# Dabbling in raw



## eddie1976E (Nov 7, 2010)

I have been dabbling in raw here and there. Have some questions regarding appropriate amount of food for an 80 lb dog. Is 1/2 chicken (skinless), with a few chicken livers enough for an 80 lb dog as a meal? This was about 1.2 lbs of meat and bone.

It may not be nutritionally complete (or it may be, not sure)...feel free to comment. 

Mostly I would like to be able to visualize the correct amount of food needed per meal. 

I'm going to get a freezer and make the switch in the coming weeks, so trying to learn with out making too many mistakes. 

In the last few weeks I have given him raw beef, liver, heart, turkey necks and chicken. All with fish oil added. 

Thanks


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## eddie1976E (Nov 7, 2010)

He had soft serve after half a chicken dinner meal. Cut back a little and good stool. Is half a chicken too much food at once for the raw fed dog? I'm wondering if it is because he isn't used to raw.


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## wolfy dog (Aug 1, 2012)

1/2 a chicken seems a lot. Two livers as well (could be the cause for soft stool)


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## Flutter (Aug 2, 2013)

I think most people don't include organ until a few weeks into feeding raw, maybe week 3 or 4 providing your dog is handling it well. 

As for amount/weight, time will tell. Pick a day and do a weekly body condition score. Too low and increase his food by 10%, too high decrease it by 10%. I can feed my active 70lb dog 1lb of meat per day and he maintains well on that but is probably 1-2lbs overweight. He gets a mix of very lean meat to fatty (pork).


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## osito23 (Feb 17, 2014)

Half a chicken might be too much food at first. Did you take the skin off? Skin is fatty and could cause loose stools. Also I would be careful with liver because it is very rich and can also cause loose stools. I use chicken quarters because they are a good meal size (about 1lb each) and are much cheaper than whole or half chickens for me ($0.45/lb). I feed my 80lb 1.5year old male 2-3lbs/day depending on what I'm feeding and what we've done that day. 

There are some good raw feeding groups on Facebook that will help you learn more about raw feeding. Also try to network (check Yahoo Groups) to find a raw coop in your area for better pricing.


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## eddie1976E (Nov 7, 2010)

Thanks all. Yes, the chicken was skinless. Maybe it was too much of the chicken/liver combo. I reduced the next day and poops were fine. My understanding is that the dog should get 2-3% of his weight a day. That means 1.6-2.4 lbs. So, I was on the high end of the range. I thought quarter chicken had too much bone, figured add a little more meat. In any case, I'm trying to move to raw on the weekends and once I get a freezer I will get more into it.


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## carmspack (Feb 2, 2011)

"I use chicken quarters because they are a good meal size (about 1lb each) " and "I thought quarter chicken had too much bone"
chicken quarters have too little bone - too much phosphorous to calcium ratio --- necks , the frame with breast meat and legs taken off .

skins - here everyone is throwing them away and I am going out and picking up bags of skin that the butcher saves for me.

they are such a valuable source of collagen - and the fat is not too much and if the bird is free range there is the added benefit of omega 3 -- dogs need raw fat for neural health


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## osito23 (Feb 17, 2014)

I do not pull the skin off of chicken for an experienced dog, but I would for a dog new to raw.


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## Saphire (Apr 1, 2005)

osito23 said:


> I do not pull the skin off of chicken for an experienced dog, but I would for a dog new to raw.


Why?


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## osito23 (Feb 17, 2014)

Saphire said:


> Why?


Because the fat content can cause diarrhea in dogs not used to it. I'm not talking about seasoned raw fed dogs or puppies that were weaned to raw, but adult dogs that have been kibble fed their entire life while being transitioned to raw, which is the OP's dog. JMO of course.


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## Saphire (Apr 1, 2005)

Fair enough.

I've not run into that yet with my customers. The difference may be that my customers all use Feedsentials which helps with transition.


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## Jax08 (Feb 13, 2009)

carmspack said:


> chicken quarters have too little bone -* too much phosphorous to calcium ratio *--- necks , the frame with breast meat and legs taken off .


Contrary to popular belief, bone has a very high phosphorus content. Much, MUCH, higher than meat. so to say that there is to much phos. to calcium ratio is just not correct. I don't remember the numbers when I was creating my CRF dog's meals but the phosphorus in bone was shockingly high.


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