Raw/BARF Sample Diets

[skillie]

Could people post up here what they feed their newfs, it would greatly help anyone wanting to or currently feeding Raw/Barf to get sample diets from others. Maybe make a sticky of it. it would also help people who are feeding wrongly as it is a learning curve with BARF.

Right our diet for Charlie is 1% of bodyweight as we are trying to get his weight down.

Morning:
Beef pieces

Evening:
Chicken thighs, drumsticks, legs, wings
bananna, orange and apple blended and frozen into icecubes (he prefers them this way)
Glucosomine suppliment.
Cod liver oil

Sundays he gets tuna in sunflower oil, greek yoghurt and an egg

We are not feeding veg right now he doesn't really like it and we used to blend it and mix with ground beef till he turned against it. will try and come up with a new soultion if we can though.

So please post your daily menu and any tips you may have

 

[BlackLightning]

We feed our two 1 1/2% of their bodyweight each day. We were feeding 2%, but it's too high for our two and they gained weight. The amount can vary by Newf. My mentor feeds about 3% to her gang but they are much more active than our two. There is a bit of trial and error involved in getting your portions correct.

We follow the prey model, so 80% meat, 10% bone, and 10% organs/offal

I do not feed a specific meal plan with our two. On a weekly basis they get a mixture of the items below.

- organs/offal - half of which should be liver - organs are an important part of a raw diet as they provide essential minerals and nutrients that the dogs cannot get from the meat alone
- beef meat - chunks of beef with fat removed - I will buy roasts and cut them into portions, or I will get beef trim, remove the fat and serve as chunks
- turkey drumsticks - these things are BIG and have a good amount of bone, so I usually feed with a side of beef meat or pork meat to balance out the meat/bone ratio
- chicken - I only feed large pieces, so no wings, no backs - just quarters or larger to avoid gulping and choking
- mackeral - they eat a lot of fish! Out of everything I feed, their diet consists of a high ration of fish - heads, bones, fins, everything - just a whole, uncleaned fish
- pork - we buy full piglets and butcher them ourselves, so they eat everything from the head to their feet - no guts though, those are removed by the farmer
- green tripe
- Mutton and lamb ground or chunked when we can get it
- 100% sockeye salmon oil every day
- Sasha's Blend

I need another freezer! I think buying in bulk as much as possible helps keep the costs down. I am eyeing up buying another 17cubic ft stand up freezer - one just isn't cutting it. We can fit about 2 month's supply of food in the one freezer. I'd like to be able to store more! Especially since some items are harder to get on a regular basis (like the piglets).

 

[skillie]

Charlie has taken a turn against chicken he will forgo a meal rather than eat it i feed him rib steak also with bone a little veg, offal and fruit. Don't want to just feed him red meat only anyone else experience a dog who doesn't like raw chicken. I buy full chickens and hack them up so its not like he isn't getting the best of it!

 

[CMDRTED]

Tigger:

Breakfast - Bravo Chicken, Vegis (Rotating Carrots, Green Beans, Peas, Spinach), Fruit (Rotating Strawberries, Blackberries, blueberries, Raspberries, Banana, Apple), Supplements - Cranberry (Urinary Health), Blueberry (Eye Health), NR Supplement, Seaweed Powder, Zinc x2 per week, Vit E x1 per week, Salmon Oil 6000mg, Flaxseed Oil 3000mg, Cod Liver Oil 3000mg

Lunch - Turkey Necks x4 Depending on Size

Dinner - Bravo Chicken, Vegis (Rotating Carrots, Green Beans, Peas, Spinach), Fruit (Rotating Strawberries, Blackberries, blueberries, Raspberries, Banana, Apple), Supplements - Cranberry (Urinary Health), Blueberry (Eye Health), NR Supplement, Seaweed Powder, Zinc x2 per week, Vit E x1 per week, Salmon Oil 6000mg, Flaxseed Oil 3000mg, Cod Liver Oil 3000mg

Then on Sunday Tigger gets one "Meatless Meal" consisting of:

Meatless Sunday
Healthy, meatless meal. Since I have 5 Newfies, I make enough for all, for all day (except Tigger). So if you have less, you should be able to taylor this for your needs. You can also add or reduce/delete fruits based on avilability or preference.
Ingredients:
Yougrt - One large size tub of Plain Yogurt
Cottage Cheese - One Larg...e Size Tub
Blueberries - 2 pints
Blackberries - 2 pints
Raspberries - 2 Pints
Strawberries - 1 Medium or Large Package
3 Apples - cored (Gala's, Mac's, Braeburn's, or any red type apple)
2 Banana's - Peeled
1 Cup Salmon Oil
1/2 Cup Cod Liver Oil
1/2 Cup Flax Seed Oil
2 cans Vegetables - (Carrots, Peas, Greenbeans, Spinach)

On occasion added to regular Breakfast/Dinner:

Tripe
Red Salmon
Jack or Chub Mackrel
Red or Yellow Watermelon (Seedless)

 

[urneighbour]

I have been feeding 2% of their body weight however since my one boy has been neutered he has put on weight so I aim more for 1.5% for him but my Landseer newf who is also neutered does not put on weight so the percentages lean more to 2%.

The am meal is generally a boneless meal and the menu may include Kefir OR approx. 1 lb of beef chunks/pork chunks/ground chicken or turkey. Whether it is Kefir or a meat protein, I also include 1/4 of offal, a supplement called Feed-Sentials and Shemp Oil which is a combination of fish oil/coconut oil/hemp oil)

The pm meal is the raw meaty bone meal and is comprised of approximately 1lb of beef brisket/pork brisket/lamb flank/duck or turkey necks/ground turkey or chicken with bone/whole mackeral in addition to 1/4lb of green tripe (usually in the form of a frozen cube which they love).

We try to include at least 5 different types of protein over the course of a week to make it easier to ensure we are getting all of the essential amino acids and a nutritional balance. On occassion we may offer the odd mashed veggie but it is not part of their regular diet.

 

[ArtfulCharm]

Could people post up here what they feed their newfs, it would greatly help anyone wanting to or currently feeding Raw/Barf to get sample diets from others. Maybe make a sticky of it. it would also help people who are feeding wrongly as it is a learning curve with BARF.

Right our diet for Charlie is 1% of bodyweight as we are trying to get his weight down.

Morning:
Beef pieces

Evening:
Chicken thighs, drumsticks, legs, wings
bananna, orange and apple blended and frozen into icecubes (he prefers them this way)
Glucosomine suppliment.
Cod liver oil

Sundays he gets tuna in sunflower oil, greek yoghurt and an egg

We are not feeding veg right now he doesn't really like it and we used to blend it and mix with ground beef till he turned against it. will try and come up with a new soultion if we can though.

So please post your daily menu and any tips you may have

Just glancing at your menu, it looks like you are missing organ meat, which is VERY important. They don't need a ton of it, but like Kaila said, about 10%. Also you may want to try canned salmon or sardines (in water) instead of and/or in addition to the tuna. Tuna is ok, but not the best. I give Chloe a can of sardines for breakfast every other day.

Maybe instead of chicken you could try turkey? Or duck if you can get it. There is a raw feeders co-op close to me that has duck wings for something like $3.50 for a 5 lb bag. If you feed something like wings or turkey necks that have a lot of bone just make sure you add some muscle meat (ground turkey, beef, etc.)

Chloe loves her chicken, and I don't know what I would do if she didn't. That makes up most of her diet, and they are the perfect size. I quarter a chicken, give her the giblets when I am butchering, then she gets 1 quarter for dinner. So 1 chicken lasts me 4 days, and they are always on sale for pretty cheap. In the am she usually gets either a can of sardines, 1/4 lb of ground beef with an egg, or canned salmon. I add to those meals about 1 tsp of kelp and salmon oil.

I really would like to get more variety in her diet, especially more organ meat, heart and tripe. There is a place about 45 min from me that I can get all kinds of stuff, but I haven't been in a while. So for now she's getting the diet I described above, which she is doing good on.

 

[ArtfulCharm]

Also I probably feed a little less than most of the others because Chloe is only about 105 lbs.

 

[R Taft]

I feed both organ meat and RAW fish also...I use a lot of "bait-fish", they are about sardine to herring size and we feed them whole , raw....they are form a fish market and very cheap, because most people use them as bait.

I also concentrate on adding brassicas veggies to their diet, as they are supposedly cancer preventative (humans too). That is broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower. Carrots also make some of the bulk in the dogs dealing with overweight (Annabelle). My dogs also graze themselves on a lot of veggies.

Most of our organ meat is liver and hearts, though Annabelle refuses lamb's heart, they are loved by Katy.....We also use tripe and other stuff, from our butcher. Some of it being kidney and occasionally lung (which I hate).

We are extremely lucky as we have some of our own kill (beef twice a year shared with other people) and an incredible butcher, who keeps everything to a human consumption standard, even though it is for our dogs. We do not feed much chicken/turkey, only from the organic farm, where the carcasses come from. Annabelle has huge issues with chicken if it comes from those high production farms. Which makes me wonder what they feed their chickens (human grade)

I feed the dogs according to their weight, I feel the dogs and it makes no percentage sense as to how i feed them. Lukey get an enormous amount compared to the others and he is lean. Annabelle gets very little and she is borderline overweight. katy won't eat much at all. She self limits all the time.

Every evening they mostly get a bone...be it pork trotters (whole) or ribs, vertebrae or whatever. Bones are a very large part of our diet.....Poop too firm is the only time we reduce bones. We also add virgin coconut oil to their diet now ( on a trial for allergy free diet from a place called Augustine A+)

They all get glucosamine, kelp, chondrointon, vit C &E, Cold water ( salmon) fish oil or krill oil. And some special green freeze dried powdered brassica veg mix ( very new and they are in a trial group)

 

[luvmynwfy]

Hi
For nine years I fed Timber more or less:
70% muscle meat
10% Veggies
10% organ meat (half of which was always liver)
10 edible bone.
supplements

I had a separated freezer just for her meat. The muscle meat would include, beef, chicken, turkey, fish (trout fresh, frozen herring, canned salmon), venison, bison and lamb. It just depended what was on sale or, we'd go in on big purchases with other friends that fed raw, from May until October we had access to the venison and bison. Soft boiled eggs and yogurt. All meat was human grade.
Veggies included broccoli, carrots, celery, cabbage, butternut squash, brussel sprouts , peppers. No onions ever. As for fruit, maybe blueberries and raspberries when in season.
Organ meat - beef liver (she didn't care for chicken livers unless I sauteed them in a little butter and garlic powder - really!). Kidney and green tripe (feed outside), heart is more of a muscle meat.
Edible bone: chicken/turkey legs, necks and wings (tips removed), chicken backs, venison/lamb necks
Supplements included: 3000mg salmon oil, ubavet joint supplement, 1000mg of Vit C after age of five.

I have a great salmon cookie recipe and liver cookie recipe. pm if you need them

Recreational bones - marrow bones. I advise to feed with caution. Know thy Newf...Timber was not a voracious knawing or chewer. Once the bone was emptied of the marrow she was done with it. It gave her teeth a good cleaning without ever chipping or damaging them. I have known dogs that have chipped/damaged their teeth. Timber has never needed to have her teeth cleaned by the dentist.

I have always taken a lot of pride in making Timber's dinner and I take a lot of enjoyment watching her eat.

There are many books on feeding raw, my favourite is Kymythy Schultz. Although, I do not feed nearly as many supplements as she does.

All the best,
Marina

ps I fed about 2% - on average 2lbs, once per day, with a marrow bone 4 mornings/week. I use to fast her once per day from age 2years until 5ish

 

[skillie]

wow guys thanks for all the suggestions and sample diets. Chicken is sucha convenient think to pick up, i get two 8lb chickens for under €10. we do feed makeral, liver, tripe etc also but he isn't a big fan of these, we add cod liver oil, glucosamine and blended frozen fruit. looks like i'll just have to try him with some alternatives to chicken which may proove more inconvenient and expensive than chicken. oh we've had him on 1% since May as he was on a weight loss program but now he's back to 1.5% as he has lost 28lbs. thanks again

 

[mrsnamsherf]

If you want to keep him on the chicken, you may try searing the edges just slightly. It will give it more of a scent and be more appealing to him. I think I had to do this when I introduced raw chicken to Sam the first time...he had always eaten dog food before. You can also sprinkle Parmesan over the top. That's how I got my Sam to eat organ meat. He will now eat it without the Parmesan, but I like giving it to him.

Marie

 

[skillie]

he doesn't like turkey either we've discovered even without bone, he's the fussiest eater!!!!!!!! he cannot have just all beef which seems to be what he wants.

can anyone clarify the situation on Pork there seems to be lots of conflicting reports out there on how safe it is for dogs

 

[mrsnamsherf]

Sam eats pork on a regular basis, and so does my cat...and cats are more sensitive to bacteria than dogs. My rawfeeding group says it's safe, and I don't worry about it at all. However, I cannot remember specifically why they feel it is not a problem. :shrug: I usually buy Sam the shoulder roast and cut it into 1.5-2.5 lb chunks, and one chunk usually has the shoulder blade in it. He also has a whole pig leg, hoof, skin, and all in the freezer at this very moment.

Marie

 

[R Taft]

My dogs love Pork trotters....it is often available from one of our organic farmers