# For all of you that feed Raw- $$ question



## sprzybyl (May 15, 2008)

Could you figure out around a cost per pound of food? I am wondering how much more expensive it is to feed raw. We have been having BM trouble with Riley and switched to Orijen. She's doing really well, but today it cost me $63 for a 30 lb bag. I'm wondering how the cost of Raw compares to it. 

We were away for dinner the other night and she said with her cousins at my FIL's house. Unfortunately (despite me telling everyone over and over that we've had digestive trouble and are trying grain free) he fed her the food his dog eats (some crap from pet smart). (Don't ask me why he did that!!







) 

She seems to have done fine on it... no digestive trouble so far at all. Now my DH is wondering why we can't buy cheap crap if she wasn't tolerating the "good expensive stuff" (natural balance) and now we are spending even MORE money. We, as a family generally eat organic and very healthy. So i was trying to make the same argument for her...

I'm wondering if Raw is less than $2/ lb!!! I think he would be into it and more worth it than kibble (nutrionally?). As it turns out, my DH is unemployed for December so its a good time... 

Thoughts?!


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## DianaM (Jan 5, 2006)

Well we get 10 lbs of chicken quarters, our raw base, for around $6.50 (wal mart.. meh). So, 65 cents a pound. We round that out with hearts and livers, cans of mackerel (whatever canned fish is cheapest, eggs, and when we can we grab other protein sources. When all is said and done, we average between less than a dollar per pound to two dollars per pound, usually on the cheap end of the spectrum. Renji eats about a pound and a half per day, give or take; I no longer measure, I just eyeball and sometimes I'm generous and sometimes I'm not. Over the course of the year, the price can change depending on what's available. This time of year is jackpot season what with all the turkey parts on sale!


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

I feed raw and the meat averages under a dollar a pound. I have found a few sources for my food, but it is hard in certain areas to get good prices on dog food. See if there is a co-op around. You should have adequate freezer space so you can stock up, cheeper if you buy in quantity. #30Turkey necks, #50 Beef heart/tongue grind, #50Tripe, are all in my chest freezer








The supplements do add up. Vitamin E, EsterC, salmon oil and Gluco/chrondroitin. I don't feed much in the way of fruit/veggies. The most costly is the fresh(frozen)green tripe which for 50# is $100. I only give a spoonful every few days of this, though. The cost of not having to go to the vet for teeth cleaning can be deducted! My dogs don't shed like many GSD's that I am around, either.


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## CampPappy (Sep 10, 2007)

I think I average a little over a $1 a pound. I scout the adds each week and pick up whatever chicken is on sale....thighs....leg quarters etc .79 lb. Did really well this week with turkey parts.....29 to .79 a lb and whole chickens cheap. I pay a little more for chicken livers, ground beef, canned salmon, sardines etc. so it averages out. I still use kibble (grain free TOTW..$39-$45 for 30lb bag) mixed with the raw. Dogs are doing great.


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## DancingCavy (Feb 19, 2001)

I probably spend somewhere between $1-2/pound on food. It really depends on what deals I can get (and lately, I haven't been too fortunate). If you can get in with a co-op, you'll definately save a lot of dough. I have yet to find one so I do most of my shopping at the grocery store. I just moved and there's no Super Wal-Mart out here so I only have the once source.

Liver averages around $1/lb at the grocery store (whether beef or chicken--I haven't priced pork). Since liver only averages about 2.5% of the diet, a little liver goes a long way. Same with other organ meats like kidney or spleen.

Chicken is usually the cheapest and I think it's the base of most of our dogs' diets. It's an easy-to-digest source of RMBs and it's pretty easy on the wallet. Most of the time, the bone-in chicken is cheaper than the boneless. If you can buy in bulk, you're bound to save!

Beef and pork are the most expensive meats I frequently buy. I try and spend no more than $2.50/lb. Pork tends to go on sale for less than $2/lb more often than beef does. If I can find cheap beef, I stock up! If you can find beef or pork heart, they go for pretty cheap (around $1/lb). Same with tongue (if you can stomach it). You don't have to get prime cuts. Risa doesn't know the difference between a chuck steak and a ribeye.









Turkeys are very cheap this time of the year. I know some places sell them for as low as $0.70/lb. I have a 14-pounder in my fridge right now waiting to be hacked apart for my dog.









Canned fish works great too (and is a great supplement for the omega 3s that many meats lack). Sardines, salmon, mackeral, tuna (only sparingly as it's really high in mercury). Fish in a can usually runs just over $1/can.

There are other 'specialty' meats you can feed. Things like buffalo, chicken feet, venison, rabbit, lamb, goat, etc. These things tend to be expensive, however. Unless you know of a hunter who's willing to share some of their kill with you. I know one raw-feeder whose guys survive on venison as a base during the wintertime (Amaruq on the board).

The nice thing about the raw diet is that you can make it as cheap or as expensive as you'd like. Ideally, I think we'd all like to buy grass-fed meats but sometimes it's just not in the budget. The best idea is to invest in a chest freezer (if you can) so that you can stock up when things are on sale. I saw pork shoulder roast on sale for $0.99/lb while I was home and my freezer was in storage. Had I been able to access my freezer, I would have cleaned them out for that price!

As someone else mentioned, you can factor in decreased vet bills into your budget. Most raw fed dogs don't need to get dental cleanings and many of them have fewer 'chronic' problems.


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

I try to keep it under $1 per pound.

Lately I've been buying Bravo premades as I have a connection and I get them almost at cost. It's easier to use those with the puppy and the Cresteds AND it's much easier to do! But I'll soon be going back to the regular stuff.

I pay the following prices per pound:

Chicken leg quarters - $.69
Chicken backs - $.32
Chicken necks - $.41

Fish (Whiting) - $1.15

Turkey necks - $.65 - .82 (lower prices is for the hen - smaller - necks)

Ground Beef (75%) - $.99
Beef Hearts - $.85

Lamb - different products from $.59 - .99


Those are my staples. Then I add in the odd stuff a couple times a week - like tripe or beef brains.







Those I end up paying more for.


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## ahlamarana (Sep 22, 2008)

I also try to keep under $1 per pound for the most part. I can get whole chickens for $.69/lb and I found leg quarters for $.48/lb last week, so I bought all they had (100 lbs). The most I pay is $1.75/lb for rabbit, they get that that about once a month. I feed A LOT of wild game- deer, antelope, goose, duck, pheasant- that makes up most of their diet and it's free. 

Supplements do add up, I feed salmon oil, Vitamin E, Syn-Flex, and Esther-C regularly. I make my own yogurt, so that probably saves me about $30 a month.


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## KCandMace (Apr 8, 2008)

It is impossible for me to keep it at less than 1.50 a lb total cost. I am still searching for other avenues to get MM cheaper.


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## Brightelf (Sep 5, 2001)

Sarah, Grimm was on Origen, and he also had BM troubles. I looked at the cost of a large bag, plus the cost of shipping, and thought... for the same price or a teeny bit more, I can do raw for him. Nope-- the raw turned out to be CHEAPER. Go figure. I am in Germany, but this is what helps hugely:

For the RMB, find chicken legs *with backpiece attached*... I think in USA they call it "chicken quarters?" Anyway, this is a bigger, heavier piece of meat-and-bone.. and VERY cheap, especially by Walmart, (cheeeeap!) CostCo, SamsClub, BJs, etc. This piece ends up making up the bulk of the meal by weight. I then just toss in whatever "cheap off-cuts" the supermarket butcher usually needs to throw away. Some stuff doesn't go into groundbeef, so they can't even sell it that way. Head meat is an example.. this would be "trash" if they couldn't sell it to you. Again, even grocery store butchers may be able to do this for you! This means Kroger, Safeway, Publix, whatever supermarket you have. If not... find a butcher shop. They would love to very cheaply make some money off of the usually discarded beef head meat, even beef heart is cheaper than regular beef, etc.

Anyway, base your raw meals on a big fat hunk o' cheap RMB.. chicken quarters with back piece! Then throw in whatever cheap beef offcuts you can get. This is the staple of Grimm's diet. Sure, I rotate and he gets some lamb off-cuts, he gets some turkey neck sometimes, and even sometimes some sardines, canned mackerel, etc... but, this is easy to do cheaply! ESPECIALLY in the USA if you have a Walmart, CostCo, SamsClub or BJs!


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## Northern GSDs (Oct 30, 2008)

I am insanely jealous at the prices many of you are able to get in the US for your RMBs!


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## sprzybyl (May 15, 2008)

Thank you to everyone for your responses... its very helpful as me and my Hubby decide what we want to do. She actually almost completely stopped eating her kibble and wound up throwing up bile after a walk since she hadn't eaten in so long (its another post on the forum). its a shame because we are spending so much on the food! 

It's definitely helpful to have some experience to mull over, instead of just random information gathered from google.


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## lhczth (Apr 5, 2000)

I would say I average under $1/pound. The only thing I buy that costs over $1 are the beef hearts (and the occasional lamb hearts). I do buy in bulk and load up when things are on sale.


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

I thought I'd come back to this since I just put in an order for supplies ...

60 pounds of Pork Hearts
40 pounds of Chicken Backs
80 pounds of Chicken necks with skin
36 pounds of Ground Beef

That is going to cost me about $120-130 and should last me about two months feeding 1 small dog, 3 medium dogs and 1 growing GSD puppy.

I do pick up the occasional oddity here and there so maybe another $50 for the <s>three</s> two months.

So let's say $200 to feed 5 dogs for 2 months. That's roughly $20 per month per dog.









I also scored on about 30 pounds of FREE venison!!


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## zipfreer (Dec 7, 2008)

The more I read a feel I going to go towards a raw diet for my puppy GSD and my 7-year-old GSD I've found a great product, I was researching its a great way to transfer your dog to a raw diet from kibble it is called Honest Kitchen Dehydrated Dog Food*All-Natural Raw Dog Food http://www.thehonestkitchen.com
The great thing about this it cuts the cost feeding and all raw diet you know how expensive it can be specially if you have multiple dogs as I do but if you do the math.this product cut the cost without losing quality If you need more information on this food go to http://leerburg.com/honestkitchen.htm there is a video on the food, explaining it in more detail


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## mspiker03 (Dec 7, 2006)

I don't know if I am doing the math right, but according to their site, I should feed Leyna (weighs approx 65 lbs) approx 2.5 cups a day. This works out to $4.50/day. Yikes. I feed a totally raw diet and can spend less than $2/day (for 1.75 lbs of food) to feed Leyna (closer to $2 or slightly more if I am feeding her some good stuff - like fish, duck and emu).


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## DianaM (Jan 5, 2006)

THK looks good in a pinch such as for travel but for daily feed? No way! I can do much better for much cheaper on my own just by raiding the right grocery stores. Plus, I control exactly what goes into the food. 

Ingredients in Force: Hormone-free chicken, organic flaxseed, potatoes, celery, sweet potatoes, apples, alfalfa, organic kelp, honey, zucchini, green beans, cabbage, bananas, papayas, yogurt, basil, garlic and rosemary.

I grow basil and rosemary so that's free for me, celery is cheap, I would not add flaxseed ever nor potatoes regularly (it's just sugar, really), and the rest is pretty cheap and easy to process. I will give them credit for using organic chicken, that's where I am lacking. I also do not use kelp but feel I cover all the bases quite well. Obviously, your mileage may vary so if it works well for you then that's fantastic. I do think it would be a good option to have a bucket of THK on hand to toss in a scoop every now and then for the sake of variety. I always love variety!


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## DianaM (Jan 5, 2006)

Also, if your company has a classifieds ads system, send out a notice asking for hunter's meat or freezer-burnt meat. I just found two new sources of game meat by asking on mine! I can't wait until the first batch rolls in.


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