Alfie is a 5 months old Boxer and weighs approx 17kg. I feed him on naturediet and he has three a day over 3 meals. He also has about 2 tablespoons of raw minced chicken with each meal too.

I was thinking of cutting the naturediet down and increasing the raw minced chicken. I use the prizechoice packs as they are easier and im slightly queezy when it comes to raw food!

How much would Alfie need to be fed raw if i say reduced the naturediet to half of what i feed him now i.e. 1 1/2 packs?? Im just not sure how much to replace it with. I think a grown dog would eat around 1kg of raw a day, is this right?? How does it differ for growing dogs though and at what age would you consider the dog to be full grown??

Many thanks

Why not give him a nice raw chicken leg as part for one of his meals. It will have the bone which is good for him. He is growing fast now, so I would not reduce his food, but supplement it with a chicken leg as well as his food. Two tablespoons of chicken is not a large amount for a big breed. He will not be fully grown until he is well over a year old ( a boxer breeder would have much better info than me, I have toys). Prize choice do big bags of chicken legs, necks and tripe chunks which are all good for growing pups.

Liz

If you are going to feed raw or 50:50 you would need to use other protein sources other than just chicken in order to ensure a balanced diet.  Consider things like: breast of lamb, pork ribs, ox tail, sardines, mackerel, eggs.  

An adult dog will eat about 2% of his weight in food, but depends on what you feed and level of energy output so may vary up or down.  Increasingly, I am of the opinion that feeding raw is more of an artform than a black/white science!  :-) 

I feed my two different amounts, the younger is definately the most energetic so she get approx 2% of weight and the oldest gets 1% but I agree it is just an approximation and if I think they are getting fatter/skinnier then I adjust accordingly.  I also weigh them every 3-4 weeks just to make certain as it is hard to tell with their thick coats. 

Forgot to say, you should include offal too in the diet!  Also, that a young pup will need quite a bit more split over 3-4 meals.  Sorry was in rush to go out when typing earlier this pm.  Why not join the BritBarf group on Yahoo? 

Right ive ordered the book to accquant myself with feeding raw and to learn as much as i can to make sure i know how to feed a balanced diet, but i cant wait!!

I have bought some chicken legs today from the supermarket to see how Alfie takes to them. Do i feed them as they are with the skins on or do i remove the skin??? Will he eat ALL of it or is it expected that there will be some bones left??

many thanks from a slightly cautious mum!

Leave the skin on and I would expect to see the whole thing disappear very quickly!  :-)

What about landywoods? Any comments on whether they are any good, quality or reliability wize please?

I know of a few people who order from Landywoods, I have just made an enquiry with them myself.

Have a look at this website aswell   http://www.rawmeatybones.com/petowners.php

I feed mine only a raw meaty bone diet...not barf. 

For the first week or so I would hold on to one end of the chicken wing so that he gets used to chewing it, other wise he may end up wolfing the thing down in one go :-)