mm
green tripe is usually on the side for me, i add it to each meal.


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## Oisin's Aoire (Jun 17, 2013)

Green Village Packing , by Morristown.


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## Oisin's Aoire (Jun 17, 2013)

excellent , thanks. So in the grind , have them include the RMB , MM , OM mixture..then add tripe here and there..I would also sometimes go with canned mackerel , raw eggs , yogurt , maybe some pumpkin.

Also , what are the no nos? I am aware no wild caught boar/pig...and no wild pacific fish.. anything else?


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## Oisin's Aoire (Jun 17, 2013)

they have lungs and spleens..is that good OM?

Sorry so many questions..I just want to get it right , and then just place a monthly bulk order!


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## Jax08 (Feb 13, 2009)

Green tripe is considered a MM. I would have that ground separate so you can feed a bit once a day, or a few times a week.

Hearts, trim from the ribs, tongue are all MM.

Liver, kidney, pancreas, brain, spleen are all OM. Not sure what I would consider lung.

The amount of RMB depends on the bone. Is it a chicken quarter? Thigh? Leg? That would be a higher percentage because of the amount of meat on it. A back or neck would be a lower percentage because per pound, there is more bone.

If I feed a chicken quarter, I up the percentage to about 60%. Necks and back I give about 45%. 

5% OM per day.

Can I ask why grind the meat and bone? Unless their teeth are bad, there is no reason to. And you are losing the benefit of cleaning their teeth while they are chewing their bone.

and btw...I would not advertise which butcher is getting you green tripe since it's illegal to sell.

I don't know what a puppy should eat per day and the adults will vary depending on their needs. Jax at 62# eats 14-16 oz per day. Banshee at the same weight eats abotu 20-22 oz. per day.


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## Oisin's Aoire (Jun 17, 2013)

The low down if I do not go grind and DIY it ..I think it may be way more economical than a chub. What do you think about these $$s? I would have to pick up

60 pound box of cow organs(hearts , brains , spleens , lung , liver) $35 dollars
60 pound box of green tripe $45 dollars
40 pound box chicken backs and necks $25 dollars 

That seems almost too cheap?


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## Oisin's Aoire (Jun 17, 2013)

Green Tripe is illegal to sell???


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## AngelaA6 (Jan 20, 2013)

Oisin's Aoire said:


> Green Tripe is illegal to sell???


Not that I know of? At least in WA it isn't. My butcher has a special freezer just for dogs and also makes his own ground dog food. If your butcher won't sell it to you I found this site: https://www.mypetcarnivore.com/inde...tegory_id=34&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=130 when I was looking in to going raw (ended up being to pricey for me since Gunther doesn't mix well with chicken).


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## Jax08 (Feb 13, 2009)

Oisin's Aoire said:


> Green Tripe is illegal to sell???


Yes. Anything that is not for human consumption. If it's being sold, it's probably on the sly...or was before you put his name out there! lol


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## Oisin's Aoire (Jun 17, 2013)

Oh , the reason for the grind is to keep it simple . At this point the only thing keeping me from feeding my dogs RAW is kibble I can just measure in a cup and get it right. Not trying to cry the blues or anything , and I know a lot of peope are stretched way more thin that I am ( mentally at least lol ) ..but basically I have 3 kids 6 and under and both boys age 5 and 2 are disabled. I am lucky if I don't run out of juice boxes during any given week. I have 40 hours a week of therapy for the kids , lots of it in home..it is hard to get ANYWHERE and half the time my husband and I wind up ordering pizza for the family because we didn't get the food shopping done.

I was going to go with a premade , but wow pricey. That is what had me calling around local butcher to see if they would do a complete grind for me for less. Slice , weigh , and feed . 

Plus , my little 2 year old has had some immune system issues in the past , and having the bone ground means less spreading around of the raw food , less cleaning the area. 

I thought the teeth benefits mostly come from the enzymes in the raw diet , and that I could them an occasional meaty shin bone for chewing?

Anyway , looking at the savings buying the whole frozen ingredients , I am thinking I can pick it up once a month on Saturday when my husband is home , and just spend a few hours after breaking it up into individual meals . If that works , I'll take the savings over the convenience of a ready to feed , complete grind


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## Jax08 (Feb 13, 2009)

Give them a chicken foot a few times a week. That will keep them clean. Personally, I think there are added benefits to chewing the whole food. When we chew it activates digestive enzymes and saliva. Same for them.

I spend a weekend every few months bagging up food into daily portions. Banshee, who is fed ground, we bag up in about 5# per gallon bag. Then just weigh it out at meal times. It only takes a few minutes.


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## Oisin's Aoire (Jun 17, 2013)

Thanks  They have chicken feet too ..all the prices seem pretty reasonable , if not suspiciously low. Another reason to go no grind for now..they seem to be nice and the local butcher sent me their way..but I like to see what I am buying especially with a new place, a grind kind of precludes you from seeing the ingredients.

Placing an order today for estimated 1 month of food , will be ready in a week. 

I wanted to start next week anyway , we'll all be home all day so if someone has to go out NOW type thing I can take them out right away.

I am mosty doing this for my aging Mastiff. 3 years I have had her ( she was about 5 when I got her), can't find even among the most expensive holistic kibble that does not give her the runs. She just constantly leaves puddles of poop ( sorry TMI) , and now even with daily gentle brushing when you go to pet her you have a fur glove on. She is slowing down. She looked and pooped better when I got her..she had survived in the woods in the Pine Barrens of NJ ..we think on hunting. An old age home was her go to place for kibble , but there was nothing else around and they only saw her once a week or so. They did have hunters reporting half eaten deer carcasses around. Now in my yard she regularly catches birds before they can take off..often 4 feet in the air. It was fascinating to watch her stalk..I do stop her now when I catch her stalking. She shocked me the first time I witnessed it. Did not realize she had a 4 foot vertical lol

Anyway , she is not herself lately..blood work came back ok , just chalked up to the fact that she is old for an English Mastiff. Her fur looks awful , een when she gets a bath she smells sour within a day . I had wanted to go raw with her and my other dog when I got her 3 years ago..but I promptly found out I was pregnant again and we were paranoid about food borne illness. My husband had a baby born with toxoplasmosis in his family , it was horrible . She got it from undercooked lanb they think. Anyway , he was particularly sensitive to it , so I obliged.

Baby is 2 now ,and getting healthier by the day thank goodness , we have a new addition ( 5 month old GSD) that we want to give a great diet and start to ..so the time is hopefully right. 

Thanks for all your help.

I know I have been rambling , so I'll ask this again..are there any "do not feed" raw items besides wild caught boar and certain types of ocean caught fish?


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## Sri (Apr 25, 2013)

I have been looking for green tripe in NJ myself! I will PM you....


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## Sri (Apr 25, 2013)

For your mastiff's fur, have you tried rubbing in a little coconut oil and then brushing it? You can get it at trader joe's or even most supermarkets nowadays.


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## AngelaA6 (Jan 20, 2013)

Supplementing with fish oil helped loads with Gunther's coat. It was a little wiry and dry but once I started supplementing (and switching his food from the science diet stuff the shelter has..no offense to them, they can only do so much and I'm thankful for them) it helped loads. Raw I've heard does wonders for skin and coat but coconut oil and fish oil seem to help as well


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## Oisin's Aoire (Jun 17, 2013)

Thanks! I am very allergic to anything coconut . Odd , I know..I have to be REAL careful with beauty products lol

The best way to describe her fur is oily/pasty , and she smells yeasty though I can find no areas of irritation or yeast overgrowth . Not a great smell.


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## Oisin's Aoire (Jun 17, 2013)

@ Sri , just answered your PM


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## Lauri & The Gang (Jun 28, 2001)

So far everything you've mentioned is ok to feed. If you can toss the dogs outside once or twice a week with a chicken leg to crunch up it should take care of their teeth.


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## Oisin's Aoire (Jun 17, 2013)

Thanks  I pick up my order Friday day . Hope it looks as good as it sounds..the prices see almost too reasonable!


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