How **I** Feed Raw

This is for informational purposes. I am of the opinion that big dogs are easier to feed raw than smaller dogs, because you have more wiggle room, especially in regards to bone-in content.

I feed each of my three twice daily, for a total of 2-2.5 lbs daily, or 32-40 oz. PMR (prey model raw) guidelines are for roughly 80% meaty meat, 10% edible bone, 5% organ, 5% other secreting organ (kidney, spleen, testes, brain, thymus, etc.)

Meaty meat includes meat, fat, tendons and sinew.

Daily, this breaks down to 25.6-32 oz meaty meat, 3.2-4 oz edible bone, 1.6-2 oz liver, and 1.6-2 oz other organ. Balance occurs over time, and everyday doesn't have to be balanced.

Bone
Not all bone is considered edible, or safe to eat. My main sources of bone are chicken leg quarters, turkey necks, duck quarters and bone-in pork cuts.

The chicken leg quarters I regularly buy also have a back portion, so the bone content of them is approximately 37%. These are large quarters, weighing approximately 16 oz. At 16 oz, the amount of bone is approximately 6 oz. My dogs eat about 64 oz every 2 days. Feeding a chicken leg quarter every other day provides them with their approximately 10% bone. The other 10 or so ounces goes toward their meaty meat intake.

Organs
I regularly buy beef and pork liver and kidney from a local ethnic grocery. I sometimes get other species and organs from my coOp, favorite farmer, or My Pet Carnivore.

I cut the liver and kidney into 3-5 oz chunks, usually using a scale, and place the chunks onto a parchment lined cookie sheet. I place the sheet into the freezer, individually freezing the organ chunks. Once frozen, they go into a Ziploc and back into the freezer. I feed organs frozen, as my girl has texture issues.

Over a two day period, my dogs need 3-4 oz of liver and 3-4 oz other organ. One night at dinner they get a chunk of liver weighing 3-5 oz, the next night a chunk of kidney weighing 3-5 oz. Repeat.

Meaty Meat
I feed as much red meat, with as much cut and species variety as possible. Breakfasts are smaller meals, typically 6-12 oz, and always boneless. Dinners are larger meals, 20-30 oz. Every other dinner includes a chicken leg quarter (or other bone-in item) to account for bone content, and a chunk of organ. Thus every other dinner is meaty meat and a chunk of organ.

I feed a variety of meaty meats. Beef heart, pork heart, goat heart, lamb heart, sheep heart, turkey heart. Beef lung, lamb lung, pork lung. Beef and lamb trim. Turkey breast chunks. Venison. Fish. Pork butt and shoulder. Basically any unenhanced meat I can get my hands on.

This is how I feed raw. It's not difficult once you get the swing of it.