I've been teetering on the edge of raw for some months and now I've decided to take the plunge.

To start the ball rolling I've taken the easy option and bought £40 worth of pre minced meat and veg from a local abbatoire/butcher and also bought chicken wings.

What I'm after is suggestions/recommendations for a good mincing machine that will handle bones as well as meats, I'll also use it to make my own burgers and sausage meat.

I've looked at the Kenwood MG510 Meat Grinder and the Andrew James Premium Electric Meat Mincer/Sausage Maker but am open to suggestions.

I want to make up a weeks supply of meals and freeze.
What are the percentages of meat/bone to veg and is there anything else that needs to be added, can I put Dorwest Keepers Mix into the mix?

Why would you want to mince the meat for the dogs? They will happily crunch the bones and it keeps their teeth in good condition. We tried doing this, not for the dogs but for the cats (although there the problem is that mincing removes a lot of the amino acid taurine which cats must have to be able to live) and bought a mincer for about £100. It broke within a month or so, it just could not cope with even chicken bones. To be able to cope with actual bones, you'd really need an industrial mincer such as used by butchers, for thousands of pounds.

So is it best not to mince at all then?
They do have chicken wings at the moment but the youngest has an awful habit of gulping them down almost whole, I have to hang on to it so as to try and get her to chew before she swallows.

I was worried about her swallowing the bones whole which is why I thought of a mincer.

you could try bashing the chicken wings with a rolling pin[ I do this for pups first try at them but really they are more skin,tendons and cartilage than hard bone

Good idea I'll give that a go.

if you really want to mince you can get an industrial mincer off ebay , i only mince the chicken wings when i am starting to feed the pups and then they start progressing to chicken wings bashed with a rolling pin and then as they get older unbashed, you can also try manifold valley meats they have chicken already minced and lots of other meats, also chicken wings and carcasses ,tripe,pheasant,game etc etc

Never heard of this company are they good ? They seem to be a little cheeper than Albion and have some different things, I realise the deliver is a little more but it is outweighed by the bulk prices and I do buy in bulk
Aileen

they are fantastic and do in bulk they just put a new price list out and got lots of different stuff on, nice packaging and no waste when you take it out the package, i have a picky dog and he has ate everything i have put down to them, they have a facebook page as well,the stuff comes in white polysterene boxes which he will take away then or on your next delivery, and i just pay when he comes to the door really like them.

sorry forgot to ask how much for delivery some people up in county durham ordered and he charged them 10.00 for delivery

Home Natural Petfoods Wholesale/Exports Butchers Farmers AFU News Contact Us    Feed Your Pet The Natural Way What Is The BARF Diet? BARF Diet Products Petfood Products & Prices
Why use our petfoods?
Our aim is to give your pet the best diet possible with ease of preparation for you. Our pet food comes in 1lb, 2lb and 5lb sausage forms so it can be stacked easily in your fridge or freezer. If your pet requires smaller portions then our packaging allows you to just peel back the wrapper and cut what you want off, without having to handle it directly yourself. By keeping the product in your freezer, the freshness is retained and there is minimal wastage.

We are always looking to develop the range of products that we supply and currently we have the following available:-

1lb packs
2lb packs
3lb packs
5lb packs

Minced Beef Tripe
55p
55p
50p
45p

Minced Lamb Tripe
50p
55p
50p
45p

Minced Chicken & Bone
50p
50p
45p
40p

Minced Best Beef
70p
70p
65p
65p

Minced Economy Beef

- beef trim, heart and lung
60p
60p
65p
45p

Minced Game

- pheasant, hare, rabbit, venison,   pigeon
65p
65p
60p
60p

Chunked or Minced Beef Heart
70p
70p
65p
60p

Chunked Ox Liver
45p
45p
40p
35p

Lamb & Beef Mixed Mince
70p
70p
65p
60p

Chunked Lambs Liver
70p
70p
65p
65p

Minced Economy Lamb

- lamb heart, lamb lungs and lamb trim
60p
60p
55p
55p

Chunked Pigs Liver
45p
45p
40p
35p

Minced Economy Pork

- pork heart, pork lung, pork trim
60p
60p
55p
55p

Chicken Wings
85p
80p
80p
75p

Chicken Leg Drumsticks
85p
80p
80p
75p

Full Chicken Thighs
£1.00
£1.00
95p
90p

Lamb Rib Bones
£4.50 for 5kg pack

Lamb Neck Chunks
£4.50 for 5kg pack

Whole Lamb Breast
£4.00 each

Lamb Marrow Bone
£4.50 for 5kg pack

Beef Marrow Bones
£2.00 for 5kg pack

Beef Knuckles
£2.00 for 5kg pack

Pigs Trotters
60p each

Raw Pigs Ears
£5.00 for 10

Chicken Carcasses, individually packed
50p each

Chicken Carcasses, bulk
£8.00 for 10kg pack

Full Rabbit, box of 10
£25.00

Full Rabbit, singles
£3.00

Hare Shoulders
£6.60 for 2kg tray

Minced Venison, no bone
£3.30 per kg

Chopped Venison Necks
£8.00 for 10kg pack

Venison Rib Bones
 



Please Note: All items are subject to availability - for the most up to date prices or speciality meat offers please look at our Facebook Page http://www.facebook.com/pages/Manifold-Valley-Meats/249568061823078

If you want a product that is not listed above, please contact us, as we are always looking to develop our range to suit our customers.

Ordering & Delivery
We charge £10 per delivery so there is no minimum order.  All our orders are frozen and sent out in polysterene boxes to give the best insulation possible.  To make sure that your petfood arrives still frozen and in the best condition we deliver by courier, next day before 5pm guaranteed.  If your delivery arrives partially defrosted, don't worry, it can be re-frozen in the domestic freezer immediately, but because of this we cannot accept complaints based on this.

We deliver anywhere in the UK, and feel free to ring and discuss your specific requirements.

Payment
You can pay by phone with all major credit/debit cards (please note that credit card payments will incure a 3% fee).

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inShare.0 Manifold Valley Meats, Wellcroft Farm, Grindon, Leek, Staffordshire ST13 7TT Tel: 01538 304401

Oooo nice lot of info, I'll give them a peek.
:)

I may well be being a bit thick, but I assume the prices are per pound? So for Minced Beef Tripe 1lb would be 55p, 2lb £1.10, 3lb £1.50 and 5lb £2.25. Is that right?

I looked at a property in Grindon not long ago, where they are based, how handy would that have been! :)

I have ordered a selection to try, I'll let you know the result. ;-)
Aileen

Please do Aileen, I'd certainly be interested! :)

me too!

Well my order arrived. Very well packed in a polystyryne box and still pretty much frozen. The lamb ribs are lovely nice and fresh and cut to just the right sizes. The rabbits look nice too...almost good enough to cook and eat!. The tripe is packed in long slim rolls so even though they are 450gm packs they would be easy to break up if you had smaller dogs. I will see how fine the mince is tomaorrow when I thatw one out. The chicken too looks good but it may be a bit to fine, we shall see it would be great for puppies though. The rolls of game look nice and dark I will leave one of those and a tripe pack out for tomorrows breakki. The fresh pigs ears have the Girls stumped a bit. I cut one into 3 pieces and Merlot scoffed hers with relish but Vino and Pepsi played with them for a while and left them so I may put the whole lot on a very low oven and roast them. I know they are good then with nothing added. I stopped bying pigs ears as I found them too greasy for the girls but they do love a roasted ear so maybe this is the way to do it. I could do loads together and freeze them for treats.
Will update tomorrow after tasting !
Aileen

Wow that little lot reads almost like an a la carte menu, those lucky girls :)

How much did that set you back and how long would it keep your troop going?

It was just a small starter pack to see if I liked it. It was £15 for the food, that was 2lb tripe 2lb chicken and bone mix 2lb game 2 whole rabbits 12 lamb rib racks and 15 raw HUGE pigs ears. The delivery makes it expensive at £10 for a small order but for larger orders the per lb price drops and the delivery stays the same. The tripe was 50p per 450 gms (lb) but drops to 45p for more than 10 lb the chicken is the same price and the game 65p dropping to 50p for over 10 lb I usually get  20lb tripe 12 lb complete mince 12lb oily fish mince. They do chunky beef, chicken wings, liver, heart, so good variety. They also do chicken carcasses cheaper than my usuall supplier and they do thigh/leg pieces (Chicken) the lamb ribs cost £1.50 for 12 and that will do 2 meals for my girls (2 per dog per meal). thats a whole days food for three large Bernese for £1.50.
The pigs ears are BIG and are roasting slowly in the oven as I write. I have spent £15 JUST on that amount of pigs ears in the past so thats a win win one!
My usuall order is for about £100 and that does the girls about 6 weeks, that works out at around 80 p per dog per day or around £2.40 to feed then each day. If I feed fish for dogs it wouldbe costing me around £4.50 per day to feed all three. At £49 for 15kg and each dog eating aprox 650gms
Aileen

> At £49 for 15kg

On the breeders scheme the food is £32 fish and £34 for 15kg Salmon.

I just went by the web price but even at that price I can still feed the girls cheaper with raw. However thats not why I feed raw anyway. I was just showing a comparrison.
Aileen

> It was just a small starter pack to see if I liked it. It was £15 for the food, that was 2lb tripe 2lb chicken and bone mix 2lb game 2 whole rabbits 12 lamb rib racks and 15 raw HUGE pigs ears.

Aileen, I don't see a starter pack listed, is it a standard thing of theirs or did you put it together when you called them? (Not sure I would use 15 pigs ears, lol).

I put it together. I roasted the pigs ears last night and they look yummy !
Aileen

was this from mainfold, if it is he is wanting to bring his delivery costs down and wondering if people in the same area would all like to order at once and he could sort delivery out for a certain day etc was on their fb site

meant to say manifold

> I roasted the pigs ears last night and they look yummy !
>

There not for you mind :)

Thanks for letting us know,might give them a try next time!

How did the dogs enjoy the food?

Well everything has gone down well. The mince is not too fine and they all liked it.
I will deffinatly be ordering a larger quantity next time I need to fill the freezer up.
Thumb up all round from me!
And paws up from the girlies
Aileen

To bad they didn't deliver here lol

I'm interested to hear that you bought mince even though you have big girls, I have small girls hence my original enquiry about mincing machines.
I am still interested to know of others best buys on mincing machines.

My girls have now had 1 week on raw, albeit pre-made mix from my butcher/abatoire,  all except my 14yr BC who is on a bit of both Nature Diet and a chicken wing or two, she is not as keen as the younger girls, she will not take a raw chicken wing with the same gusto as the younger ones, so I cut the flesh off for her which she will eat and then she will chew the bone in her own sweet time.

I have noted that with two of my 4 smaller girls that after they had their first raw beef bone although they enjoyed eating and chewing they both ended up being very sick,  bringing up pale sloppy fatty upchuck and had bad dirty knickers the following day. I put this down to the fat in the marrow so next time they have them I will scoop out the marrow.

I note that the poo's seem to have shrunk, they are very small,  pale in colour and quite hard and the girls don't pass as much or as easily as they did on kibble.
Is this normal?

I must say that my 4 younger girls are now super manic at feeding time and if I should go into the kitchen get out my chopping board and boning knife then I have 4 captive little friends watching my every move and hoping for a treat or two.

So far my step into raw has been quite good

with regards to the poo, yes getting smaller and less is normal

Pinky, What breed are you feeding? You are allowed to say as you are not advertsising pups or anything.  I just wondered as I worried about my old cocker moving to raw but it was needless.  She had pretty bad teeth and wouldn't chew things to clean them but when I moved her to raw with the rest, I gave her bones and stuff.  She crunched her way through everything the others did and now(aged 11!!) will chew for recreation.
Maybe your breed wouldn't find it as hard as you think?  If the food is tempting enough?
I loved the way my dogs actually get excited about dinner when fed raw.

My 4 younger girls are Shelties, 1 aged 6, 2 aged 4 and 1 at 8 months, they all love the raw and will eat all they are given, it's the 14yr BC that's not so keen.

I am hoping that she will take to it as she had to have a big back tooth removed 6 months ago and then a good scale and polish, I shall persevere with her as I'm hoping even at her age it will benefit her teeth a bit.

I'm off to the kitchen shortly to bone, stuff and roll a chicken for tonights tea, I'd like to bet I will have 4 little helpers watching my every move ;) and waiting for the carcass and joint bones.

Is it OK to give them the leg and thigh bones?