Transition from wings to quarters? And overall advice...

[JaimeZX]

So Kalypso is looking GREAT (pic at bottom) and I think that's 95% genetics and 5% good diet...
I think her dad is about 100 lbs and her mom is ~70-75. Kali is I think ~49lbs right now at 6½ months. (Not at all fat.) Hopefully she's on-track for a great adult weight!

So... currently Kali's diet is (breakfast and dinner):

* Three chicken (or duck) wings
* A small (quarter / 50¢ piece) sized piece of liver or kidney (pork or beef)
* Some kind of MM depending on what's on sale
* ¼ cup (about) of veggie glop

This is not inexpensive though... Even wings from Costco are like, $19 for a 36-pack... which lasts us 6 days.
Liver/kidney is $1.90/lb if I'm lucky.
MM on sale can be pretty cheap.
Veggie glop is essentially free.
Still - this is like, $85/month. Quite a bit more than even high-end kibble. Although we usually get the duck wings when they're on sale for $1.05/lb. Which is nice, but they tend to stink more.

Chicken legs are way cheaper but I'm concerned there's not enough bone in them. Would love to feed backs but I haven't found a source for them yet. POSSIBLY the Whole Foods by my friend's place, but I'm not sure about that yet.

I know as she gets bigger I can transition her to a chicken quarter for the meal... Would also love to have a deep-freeze so I can really stock up when stuff is on sale but unfortunately we don't have room for one in our current place.

Thoughts on her diet right now? Other general comments?

Thanks.

[Lauri & The Gang]

You really need to feed by the WEIGHT of an item - not the size or count.

At 6.5 month and around 50 lbs I found be feeding the following amounts;

Raw Meaty bones = 1 - 1.25 pounds (she should be able to handle legs, thighs, leg quarters, necks - basically ANY part of a chicken)

Muscle Meat = 1 - 1.25 pounds

Organ Meat = 1 - 1.5 ounces

[Kelly&Kip]

Kip has been eating raw chicken quarters since he was about 4 months old (much to the chagrin of his former vet ~ we parted ways due to his strong opposition to my feeding raw).

[JaimeZX]

Originally Posted by Lauri & The Gang

You really need to feed by the WEIGHT of an item - not the size or count.

Right. That's based off weighing the different items a while back and using it as an approximation. Guess I could recalculate to make sure it's still appropriate.

Raw Meaty bones = 1 - 1.25 pounds (she should be able to handle legs, thighs, leg quarters, necks - basically ANY part of a chicken)

Okay, but related question: how is a chicken quarter considered? (I mean, does that = RMB+MM?) Or do you have to supplement additional RMB because there's too much meat? Or more MM?
Etc.

Originally Posted by Kelly&Kip

Kip has been eating raw chicken quarters since he was about 4 months old.

Cool, thanks.

[Lauri & The Gang]

I feed chicken quarters as RMBs.

[JaimeZX]

Thanks, Lauri. I've referenced your site extensively over the last several months. (I appreciate that you keep updating it!)

So when I was thinking "chicken quarters," I was thinking "whole fryer cut into four parts." Is it easier than that?

Also.

If I'm expecting her to be 70-75lbs (based on her parents), and she's right at 50lbs right now... and she's a 3-4 (activity level) based on your website, then each meal should be about 0.85 lbs... does that check?

Thanks again. Really want to make sure we're getting this right and not shorting her nutrition.

Oh - one suggestion? On your "what to feed" page, if you could identify what you consider RMB vs MM that'd be great. Like what is a chicken leg? Too much meat to be considered RMB, right? But it IS a bone... I still don't get some of this stuff.

[bellagriff]

I haven't been feeding raw for too long, but with my bit of experience and knowledge from research I will do my best to give you some input.

If it has a bone - it's a RMB. That includes chicken quarters (leg with thigh attached, sometimes called saddle legs), legs, wings, backs, necks, etc. Obviously the % of bone per source of RMB might differ, so just take that into account. We feed Bella (our almost 7month old pup) chicken quarters for her RMB for the most part.

If it doesn't have a bone, its MM. So chicken breast, pork butt roast (these can have bone sometimes), chicken/turkey gizzard, etc.

The general guideline is 45% RMB, 50% MM, and 5% OM - BUT you really do need to cater to your dog. Start with this, and then change as necessary to get "rockstar poop!!"

Lastly, you mentioned she is about 50lbs, and you're thinking about 1.7lbs per day (assuming two feedings/day). Laurie suggests feeding about 7% of CURRENT body weight until puppies reach about 8 months. Granted, again you need to cater to your own puppy, because 7% of 50lbs is 3.5lbs daily. Bella is currently 60lbs, but I think we are going to actually start decreasing her food slightly from the 3.5lbs she's been getting.