[maryellen]

Bravo-
one case of ostrich which is 7 2 lb rolls = $62.06 = 14 lbs of ostrich
one case of turkey organ which is 15 2 lb rolls is $75.85 = 30 lbs of turkey

one case venison is 14 1 lb rolls $59.50 = 14 lbs of venison


Healty Paws-
120 lbs of meat, which includes green tripe, beef and chicken blend, chicken blend, turkey blend, chicken feet, venison, rabbit, beefhearts,beef organ blend, all in 5 lb packages, with 2 2 lb packages of green tripe = $270


so, basically, for 44 lbs of bravo of ostrich and turkey only it is $137.91

and for 120 lbs of meat from healthy paws its $270...

so if i did 88 lbs of bravo turkey and ostrich it would be $275.82


mind you, i feed alot of chicken and turkey and fish from weis, whole chickens, turkeys chopped up, and i supplement with the premade stuff..

but it looks to me that healthy paws is actually not that expensive when compared to bravo premade raw...

[debo-dumbo-ears]

Those are good sources, ME. Whatever you have to / can do - it's all good raw stuff!
I'm home all the time & I feed whole-prey style (aka the easy way) supplemented w/ some ground organ/meat blend, so I just make my pet's food every day. Here's a run down of what I get & how much it costs (Debo is 65# & eats approx 1.5# of food per day):
Grocery store:
whole chickens: .69-.99 /#
pork roasts, country style ribs: .99/#
whole turkeys (depending on time of year): .40-.99 /#
beef roasts or beef heart: $2/#
whole mackeral (once in a while): $5/#
Co-op:
whole lamb: $2/#
emu meat: $2/#
whole rabbit (but so far Debo doesn't like it, so it goes to the cats): $1-3/#
lamb organs & necks: $1/#

We're buying half a grass-fed cow in a few weeks. That will end up being approx $3/# for everything. I wouldn't generally buy that much "dog food" for $3/#, but obviously much of it will be for the humans. Sorry Debo, no porterhouse steaks for you!

[maryellen]

i get my meats from either weis or BJ's when they are on sale..

i cant find a co -op within an hour from me, they are all 2 hours each way away..

[debo-dumbo-ears]

I found the co-op I belong to on the yahoo groups. It's just a group of raw-feeders in the area who go in on group buys. I've heard of another yahoo group called carnivore feed supplier, but haven't joined it. Here's the link: http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/C...Feed-Supplier/
Also, if you search the yahoo groups for BARF or RAW & your area, you might come up w/ more. I know there are lots.
Also, the group I belong to services all of WA state & much of OR. Transport plans are always made for any order & those in on the order are expected to participate in any way they can to make it all come together. I'm not sure how long the group has been in existence (I've been there a year), but every order I've participated in has gone very smoothly. I think people who love their pets as much as we do are generally good people willing to help eachother out.

[maryellen]

i am on the raw/barf/njraw/carnivore and a few others, and all the co ops are 2 hours away from me... thats each way, so it would be a 4 hour total trip for me.. which really stinks...and alot of them do bravo and omas for bulk ...

until one comes within an hour of me i am stuck but at least i have a raw supplier who will basically grind what i want... she gives discounts but only if you buy 400 lbs of food... thats wayyy tooo much food for me to buy.. the healthy paws is an hour from my house, but when i do therapy on saturdays she is only a half hour from the hospital, so i drive there after therapy to pick up my food.

[maryellen]

if i got the bravo chicken blend at 2 lbs for just chicken it would be $3.74 per roll...

Hormone and steroid free. Great source of protein, rich in minerals and calcium. Enzyme source assisting with absorption of nutrients in the body.
PRICE: $3.74


the 5 lb would be:
Hormone and steroid free. Great source of protein, rich in minerals and calcium. Enzyme source assisting with absorption of nutrients in the body.
PRICE: $8.45


so if i stuck to just the chicken i would probably save money... 20lbs would be around $33 maybe? my math sucks if i dont have a calculator..
hmmmmm it might be worth it to do bravo basic blends....

so i went on the bravo dealer that is an hour from me, if i order 10 5 lb bravo plain chicken blend at $8.45 it comes out to $84.50 so that is 50 lbs of chicken.. and if i order 50 lbs of chicken from healthy paws at $9.75 that equals $97.50 (but that includes shipping). but its still a big savings... hmmmm

[debo-dumbo-ears]

LOL! Finding raw food sources becomes addicting! I never go into a grocery store anymore w/out swinging by the meat dept - you know - just in case! In the spring time, there were lots of good sales (why?) & I kept getting more meat to put in the freezer. When my freezer was full, you would think I'd think "oh, good, now I can lay off the buying of meat." Not me! I was like "what am I gonna do if more good stuff goes on sale!" Now we have two freezers plugged in plus the one on top the fridge. At first, we thought we were getting our 1/2 cow right before thanksgiving & I was like "where will I put the turkeys!" Now we're getting it right before christmas, but I'm still gonna have to find a way to stash some turkeys. I might have to start renting freezer space!

[Madeleinemom]

Originally Posted by debo-dumbo-ears pork roasts, country style ribs: .99/#

Debo, that makes me curious: I thought that raw pork is out of the question, due to the fact that dogs can pick up those trich-whatchamacallits from it (just like humans)?

Hubby has gotten yelled at, suggesting some nice pork special for the dogs as a raw food supplement ... have I done an injustice

[lunadogge]

Madeleinemom, there has not been trichinosis in pork for years. The USDA recently just cleared all farm raised pork in the U.S. free of trichinosis thus allowing a lower finished cooking temp. Wild boar and pigs are a different may still contain trichinosis.
Pork is a great staple and afforgable for a raw diet.

Maryellen here is a site that I have heard great things about and the prices are great. http://www.canineperformancefuels.com/ They are located in TN. I have never ordered from them living in southern CA, shipping cost are not worth it, since we have http://www.socalbarf.com/SoCalBARF/Home.html and the prices are unbeatable in this area.

[maryellen]

thanks, i am in NJ, so i bet the shipping would kill me.. but i will check them out anyway..

[maryellen]

lunadogg, i just went on their site, their prices are really good, but you have to buy a cooler too to have the stuff shipped, so for 10 lbs of ground chicken its $7.50 plus $10.65 for the cooler winds up being around $18 for the 10 lbs..

[lunadogge]

Mary, If I remember hearing correctly you can re-use the cooler by sending them back and not having to pay for a cooler for your next order.

[maryellen]

but you still have to pay to ship the empty cooler back, plus the shipping of the meats.. so for me it woulnt be cost effective in the long run. i will just stick to Weis for the chicken and meats as they always have a buy one get one free sale going on..

[debo-dumbo-ears]

Originally Posted by lunadogge Madeleinemom, there has not been trichinosis in pork for years. The USDA recently just cleared all farm raised pork in the U.S. free of trichinosis thus allowing a lower finished cooking temp. Wild boar and pigs are a different may still contain trichinosis. Pork is a great staple and afforgable for a raw diet.

This is completely true. Furthermore, parasites like trichinosis (but not bacteria) are killed by solid freezing for a number of days or weeks (depends on the parasite, usually freezing solid for a couple of weeks is sufficient). Most grocery store meat has been previously frozen, so there is another level of security. But freezing is a necessary safeguard when getting fresh game, for whatever parasites they might have.

[Madeleinemom]

Originally Posted by lunadogge Madeleinemom, there has not been trichinosis in pork for years. The USDA recently just cleared all farm raised pork in the U.S. free of trichinosis thus allowing a lower finished cooking temp. Wild boar and pigs are a different may still contain trichinosis. Pork is a great staple and afforgable for a raw diet. Maryellen here is a site that I have heard great things about and the prices are great. http://www.canineperformancefuels.com/ They are located in TN. I have never ordered from them living in southern CA, shipping cost are not worth it, since we have http://www.socalbarf.com/SoCalBARF/Home.html and the prices are unbeatable in this area.

Thank you for the clarification, Luna; I'll have to apologize to hubby.

Also, how does the SocalBarf org work? I'd be very interested, since that's where we are.

[lunadogge]

Madeleinemom, Socal barf is a non profit volunteer run organization for raw feeders in southern california, parts of northern california and Phoenix - arizona. There is a monthly order placed and through volunteers it is distributed to various pick-up sites one saturday a month. For the best info go on the website and check out the FAQ section and pick-up sites to see who is closest to you.
Another good choice if you are in LA is http://www.crestonvalleymeats.com/shop_dogfood.html
Simon that runs Creston is part of the http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/B...PPLIERS-IN-CA/
If you belong to this group you can get emails for when he will be in your area to make deliveries.

[shadyridgekennel]

we feed raw heres our list:
Mackeral (can) $1.99 per can
80lbs of chicken backs 59 cents per pound
80lbs of chicken hearts 80 center per pound
80lbs of beef hearts $1 per pound
80lbs of turkey necks $1 per pound

[lunadogge]

Shady do you feed any organs?

[DivineOblivion19]

I'm a raw feeder and am happy feeding Oma's Pride. I've just moved from Chicago area to waaaay southern IL. I'm 6 hours from my Omas source. I've been approved by Omas to become a distributer but I have to move 500 lbs every 3 months! Well, I have small dogs who eat about 20 lbs a month! LOL I could order some bones in there too but that doesn't cover the other 440 lbs.

So for now when I go visit my bro and my friends, I buy raw food. I had 80 lbs of raw smashed in my friends freezer last weekend. Now it's smashed into mine. LOL

[shadyridgekennel]

Originally Posted by lunadogge Shady do you feed any organs?

yes mostly the hearts,tripe and sometimes liver . as the animals liver and kydneys filter all the bad crap out of them(cows ect) i dont like to feed it offten,as i dont know what the slaughtered animal was fed.