Proper
care and preparation of the raw meat is paramount. Be sure to
buy human grade foods and to take the same precautions preparing them
that you would for your own family.
I
will explain what we do...
Purchasing/Preparation
We
break our food preparation into five stages: Chicken, Meat
Mixture, Recreational Bones, Fruit/Veggie Mix and Supplements.
Chicken
is purchased directly from the farm on the day it is
killed. We buy several hundred pounds of chicken backs
and necks at once. We bring it home and immediately bag it in
one day portions. For our eight dogs, that is approx. 12 backs
or 18-21 necks depending on the size and how fatty they
are. We also purchase whole chickens, ground and frozen,
and keep it on hand for puppies or dogs who are not accustomed to
eating chicken bones. Please note that the ground chicken does have
bones in it, they are just finely ground. We drive about 2
hours for the chicken, so try to do it only about once every six
weeks. It then takes the two of us about an hour to bag it.
Meat
Mixture is purchased from our butcher, who
grinds up muscle meat, organ meat and tripe and freezes it in five
pound bags for us. Again, we buy several hundred pounds and put
it into the freezer immediately. We occasionally substitute the beef
mixture with elk if available. Since this meat is already
bagged and frozen, there is no prep time for us!
Recreational
Bones are also purchased from the
butcher. These are long beef bones (Femur) that we have cut
into 2-3" sections for us. Once again, they go right into
the freezer, so no prep time.
Fruit/Veggie
Glop is handled a bit differently. Once
a month, we puree fruits and veggies. Generally Brocolli,
Carrots, Spinach, Sweet Potato & Apples, plus whatever else is in
season at the time such as fresh berries, pumpkin, squash etc.
The veggie "glop" is also mixed in with a bit of soaked
oats. This mixture is put into ziplock bags and frozen, again
in one day portions feeding eight dogs. This is the most time
consuming portion of the diet. Prep, bagging and cleanup takes
me about 2 hours once a month.
Supplements
- Eggs and Oils are kept refrigerated, as are the yogurt, cottage
cheese, and apple cider vinager. Once again, no prep time here.
Actual
Feeding
Each
evening, I feed the dogs their Chicken and/or recreational bones
(just hand them to them to chew...no bowls). After I do so, I
grab a bag of Meat Mixture from the freezer, as well as a bag of
Veggie Glop, and put them into a stainless steel bowl to
thaw. I wash out the bowl that the chicken was in and
spray the feeding prep area. Wipe clean and we're all done.
Total
nighttime feeding = less than 10 minutes for eight dogs.
In
the morning, Mike sets out eight bowls. He empties the
contents of the Meat Mixture and Veggie Glop. Cracks an egg
into each bowl (with the shell), gives each a squirt of Oil, a dash
of ACV, a spoonful of yogurt and cottage cheese, a bit of honey, and
a scoop of the powdered supplements. Add a bit of water and
stir. In the time it takes him to wash out the meat bowl and
spray/wipe the area, the dogs are finished eating. Dishes go
into the dishwasher and he pulls out a bag of chicken to thaw for me
that evening.
Total
morning feeding = about 20 mintues for eight dogs.
A
few helpful hints to speed things up if you have multiple dogs or a kennel...
Keep
a small "doggie fridge" right near the food processing
area. You can purchase these at really low prices during back
to school time.
Always
have a spray bottle of bleach/water nearby and some old rags.
A quick spray and wipe is all it takes to protect yourself and your
family from salmonella and the like.
Transfer
oils into "squirt" bottles, such as the bottled water
containers that have the "sports" top. Saves a lot of
time, just pull the top and squirt into the food...no more losing
those little caps.
Mix
your powdered supplements together for ease. We mix vitamin C
and kelp together along with anything else that may be powdered such
as Glucosamine/MSM etc.