I'd love some advice with my litter please. They are [large breed] and they are 2 weeks old tomorrow, there are 8 of them in total, all very big and chunky.

Mum is starting to look seriously thin in the last few days despite eating 5/6  (big) meals a day and extra treats and things.

They are all scurrying to her as soon as she enters the whelping area. And she's not overly keen on feeding for too long lately either.

What can I start to wean them on now? I'm from the UK if that matters?

If I were you I would start now, a friend who has a largish breed starts to wean when the pups eyes start to open. They feed all their dogs raw so pups are weaned onto very finely minced(almost ground)beef or chicken. Pups don't need manufactured milk(i.e.milk not from mother)& they should be able to need less from mum. Boiled cool water can be also made available soon too. Be prepared for regular puppy cleaning as they will manage to get there food everywhere in the next few weeks. My friend starts weaning feeding one pup at a time so they can record the amount of food taken & it ensures all the pups gets they share, they later feed together once the pups get the hang of solids. Every litter seems to vary as do the pups in their eating rates

TBH all the fit bitches I've seen that have had pups always lol a bit on the thin side

Thank you for your help tommee. Can I just the type of mince that I would buy for myself and grind it down? Or is there a dog mince?

I've never started before the END of week 3, but did use raw lean human's mince - but just enough to cover a thumb- nail once a day to begin with.   This is woofed down and the temptation is to give more, but don't, just yet.  They may be big and chunky but don't be fooled - at that age, their digestive systems are still very immature.    I'd get some goats milk in, and offer it four times a day, warmed, for now.   Mum may look like 2 planks strapped together at the moment, but she will come back once the puppies stop making such demands on her.    My message has to be to take it easy and don't try to rush into weaning too early.

Don't force her to be in with them - they will now be developing TEETH and they hurt!   But having her feed them the majority of their nourishment still is still best - hopefully for another week.

My experience with Basset puppies, which are big!

My friend uses the same mince but more finely ground that they feed their adults. They do mince their own, but you can use human grade mince & mince again.

Not much at first obviously as they don't have huge stomachs. I've never given healthy puppies any form of milk & when I've helped my friends with their litters not given them any either.

Milk is produced by the bitch from the food & very importantly water they eat/drink. Bitches can need quite a lot of extra food & water as they produce milk on demand. Sounds like you are on the right track smaller but more frequent meals & let her decide when to feed the puppies.

Dogs wild ancestors' offspring tended to be fully weaned by 4 weeks of age & the more primitive breeds seem to also be weaned early. A lady who lives just over the hill from me has Canaans & her puppies(on the rare occasion she breeds)are always weaned totally by 5 weeks or earlier. They are quite a feral type of dog as she likes to use wild born or 1st generation on from wild born males.

Thanks tommee and mamabas, your advice has really helped.

I'll try them with a little ground mince tomorrow and see how they go because poor Bella is giving her all and she's wasting away

Again I'm so thankful for your experienced advice.

I try to wait until the end of week 3/beginning of week 4.  Just as human babies are best on only mum's milk for as long as possible, so I think it benefits the puppies to stay on mum's milk as long as possible.

If mum is lean, I'd try to feed her up more and be sure she is getting some carbs and fat.  (During reproduction and lactation is the only time a dog needs carbs.)  You can also try supplementing with fenugreek to improve milk supply.

I offer raw from 2 to 2.5 weeks of age, they may not eat much but they do learn about the new smell, taste and texture.
I always add a little warm water to mince at the beginning and mash/mix it well, it makes the meat  more slippery and easier for the puppies to eat.

With my large breed I offer minced beef from 2 -3 weeks. I get ordinary mince from the butcher (Freeze before thawing to feed so buy and package into small potions first then thaw as required) We start with a little ball of mince about the size of a pea for one meal on the first day, then same size but twice the following day. gradually building to 4 meals at 7 days and increasing the ball size, by 10 days later they are usually all piling into a bowl full without any assistance. I do not feed any milk but give water in a flat heavy dish just half and inch in the bottom until they are bigger. within 6-7 days I introduce tripe and all sorts of different minces. Let Mum decide what times and how long she spends with them. Big breed puppies have BIG mouths and soon want bigger balls of meat !!! By 8 weeks they have also been given a good quality dried high meat content kibble to crunch on as well because not everyone wishes to raw feed. I find if I leave a bowl of kibble in overnight its often gone by morning ! Never puts them off wanting 4 square meals during the day !

Aren’t we supposed to freeze beef mince and defrost it before feeding because of neospora?

I did say freeze first !

Any fresh .meat should.be frozen first  not just beef although in this case I know u are only talking about beef regardless of source. Yes canine neospora and toxopalsmosis.small risk but it's a risk

Sorry Merlot  I wasn’t intending to contradict you. I thought your suggestion of freezing was about portion size .
I got the feeling that the op may be a relative novice( perhaps erroneously) and as they said they’d try them on mince tomorrow I thought that might not  give her time to freeze and defrost it and that she may not know about neospora.

Just a thought, have you clipped their claws yet? Those little needles can really put the bitch off going near them!