Cost of Raw feeding...

[Nerrej]

Originally Posted By: Weber1bI have been considering raw and reading this thread makes me want to consider it even more.

Originally Posted By: mmarieMe too Weber1b! I've been interesting, but I figured it'd be pretty expensive. Reading this makes me feel more and more like I need to switch.

I just went and got my first raw items. I'm going to let sasha finish off the kibble and next week, the switch shall go into effect. I'm switching over cold turkey.

[onyx'girl]

I feed two: Kacie is 85-Onyx is 95#, they could both lose 5# of winter padding. Cost about $2 a day each including the supplements. There is no tax on this if purchased from a grocery store. Pre-made raw, or raw website purchases charge tax? I also give TOTW salmon a few times a week and a 30# bag is about $45. It lasts at least 2 months. We also have a chest freezer, upright freezer, and a full size fridge in the garage that is dedicated to raw and beer(DH gets mad sometimes that I am infringing on his shelves) I am trying to find a co-op in my area with no luck, I think I may have to start one!

[JerzeyGSD]

I buy anything that is less than $1/lb (the same price as the kibble she eats for breakfast.)

Jerzey is 84 lbs and eats about 19 oz of food per day (she only eats raw for dinner.) Although, I may have adjust that amount since she weighs more than I thought, but I'm going to see how she looks after a few weeks with 19 oz of food... if she's looking to thin I'll up the amount a bit.

Check out this website. You can download an excel sheet that will allow you to figure out how much you will need to feed your dog every day. I use the prey model, which does not add in any vegetables as a daily part of the diet.

I buy all of my food from the grocery store, so I probably pay much more than people that are able to order in bulk. However, I just scan the sales papers of all the local grocery stores online each week and go to buy whatever they have that is less than $1/lb. I'll also look at the meat that is about to expire and buy from that pile as well. What would help a lot is if you bought an extra freezer so, even if you have to buy from the grocery store, you can buy as much as possible in one sitting in case you don't have much luck the next week with sales.

[Lauri & The Gang]

Also remember - there are added cost factors involved.

Like not having to have your dogs teeth cleaned.

Less time you spend picking up dog poop (less produced).

Potential of less vet visits because your dog is healthier.

[canucme278]

My biggest suggestion is to look and see what trucks are delivering to cafe's ect in your area. I have a supplier that is wonderful and as long as our order is 500lbs they will deliver it right to my door. So I started a raw group in my area to get the amount of pounds needed to order...well needless to say it took off and we order sometimes 4000lbs at a rip. Its all in bulk so there is some packaging into smaller sizes but here is a rough idea of what it costs me per item..
chicken backs .30/lb
chicken quarters .59/lb
chicken necks .45/lb
turkey wings $.78/lb
Turkey Hearts .52/lb
turkey drumsticks .74/lb
chicken gizzards & hearts .93/lb
chicken liver .75/lb
pork neck bones .68/lb
pig tails .85/lb
hocks(lots of meat) .82/lb
pork hearts .99/lb
Rabbit $3.24/lb
we get our beef from a different supplier and its all .70/lb for heart, liver, ground beef, and green tripe and comes nicely packages in 5lb tubes.
The place where we get chicken, pork, turkey is a human food supplier so we can get stuff for us too which is a HUGE savings for example we get boneless skinless chicken breasts for $1.68/lb and they are AWESOME
We are also getting duck right from the duckie farm...its .50lb for duck carcass with neck attached.

[mmarie]

Originally Posted By: canucme278So I started a raw group in my area to get the amount of pounds needed to order...well needless to say it took off and we order sometimes 4000lbs at a rip.

I read that someone gets stuff from people off of freecycle, so I signed up for that and put a post. No responses yet for meat, BUT I did hear from a very helpful woman who lives near me. She let me know of a co-op in our area that orders together and we emailed back and forth a few times and I got some good pointers

It sounds like the power of banding together to buy in bulk is the way to go if you are unable to do so on your own