My litter of pups are now five and a half weeks old.  They are being weaned onto raw food.  I started weaning at just over 3 weeks with raw beef mince, but over the last four or five days they have developed runny poos.  I thought that maybe they were getting too much in the way of red meat so changed them over to chicken a couple of days ago and have started giving them some pro-biotic yoghurt as well to try to firm them up.  At the moment I don't seem to be having much luck.  The puppies themselves are very good weights with lovely shiny coats and are all happy and bouncy, so it doesn't appear to be getting them down too much.  They are drinking well and are not dehydrated.  It just seems a worry with the quantity they are passing and the fact that it is very runny.  I would have expected quite solid poops by now wouldn't I. Any help very much appreciated.

Have you wormed recently?

Could you be over feeding?

Is there any standing water where they exercise, I ask this as this is where Giardia can be picked up from, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giardia .

Hi, They were wormed at 2 weeks and 4 weeks with Drontal plus as per instructions.  They have got a pen in the garden in an area which is well drained, and they only go out when it is dry at the moment so there is no risk from any water.  As for over feeding... I feed meals at 6.00, 12.00, 17.00 & 22.00  and was advised to give them as much as they want.  I take it that's where I could be going wrong?

What is the best way to do it?  With my adult dogs I give them their meals as percentage e.g. 2.5% or 3% depending on whether they are working at the time.  Should it be the same with the pups but at the higher percentage.  From about 8 weeks I usually feed at about 5%.  Never had puppies before the 8 week mark before on raw so it's all a learning curve, but really want to do right by them.

My pups are 5 weeks old and they got diarrhoea as well -my husband gave them too much food per meal. It easily happens. Just cut down on the amount and if you give chicken mince with bone in, that is ideal to settle stomachs.

Did you worm the pups with Drontal Plus tablets? As one tablet is for 10 kilos it's much harder to get the dosage right than if you use Drontal Puppy Suspension which is what I use. My pups currently all weigh around 2.5 kilos (some almost 3) so it would have been difficult to get the dosage right  with tablets -that is another thing to consider I suppose.

Hi, yes I used Drontal Puppy Suspension.  The chicken mince hadn't got bone in which is something I've thought of.  I'll get some tomorrow with the bone in.  Like you say..that should help with firming them up.

5% from 8 weeks seems low. I fed 10% when my pup came home and didn't start reducing until around 7/8 mth once he seemed to stop gaining weight

Thanks for the advice Schnauday I'll give them 10%.