B.A.R.F.question

[littlerosieuk]

I have been doing alot of reading and am trying to do the raw food diet. Its all going well but can someone tell me why not to feed pork?
For those of you who feed chicken wings, backs and necks how many a day do you feed an average Newf?
Thanks for any help.

Janet

 

[Angela]

Hi Janet,
Can't answer the pork question but I give Dudley who is 165 lb, rather large boy, 3 backs each morning. I used to feed 2 necks and backs but now can't get the necks.

 

[Sailorgirl]

I've never heard not to feed pork, nor read it anywhere. I give my two pork necks and ground pork on a somewhat regular basis. I don't feed chicken wings at all, but I feed a total of 2% of their body weights (a combination of raw meaty bones, muscle meat and organ meat) each day, which is I think a fairly common guideline.

 

[Lola Bear]

I feed pork ribs/ground pork and have never had any problems.

 

[Capri]

I neither have heard of anything as such.. maybe someone said that meaning the bones the animal stands on (=legs)? They _are_hard_ bones and so not even newfs can bite them to pieces.. (good for teeth cleaning though) if the newf has got bad teeth the teeth might break???
..just improvising, but i really don't know the true reason.. you should really ask it from the person you heard it from..?

 

[littlerosieuk]

I thought that I read it somewhere but I am probably wrong.If we can feed any raw bones it gives me more scope.
I dont know anyone in person who feed B.A.R.F.
and most people seem to be against it but it does seem the best food possible in my opinion so we will see how we go.
Neither of the dogs have been weighed since last October so I am having to guess their weight until the next vet visit.
Thanks
Janet

 

[BoundlessNewfs]

Janet, I don't feed pork to our dogs, because they don't tolerate it well...but that may just be our dogs. If it works for yours, then use it.

 

[luvmynwfy]

Hi

I've heard that you must freeze pork first or there's the risk of Trinchinosis (spelling?). I know a lot of raw feeders who do feed pork (it's usually cheaper than beef) and they've never had any problems. Some raw feeders and totally against feeding any weight bearing bones (arms and legs) from large animals like cows for the fear that a large enough dog (like a Newf) may actually be able to crush or splinter off a piece. The fear is they may choke on it or it may puncture something inside as compact dense bone isn't digestible like necks or ribs. You have to feed digestible bone though, chicken/turkey necks, backs, legs, wings. I do feed lamb legs (these are weight bearing but its from a young animal). Her daily diet is 2lbs to 2.5 lbs. 70% muscle meat, 15% edible bone, 10% veggie mashm, 5% organ meat, nuts, supplements (approximately).

I personally give the marrow/soup bones which look like femurs cut crosswise (never length wise) for my Newf to knaw on - good for her teeth and pleasure chewing.

My motto with this diet is "know thy dog". My Newf is not a powerful chewer. I don't feed pork. I don't have a fear of it I just have access to a lot of other kinds of meat. My girls is nutso for fish!

good luck and good for you for going to home made diet!

Marina

 

[saddust]

Regarding pork... commercially raised/processed pigs are no longer fed "slop" - they are fed grain-based pig food so there is no longer a risk for trichonosis and in the states at least - all pork (as is most meat) is frozen before being processed for sale.... If you get pork from a "non" usda source (local farmer, 4H fair, etc.) then you may want to deep freeze longer in case they were fed meat based slop... This is the same reason you never want to feed any wild bear or boar, or other carnivore, etc. because they do eat meat and do still carry the trichonosis parasite...

Just an FYI....

 

[Diana]

I have just finished reading Kymythy Schultz' book on natural nutrition and she states that pork is fine to feed but apparently some animals have problems digesting it.

We are also attempting to do the raw food but I am finding the cost to be astronomical!! The only reasonably priced muscle meat I can buy is ground beef - ground turkey or chicken is very expensive and the EFA supplements are pricey as well. I have been buying 'Mountain Dog Food' which is frozen ground turkey or chicken with bone in but my guys really seem to prefer eating their ground meat separate, then having the chicken necks for dessert.

 

[BoundlessNewfs]

Our butcher will order beef heart (a muscle meat, not considered an organ), and if I order 20 pounds at a time, I get it for about 60 cents a pound. 20 pounds is roughly 3 beef hearts. Chop it up, and put it through the food processor, and you've got some cheap ground beef. Unfortunately, our Lucy can't "do" beef, so she gets the pricier chicken...although we can quite often purchase whole raw "fryer" chickens for about the same price as the beef heart. Just get some sturdy kitchen shears or a good meat cleaver, to chop into portion-sized chunks.

 

[littlerosieuk]

I always think of heart as organ meat but they say heart is made of muscle so that makes sence.
I canget heart very cheaply and the butcher keeps some in the freezer for me, mostly lamb but sometimes beef.
How often can thay have heart?
Up until now I have cooked heart then chopped it up but now we are feeding raw I guess I will have to chop it raw, yuck.Dont know if I can cope with raw liver though.Suppose I will get used to it.
Janet

 

[newf-elf]

I feed BARF, based only on beef meat. And it's great for Ben. Cca 2 kg per day.

 

[Leslie]

I don't feed pork but it's because it gives my dogs heinous gas and not very nice poops either. But I know lots who do and are fine.

 

[Diana]

Angela, when you feed Dudley his 3 backs, what else is he getting? I am worried about giving the correct amounts of food. Teddy is about 155 pounds but only 1.5 years old so should he be getting more than the 2% of his body weight?

Last night I ground up liver and tripe in the food processor to add to the ground beef. The stench was unbelievable but hopefully the boys won't notice it in their food...they tend to spit out the liver chunks if I just cut it up.

 

[csk1134]

I'm curious why you grind it up? I know alot of people used ground product, but you don't have to grind everything.

My dogs get beef hearts whole. It is considered a muscle meat, and 1 heart is a whole days meal for them. I dont do it often, since there is no bone, but it's a treat. They love it!

 

[Leslie]

I can tell you that with newfs, you just have to experiment on the quantities. My little 37 pound crack head eats 10 ounces of ground meat a day, but if I fed that to Stoli, porker!! Start at 2% and then keep a careful eye on the ribs (your dog's, not what you're feeding

). I've seen different percentages for meat to meaty bone, anywhere from 60% bone to 80% bone. You'll have to do the research and decide what's best for your dogs. And just when you figure it out, the season will change and you'll have to adjust all over again.

And Coral, when I first started the dogs on raw, they wouldn't chew well enough so I started grinding or buying ground. Now, they pretty much eat anything except peas. I grind the veggies because they just have a hard time digesting them if I don't. And I just KNOW my Bailey girl would swallow a heart whole without chewing once. Piggy.

 

[winterwindnewf]

I dont know anyone in person who feed B.A.R.F.>>>

I feed BARF although the raw feeding community will tell you that they prefer the term "raw feeding". I feed pork quite a bit and my guys tolerate it very well. I do not ever feed the fat. Our staple meat for three of my dogs is chicken... Cyrus hates chicken so he gets the pork more often, they all get beef and turkey.I also feed lamb necks, Salmon heads and sardines, turkey necks and chicken backs. I do use a vitamin and mineral mix once in a while to reassure myself that the diet is balanced.

No grain of any kind and no veggies.

 

[BoundlessNewfs]

Coral...I chop or grind most larger pieces of meat, just because I don't like them dragging a huge chunk around on the floors to chew hunks off of them. It's purely for my benefit, because they make less mess this way. I'm sure the girls would be perfectly happy to gnaw on a whole chicken in the middle of the kitchen floor...but ewwwwww, the mess.