I have a Vitamix Professional Series Blender ($400-$500). The blades seem pretty rugged.

I was wondering if anyone used a Vitamix Blender to chop up say, chicken wings.

I have been thinking of feeding natural and the thought occured to me to use the Vitamix for a "one pot meal". I mean, I would just throw the veggies, wings and maybe an egg (all in proper proportions) into the blender and after blending well, come out with a fresh meal.

Thoughts please, as I am new to feeding natural and have only done some reading. TIA.

[maryellen]

it should chop them up fine, i have a northern tool grinder that was $80 and it grinds up chicken leg bones no problem as long as i cut them into small pieces..

here is a sticky i have up for those that feed raw or want to feed raw

http://www.pitbull-chat.com/showthread.php?t=1737


all 3 of my dogs get raw, i give them ground meat and whole chickens as well..

I did use the Vitamix blender this morning.

4 whole raw chicken wings
1.5 cups of frozen mixed/gumbo vegetables
2 whole raw eggs
1 cup of water

Blended on high. I had to steady the blender because it wanted to dance across the counter top. Clean up was easy with the Vitamix. It really was a "one pot" meal.

Result was 4 cups of mush/pate.

Rowdy and Sugar each got 2 cups. They loved it.

I have always feed them twice a day and at least until they knock off the 40 pound bag of Canidae I just opened, they will get the mush in the morning and kibble in the evening/night.

[maryellen]

what is the water for that you add to the mix?

was there any meat on the wings like added breast meat?
they need more meat then bone, if you give them too much bone they will get constipated and poop out white poop..
you also need to add organ meat a few times a week as well..

they can chew the wings if you want, you dont have to grind them up..

[debo-dumbo-ears]

Hi JoeBingo! I'm so glad you're considering a raw diet! I feed raw & think it's wonderful - there are lots of benefits.

The Vitamix mush is a fine place to start. I do hope you keep researching while you finish off that bag of kibble. IMO, the vitamix mush is not where you would want to stay long-term. Also, there is a debate in the raw-feeding world as to if the dogs need the veggies or not. I personally believe they do not & I don't feed any. But, you can only come to your own decision through research. The links MaryEllen provided are a great place to continue your research.

Good Luck!

I wanted to try the Vitamix Blender because I did not want to buy another appliance (grinder) if I did not need to.

I added water for no other reason than to just smooth the blender action.

I may try just blending the veggies and egg to break down the cell wall of the veggies and the egg to make it more appealing, and feed the wings whole. That would seem better I think.

I have read to be careful with eggs because they COULD cause a vitamin B deficiency and to avoid that, they should be soft boiled.

In the mush I made this morning, there was no meat other than on the wings. I think I need to get wings and breast meat. Last week, I was feeding them a whole raw drumstick each afternoon and no other raw, plus their kibble meals.

I've also been cautioned against feeding raw and kibble at the same time, because raw and kibble have different digestion rates and it would not be good to have the raw meat in the system too long because of possible harmful bacteria.

Yes, I will continue to research feeding raw. I don't think that work will ever be done. There is so much to learn and there are so many conflicting opinions. There are more opinions on how to feed raw than there is on what kibble to feed.

Maryellen, your links have been a great help. Thank You!

[maryellen]

you can do raw at one feeding and kibble at another, some folks do it that way..

when i feed wings i make sure that i either have a nice chunk of breast meat attached or i put more meat in with the wing...

i have been feeding raw to my 3 for 8 months now i think give or take, and they get eggs raw as well.. i dont feed veggies however, i do just raw with organ meats , fish, salmon oil and icelandic organic kelp..

[Wyldmoonwoman]

That is how I feed, I do kibble in the morning and Raw in the evening...I just am not 100% comfortable going all raw and figure a cup of kibble isn't going to hurt anyone

[maryellen]

tonight rufus got a chicken wing with half breast meat, an egg, half a can of mackarel, turkey organ meat, kelp and salmon oil.

sonny got a breast no bone, half a can of mackarel, turkey organ meats, salmon oil, an egg, kelp

jesse got half a chicken, turkey organ meat, kelp.

Originally Posted by maryellen tonight rufus got a chicken wing with half breast meat, an egg, half a can of mackarel, turkey organ meat, kelp and salmon oil. sonny got a breast no bone, half a can of mackarel, turkey organ meats, salmon oil, an egg, kelp jesse got half a chicken, turkey organ meat, kelp.

Other than the obvious weight differences in your dogs, what clued you in as to why you should feed each differently?

Until I understand the nuances of feeding raw and do a lot more reading and research, maybe I should just stick to kibble.

[debo-dumbo-ears]

But you don't need to worry about experimenting w/ some raw too while you're researching & finishing the kibble (you already know to feed them at different times). You really can't screw it up all that bad, in the short term.

If you haven't already found some, there are forums all for talkin about feeding raw. You can get on some of those & ask questions or just read the archives & learn a lot too. I'm on the rawfeeding yahoo group. Actually, before I became addicted to this forum, I was addicted to those ones.

[maryellen]

i go by weight, each dog weighs different, and i feed raw to them according to their weight and age..

rufus - 5 years old , he gets almost a pound of food a day, he is not very active, so i had to cut back from a pound to 3/4 as he started to gain weight fast. he is 60 lbs

jesse- 7 years old, bad airborne allergies, bad immune system, she gets almost 2 lbs a day as she is 90 lbs

sonny- he is 13 1/2 and gets more chicken/turkey/fish then the other 2 as they get red meat as well.. he gets ground meats as he has been having a hard time chewing his bones so i grind it up for him, he gets half a pound a day as he puts on weight fast on raw if i give him too much.


sometimes they get the same thing exactly for dinner, it just depends what i pull out of the fridge and who needs what.. it took me a while to figure it all out, so i fed kibble in the morning to 2 and canned to 1 and then dinner was raw.. my one dog cant eat kibble as she is allergic to the storage mites in kibble, so she had to get canned until i switched them totally to raw.

Turns out that the Vitamix blender was not a great idea after all.

While trying to shred up some chicken breast, the thermal protection circuit of the blender shut it down. I had to wait 10 minutes before it would operate again.

So, after much research, I have decided to purchase this meat grinder http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/w...70_36989_36989 .

I'm taking baby steps with the whole raw diet regime and will stick to feeding kibble along with an occasional/daily raw treat.

The reason I am shredding/grinding up the meat is because Sugar wants to carry whole raw chicken parts around the house and lay it down here and there while she sniffs it out before consuming. Even when I confine her to the kitchen, the raw meat ends up all over the floor before consumed. I really don't want to deal with sanitizing the whole room or house after each treat.

I like to keep it simple and for now, the grinder seems the most efficient way to go. If it were just Rowdy, I would not need a new appliance.

Of course, I could just cut up the parts into smaller pieces, but figure that I may use the grinder for other things as well. Every home needs a meat grinder anyway, right? :wink:

[maryellen]

thats the grinder i have!!!! what you do have to do however, is cut the bones into smaller pieces so they dont get stuck in the grinder, like the chicken leg bones cut into 3 pieces, the wings the same, the breast i just manually with a scissor cut out the large boney/muscle thing and toss that in the garbage.. thighs too, cut the bone in half.. its easier for the grinder to grind the bones when small vs a large chicken bone going down the tube and getting stuck...

also, be VERY careful when you clean it, the small blade is SUPER Sharp... you can dice your fingers very quickly.. also, when you clean it pay attention to how you take the little blade off, as it looks like its on backwards but it isnt, and if you put it on the wrong way it wont grind the meat.. i found that out too..

and, most important, turn the grinder on before you put any meat/bone inthe tube.. it works better that way and the meat/bone wont get as stuck and you wont cause the grinder to stop...

i dont use it anymore, my dogs chew their boned meat fine, but i do still use it for chicken backs when i grind those up... otherwise it sits on my counter unless i have the urge to grind some food...


as far as Sugar taking the food away, one of mine does that too.. so i taught him to eat on a plastic mat in front of his food bowl... now he doesnt always get the chicken or boned meat on the mat directly, but he tries... my other 2 eat from the bowls as they are smarter... so i only have to clean up one spot on the floor.. white vinegar will be your best friend for cleaning up after the dogs eat... and make sure their bowls are washed w/ soap/water every time after they eat.. and dont let them wander to each others bowls.. raw is a delicacy that most dogs wont like to share..(kinda like if i am eating lobster, and you stick your fork in my plate to try some i will stab you with a knife as i dont share lobster with anyone..)

Thanks for the advice maryellen! I have read some of that information about the grinder in the reviews found at the link listed. I also read that the instruction manual that comes with it is not very good.

Like you and the plastic mat idea, I have some old hand towels that I have tried to get Sugar to use. Hasn't worked yet.

Rowdy is a regular "knock about" kind of guy who takes everything in stride. Sugar on the other hand, while extremely intelligent, is also very sensitive. In the wrong hands, someone could easily damage Sugar emotionally. I do not understand the depth and breadth of her psyche, but it is amazing.

For instance, as that statement about Sugar applies to the feeding of raw chicken parts:

1) When I follow Sugar and retrieve the chicken part, she acts as though the alpha dog (me) has taken it away from her, yet she wants it badly and has performed submissive peeing while respectfully imploring me to share. So great, now I get to clean up a trail of dog pee too.

2) If I offer her the chicken part and do not release my grasp, she will lick the chicken, tentatively try once or twice to take it from my hand and while realizing that I will not let go, she will sit and whine with her ears tucked back against her head and her tail wagging against the floor in a completely submissive posture.

3) If I try and stop her from removing the chicken part from the hand towel on the floor, well ... see 1 and 2 above.

[maryellen]

yeah the directions SUCKED for that grinder, i had to read them a few times before i understood how to take it apart/work it etc.... but it is a great grinder, it makes alot of noise though.. the reverse button is great to grind the stuff stuck to the grinder in the machine, i use that after i am done grinding to get it all out as much as possible then go to forward again..

ah the old submissive pee in the house move.... been there, done that.. not me but my gsd....
i can look at my gsd a certain way and she will immediately drop and pee, mind you i have had her since 8 weeks old and did everything right, her temperment is just crappy and weak nerved, so i have to be careful how i look at her or she will pee.

with Sugar, put her leash on her, feed her. hold the leash, this way she only has a short radius she can travel with the chicken.. try that.. you will have to clean up still, but it is better to clean up chicken slop then pee...

or, you can feed her in her crate, that will eliminate the wandering around the house carrying a chicken carcass, and you only have to wipe down the crate floor instead..

she might not like the towel on the floor, so try a plastic mat instead, like the cheap ones at the dollar store..

or, keep holding it and let her sit and whine, after a while she will realize she can only eat from your hand...or, break the chicken into pieces and hand feed her to get her used to eating in one spot...

Thanks maryellen, you always have really great ideas!

[maryellen]

youre welcome!! i try

[debo-dumbo-ears]

JB: I wouldn't rush out & buy a meat grinder, unless you really want one (hey you can always make sausage!). I'm confident you can train Sugar to eat on a mat or towel, or whatever designated spot you choose. The hand towel might just be a little small, to start out w/ anyway. I've noticed that w/ Debo, the longer he eats raw, the quicker he gets at it. It takes them a little time in the beginning to figure out how to eat efficiently - until then (Debo did anyway) they may have to move it around a bit to figure out the best way to get at it. Debo eats on a full size bath towel, & if he starts to take his food off the towel, I just say "keep it on the towel" & he brings it back.

One of the huge benefits to whole raw food is that the chewing & gnawing keeps the dogs' teeth very clean. The chewing also helps stimulate the digestive enzymes in the stomach to start working.

HTH!

Originally Posted by JoeBingo I do not understand the depth and breadth of her psyche, but it is amazing.

Okay, I tried feeding Sugar raw chicken while she was on her leash.

This was after Rowdy had finished his whole piece in about 15 seconds and I had removed him from the room.

Well, Sugar is a dog that dearly LOVES it when I get the leash out.

Well, Sugar would not touch the chicken while on the leash. She did not want to have anything to do with it even when I gave her permission and encouraged her.

So, I cut the chicken up into bite size chunks for her and turned my back to wash dishes. She ate the chicken. WOoo HOoo! Good Girl!

I think I will try increasing the size of the chunks little by little and see where that goes.