Hi All

As you all know i have been feeding robbie raw meat now for some time using natural instinct complete and pure meats, i have recently changed homeopathic vets and she has advised we now start to introduce a new meat protein very slowly then gradually building up to different selections of meat, i have been feeding chicken wings for breakfast and have this week introduced lamb rib bones from my butcher but found them to be expensive around £3.50 for these, i did post another question re these but am still having problems getting the measurements for each meal and whether i have got the right lamb bones or not as people think these were expensive for what i got.
I need to be feeding 250g per day for robbie as he needs to put on some weight, so i weigh out 125g of chicken wings for breakfast which depending on size are usually 2 wings, then he has 125g of mince meat for evening meal, the problem with the lamb bones are that he needs quite a few of these to make 125g so should i give him 1 lamb rib bone and then put some other meat on top? Sorry to sound stupid but i don't want to under feed him then him lose weight again as he always seems hungry.
I have looked at the prize choice blocks but not keen on these as find them watery the freeflow mince is good but not all varieties and have found a lot of people favour raw to go and i must admit they do quite a few varieties of these so may look into feeding him this for evening meal, just need to get these bones for breakfast sorted out.
I am not sure what i need to be asking for when i go to the butchers do i need lamb rib bones or breast bone? I cannot afford £3.50 each time and only getting 5 meals out of this for weight wise, any ideas where i am going wrong?

What sort of lamb rib bones are you feeding? Is it actually ribs - as in stongish bones with little meat on them or breast of lamb? The breast of lamb has very soft bones in it and a good amount of meat and it is easier to cut up into smaller pieces. If it is breast of lamb you are feeding then you wouldn't need to add any meat to that at all - just feed 250g for a meal.

I got lamb rib bones as i was told to up his bone content because of his anal gland problems thats why i started him on chicken wings but have now been told to introduce lamb bones aswell, not sure if breast of lamb would be enough bone for his glands though, very confusing as to what i need to buy thats why i was doubtful of this raw feeding as i don't know what i need to ask for.

If he will tolerate pork, then why not try some spare ribs?
Actually..... if you ask your butcher for lamb spare ribs, then you might get what you were hoping for!

> very confusing as to what i need to buy thats why i was doubtful of this raw feeding as i don't know what i need to ask for.

Have you joined the raw feeding site BritBarf? It is full of very knowledgeable people who are very willing to share their knowledge and experience and would be able to answer the questions you have about raw feeding :-)

Just a point britbarf is just that barf feeding be aware that barf is different to raw meaty bones which I think is the avenue hamish is going down. Both are fine just dont want her more confused

Just to point out Britbarf is just that barf feeding

No it's not, it's for chat about all types of raw feeding. There are a lot if RMB style feeders on the list.
Taken from their home page...

'Britbarf is a group mainly for those in the UK, discussing feeding dogs any raw diet. . . . . .  NOT just a 'Barf' type diet.'

can someone post the link for britbarf and how do you go about joining?

My apologies I did join for a while but found the discussions were barf based. Thats what you get when you assume things lol :)

Lol No worries.
It's great for general advice on what meats/cuts/bones etc are best, and for advice on suppliers, where to get bargains or new research etc. Even if you don't necessarily want to feed the same way, it's good to chat to like minded (raw) feeders. But as I said, there are a lot on there who don't feed the BARF way, of feed a mixture of BARF and RMB. Worth a look anyway. :)

groups.yahoo.com/group/BritBarf/

Takes a while for them to accept your request. Did mine anyway, but that was quite a while ago so perhaps they've gotten faster!!

> My apologies I did join for a while but found the discussions were barf based. Thats what you get when you assume things lol

No problem :-) The name would make one think that but it in fact welcomes everyone - raw feeders, barf feeders, prey model, kibble and raw mixed feeders and those who also feed just kibble. The owner of the site doesn't push his ideas on to anyone but is very experienced and very knowledgeable and the members are all friendly.

I suggested joining it as Hamish could post her questions there and guarantee that someone with a lot of knowledge would be able to help her understand raw feeding and there will most likely be members who have had the same issues with their dogs and would be more than willing to share their experiences and solutions with her :-)

In that case good idea.:)

Can you phone round a few butchers?  Mine are great, I get four boxes of chicken carcasses per week, to share with someone else who has a lot more dogs than me; there are between 40-60 portions in each box, depending on the size of dog, and I only pay £2.50 per box.  I also get lamb bones for free, and although I didn't get many last week, it's generally been between 15-20 rib cages that give me about six portions.  You butchers sound incredibly expensive by comparison!

I can't remember who I've sent my barf guide to, but if you pm me your email address, I'm happy to send you a guide as to what I feed my dogs.  It is only a rough guide and I don't stick to it rigidly myself, but it does show all the vitamin and mineral content of different foods, and tells you what they do.  It also has weights for my dogs, which are Labradors, so may give you an idea of amounts for your dog, I've no idea what breed you've got I'm afraid. 

I have phoned round all the local butchers and got the same reply that they don't have any left over lamb bones to sell on for dogs, looks like they only order lamb breast on the bone for special orders for some reason, bit worried when they said about lamb bones shouldn't be fed to dogs though hope they are wrong about this.
I have pm'd you privately my email addy would appreciate the barf feeding guide as i am finding it quite difficult to know the amounts to give of each.