Hi, all, Going back to my first post 2 days ago on switching to barf I have been giving Jess acidophilus capsules and also tried feeding less naturediet and poo is much more formed!!   Halleluia I can't believe it, I have probably been over feeding her ( I'm so ashamed )
Anyway, my books have arrived and I've been reading with earnest.  Just as a rough guide how many chicken wings a day would you barfers recommend feeding a 16 week pup medium breed (cocker)  She weighs 7 and a half kg.  I intend to start this in next couple of days and have decided to just switch totally. As a total novice I would so appreciate a little experience just to reassure me really
Please please reply all you people who are raw feeding your growing puppies.
Thanks in advance
Linda

Hi Linda, just to let you know, I have changed my 16 week old cocker from JWB to Burns and yes, as you said (earlier post) the difference in his poos is unbelievable.  Thanks again for the advice.  Sorry but I can't help you with barf diet.

Jax :)

Hi, Jax,
I'm so glad for you and your cocker.  It really is amazing isn't it?  My mum is a total Burns fan now.  If I was going to feed dry it would definitely be Burns but I really want to try natural raw feeding first.
Once again so pleased for you and your pup and thanks for letting me know. Its great when you see amazing results with something and recommend it and it works for that person too!!!!
Linda

Normally one feeds between 2-3% of the dogs bodyweight per day for an adult dog.  About 10% of the projected weight when adult to a puppy.  No need to be very scientific about it really,  I would start with one chicken wing per meal and watch, you can always increase gradually.  As a guide my 27 kg bitch has 4 wings per day but my 30 kg dog has 12!  It depends on temperament, exercise levels, time of year etc etc.

HTH

Tohme, one wing per meal seems an awfully small amount.  Because she is still a puppy would this be enough to fill her up.  I have visions of her looking at me as if to say "is that all mum".

Presumably she is on 2/3 meals per day?  I am sure she will say "is that all mum" she is a gundog after all :D

I think it is best to start off slowly to see how she deals with it but it is up to you!  Your dog may look at it and say "good heavens what is this" she may scarf it down in one gulp, vomit it back up and eat it after chewing it a little more this time?  Some dogs take to it immediately, some take 2 or 3 days of having nothing else to eat before they sigh, eat and never look back :)

I have just been and bought some chicken wings.  Just gave 1 to Jess.  She licked it all over then crunched it up and scoffed the lot, so I gave her another, same thing, then another.  She has had 3 and she keeps crying for more of them!!!  lol.  I guess she likes them then.  She is still looking for more, even crying in the kitchen and just sitting there.
Should I give her any more tonight or just see how she goes on those first?  I am thrilled that at least she's having no problems getting them down lol.
Linda

please do not give her any more.  My 3 year old Weimi bitch only has 2 per meal!!!!!!!!!!

Tohme, Do you mean the little chicken wing tips.  You get about 14 in a pack from Tesco for about £1.14?  These are what I just gave to Jess.

Dunno I give mine 3 joint chicken wings which weigh around 100gms each.

I just weighed one of the bigger ones cos they are all slightly biggeror smaller than each other and the biggest one weighs 50g each.  Is this ok?

Yep, so she has had basically 150 gms for one meal; I would still leave it there for the mo; remember read your books, calculate your weights roughly, don't be tempted to rush too far too soon. 

Thankyou so much for replying tohme.  I am not the most confident person when it comes to making decisions and using my judgement (where puppies are concerned because I am new to personally owning a puppy)  Hope you don't mind me asking all these questions, I've got loads more lol.  I will sign up to Britbarf tonight, hubby is out so will have the pc all to myself.

Just one more question for now, if she has 3 meals a day should 2 of these be wings and one meal veg and meat, or veg and dairy , veg and offal, egg etc?  I know it should balance out over time but am a bit confused on that score.
Sorry to keep pestering you
Linda

Hi Linda thats great to hear she`s enjoying the wings & her tums settling down :D Yes one meal should be muscle meat & veg & can`t remember the rest, it`s been awhile since I`ve had a pup & haven`t got the books to hand, but Tohme will be along shortly to tell you. Don`t worry you`re confidence will grow the more you do it,read the books & chat with others about it. :)

Christine, Spain.

Hi Chris, hope you and your dogs are well.  I'm so excited about this as you can probably tell by my constant posting lol.  Yes, it is a little scary starting out but I'm sure I'l balance it all out in the end.
Thanks for your encouragement Chris, it means a lot.
ttfn
Linda

too much meat can be bad for a dog,as can dairy products so be careful!

Christine, Spain.

Yes, thanks Linda they`re all fine :)
Scary & exciting very! I remember the first time I gave my 2 ch/wings I`d been waiting a while for the books to arrive but just had to start them off, well the wings went down without even touching the side of their throats & I nearly had a heart attack But I carried on & things just got better, I`ve never looked back :D

Christine, Spain.

Hi, Chris,
I am absolutely amazed at the result coming out of the other end!!!   I am so convinced of the health benefits anyway but picking up poop of that quality would certainly be enough to sway me and keep me going on this lol.
My hubby thinks I'm crackers because I'm always examining her poop, but when you've had a pup with loose stools for 8 weeks you kinda become pretty obsessed with it lol.

The only thing I'm a bit worried about is amounts for a puppy, are they double that of adult dog?  Can't seem to find so much about barf and puppies and although I signed up to Britbarf, I'm a p.c. novice and don't really know what I'm doing on there!!!!!!   If you were feeding a 4 month pup how many wings, carcasse would you give her  per day?  Jess had 4 wings for breakfast, which weighs about 200g.  She is going on 8kg in weight.  She wolfs them down and I have noticed she is a lot calmer too.
I know I'm a pain but just want to get it right.
Linda

I give mine a thigh a day and he loves it.  Just thought that I wd. try doing this kind of feeding with my new boy rather than all of my dogs.  Although he eats regularly he's not as solid as my girls which does worry me quite a bit, but he's certainly healthy enough and I don't know whether it me but his teeth are a gleeming white.  My girls have always had lovely teeth (10 and nearly 12 yr. olds still have full set) but they are not the wonderful colour white as he's are).

Something did worry me recently though.  Someone who's just bought a Spanish Water Dog off someone said that they had a previous dog (not my breed) who died 4 days after buying it.  The vet when he opened it said that he was disgusted as the dog had uncooked chicken inside which cd. of been the reason for it dying.  Just worried me when I've been giving my dog raw chicken?  Is this just a vet without any knowledge, or do I need to worry?

I never thought of giving thighs.  Do any other raw feeders give thighs I wonder?
Linda

I always thought chicken bones were lethal to dogs ie sticking in their throats and bowel.  Why is this diet supposedly safe??

It's cooked bones that are brittle and dangerous. Raw bones are much safer.
:)

Hi M/Mum, it`s not supposedly safe...it is safe :) And that`s becaues the dogs are eating fresh wholesome food that they have been eating since time began, without added preservatives/chemicals which is in processed foods :)

Christine, Spain.

Yep I give thighs & whole chickens :)

Christine, Spain.

I feed thighs, drumsticks, wings, carcases from chickens, turkey, duck, pheasant, venison, rabbit, beef, pork, lamb, guineafowl in fact anything that I can get my hands on, and all parts except for the big shin bones of beef etc which they have just for recreation and are taken away when all marrow/cartilage is removed to prevent teeth breaking :D

Hi Diane, did the vet say why the chicken killed him, what reason was there, it can`t just kill him because it was there in his tum without a reason?
When they opened my Sweep up she had raw chicken her tum, she had compactation, we were lucky & caught it in time. But I`ve had a dog who bloated & her tum had dry complete food in it. I still wouldn`t go back to complete tho, & I don`t blame the chicken for causing it. I`m feeding 9 dogs raw & any others that come into my care get fed the same way & all I`ve seen are the benefits of it. So no theres no reason to worry any more than feeding anything else :D

Christine, Spain.

I think this is a vet who is hanging his "diagnosis" don't know on an easy target.  I would not worry.  Dogs don't die just from having raw chicken in their stomach :(

Hi Linda, yep it does become a bit of an obssession this poop thing doesn`t it :D
Billinghurst suggests for a 10kg pup to be fed 870gm or 1lb 14oz of food at a ratio of 60% meaty bones, 40% of his patties split into 3 meals a day. Which books have you got? I`d give half wings & half meat with the veggies put into the meat & split that for 2 meals with wings for the third just to make things easy for yourself for now with the total weight of food for the day roughly 1lb + 8-10oz
Glad to hear she likes the new diet, try not to worry too much. I`m not to good on weights/maths so why don`t you put a message on britbarf saying help needed feeding pup new to this or something alomg those lines. :)

Christine, Spain.

Hi,

I didn't think I would try this but.......
OK,OK, I gave my Goldies some chicken wings for a treat yes they loved them including the pup which had one.:-D :-D
However I feed JWB have had great results with the condition of my dogs  and their teeth so don't want to stop ,can I mix the 2 reducing the amount of JWB to each dog.OR should the chicken wings just be given as a treat if I continue to feed JWB.

Regards Briony:-)

Hi Briony, I don`t know about mixing the 2 diets I`ve only used one or other :) Some people do feed the 2 tho & think they split them into 2 meals so would think you should cut the amount JW down. Or even better why not go the whole hog & feed all raw now you know how much they like it :D :D

Christine, Spain.

Hi Christine,

My dogs love the jwb as well their condition is superb and I like the convinence of complete as I have 4 children and have to cook for 6 everyday its easy to feed the dogs a complete but I do like the idea of them having some raw fresh meat so get the best of both worlds so to speak?
Does anyone else mix the 2?

Regards Briony:-)

Hi, Briony, I have done searches on this forum and found that there are actually a lot of part time barfers out there. They feed one meal complete and one meal raw.  Its got to be at least better than full time complete LOL.  If I hadn't had problems with my pup's tum, I would probably have stuck to the complete myself as I have 3 young kids too.  My mum's pup who is the sister of mine is fed on Burns for 2 meals and now my mum is given her ch/wings for 1 meal.  She saw how much my pup enjoyed it and wants to give her the benefits of raw meaty bones but cannot commit to going the whole hog.  I think this is a fair compromise and after all her pup looks fab on Burns so everyones happy.

hi

is it jut raw chicken you give or other things, how old can a pup be too try this diet, how much veg do you give aswell, can all breeds have this, i have a chihuahua

thanks :)

No Clare, they have chicken as well as other meats. Beef/pork/turkey/lamb/rabbit/fish, along with about 2/3 tablespoons of liquidised veg. Though for a small breed teaspoons would be used. All types of dogs can have this diet & be weaned on to it from mum. :)

Christine, Spain.

Hi Briony, well I can only try can`t I ;)  :D
Like I said ther are a few here doing half n half, they`ll be able to tell you what they do. :)

Christine, Spain.

Hi Christine,

Yep you definately score points for trying:-D.However, the other 2 ,pup and older bitch are fine but my boy now has the runs and he only had 2 wings and I only started yesterday,will do half and half see how it goes, my boy may settle.

Briony:-)

Oh dear Briony poor feller! Wait & see if it clears up before giving him anymore, tho if the other 2 are OK, especially pup, it could be due somthing else. Hope it`s a one of & it clears up quickly :)

Christine, Spain.

Hi Christine,

The other 2 only had one wing each I gave Gundo 2 a big lad,but maybe too much for him
too soon , when not used to them, will gradually build up well hi himself otherwise .

Briony:-)

Hi Briony,
yes, I mix the two. Bess gets 2 meals a day and each meal consists of 1 chicken wing, her dry food (which I reduced when I started half dry/half raw) then a variety of other stuff (different each meal) cottage cheese, raw egg, yoghurt, meaty bones, etc supplemented with kelp, brewers yeast, garlic. Bess has been much healthier since I started and I still have the convenience of dry food as a base to her meals, and I can up it a bit if I'm running short of raw stuff, without it being a big change. I know some don't like to mix the 2 but it suits us. :)

Kath.

Hi Chris,
I have only just realised how to message and reply to britbarf!!!!  I am such a prat.  I'm still learning where computers are concerned, not my strongest point.  Anyway, yes I have posted a message and had some great replies.  Think I will cut down on the wings a bit and see how she goes.  I've frozen all the veg I did so will give her some raw lamb mince and veg for dinner today and another meal of fish, veg, cott/cheese etc for tea. from now on I'm going to be more relaxed.  Like they say dogs have existed on table scraps for years  Why am I worrying so much I ask myself.
Still something new is always a bit scary.  Pretty soon you won't hear from me at all I bet (LOL)
Thanks Chris you are a great help and support
best wishes
Linda

Glad you can message on there & glad to have been of help Linda, you`ll find it a great place for help as well as here of course :D
Hope we will hear from you a lot! Need to know she get`s on ;)

Christine, Spain.

Hi Linda,
I'm on Britbarf too, I noticed you'd joined. I think you're doing great. :) I must say I find this forum easier for both posting and reading than Bb, but yes, a great bunch of people with lots of advice (on both forums)  :) 

I found it very scary when I first gave chicken wings. It didn't help that the first one went down in one go, got heaved back up, chewed a bit more then swallowed again! :D  Although I keep an eye on her while she's chomping (she soon got the hang of it) I'm totally relaxed about feeding now. I don't weigh anything, just chuck in what I've got to hand and keep changing around for variety ( I feed a bit of dry too, see my post above). Bess is happy and loads healthier. :)

Kath.

Hi Kath, I must say its really reassuring to have such friendly support from you all.  What a lovely bunch you are.
xxxxxxxxxxx
Linda

Linda it sounds like you are doing a great job,your dog is very lucky to have a mum like you:D.
Dont feel bad in posting questions,the only dumb question is the one not asked,as you can see there is a wealth of knowledge here at c.d,i have learnt alot here,so post away,lots of others will also benefit from your questions and the answers.

best wishes

christine