When I began this project, I felt a bit like I was only going to do it if I could do it perfectly.
But that's unrealistic. In my opinion, feeding them fresh human grade foods would be better than feeding them processed dry dog foods. If my only choices for my breakfast were "high quality" powdered eggs, or fresh non-organic eggs, well, I'd choose the fresh.
That said, I am always looking for more variety, better sources, higher quality, etc. But I'm not going to feed the dogs something I'm not happy with while I wait for the absolute perfect source to come along, because it may never happen. The fresher it is then the more I know about its origins, and that is always better, in my opinion.
And if you can't find a wide variety of organ meats, as many people can't, I would still do it. We didn't have that wide variety in the beginning. We fed some kibble meals, and we added more vegetables and supplements (like a multivitamin), more eggs. We didn't forego feeding the fresh foods; we made concessions where necessary and continued to look for more sources.
That said, these are the some places to start your shopping spree:
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| There's that reduced for quick sale sticker. If it's on sale, and it's a good price, I'll take it. |
Yep. The grocery store. My husband now knows whenever we go grocery shopping, we have to make a pass by the meat case, even if we don't need anything, to keep an eye out for the yellow, "reduced for quick sale" sticker. We get pork and beef cuts very cheaply this way, and chicken parts-- bone-in thighs and drumsticks, hearts and gizzards, and livers are the most common items on sale. Sometimes we come across a nice deal on organic chicken or turkey. I'm lucky to have the freezer space to buy anything I see and throw it in the freezer to process later.
When we began making raw, we were buying our chicken leg quarters from the grocery. WalMart here sells bags of leg quarters for $0.59/lb. They aren't the highest quality, as you can imagine, and after removing the large sections of loose skin and removable fat, it's more like $0.75-0.80/lb.
To save processing time, I started buying pre-separated thighs and drumsticks. These had less fat and skin, so the processing time was less, and they were of a higher quality. I could usually get these for around $1/lb, sometimes on sale for $0.88/lb.
I have been told that many people are able to buy cases of certain cuts through the grocery butcher. I've never tried this, as I have a different source for that kind of thing, but it's always worth asking. Most come in 40lb cases, and it's often things that aren't as popular: hearts alone, beef hearts, gizzards, necks, backs, etc. It's always worth asking. Always.
**One thing to pay attention to when buying human-grade meats is to be aware of "enhancements" and sodium. The less enhancement the better, and I was always told to keep the sodium as close to less than 100mg/4oz as possible. I'll try to find a source on that number...**
Specialty Grocers
Organ meats are hard to come by in most "regular" grocery stores. But we are lucky to have large Asian and Hispanic populations here, and if you're lucky, too, these are great places to find some of these things. So it's worth checking your local carniceria or Asian market.
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| Cryovacc'd cuts form abattoir, pork from the grocery store, grinds from Texas Tripe. It's a mixed bag. |
A butcher is a pretty obvious option... But many "butchers" are really just meat stores. And they may be able to order things by the case for you, but the places that actually slaughter and process are the ones to look for. Ask around-- where do the local hunters take their deer for processing? Where do local livestock (especially the small-scale) farmers have their meat processed?
Our local abattoir keeps a large freezer just for cryovacc'd organ and other meats for people like me :) -- kidneys, sweetbreads, testicles, liver, heart, tongue, beef tips. But I can also call them on the days that they slaughter and ask them to hold specific organs for me. I can call and they will bag up lungs, kidney, liver and heart all still connected, and sell it to me for $10. This requires some work on my part, but saves me some money and saves them the trouble of individually trimming and packing. It's a win-win.
Also, ask them what they do with any trim. Tell them what you're doing, what kinds of things you feed, let them know how much elbow grease you're willing to put in (if any), and see what they can do for you. It's always worth asking.
Local Farmers/Farmers Markets
This can definitely be a win-win situation and a phenomenal way to get higher quality sources at a reasonable price.
Who locally sells free-range chicken? Grass-fed beef? Pasture-raised pigs? Other livestock and poultry-- goats, pheasant, turkey, rabbit, lamb?
Give those farmers a call or an email. Explain what you do-- that you're feeding your dogs raw and you're looking for new variety, specifically cuts that might otherwise be going to waste. Things like organ meats that are harder or impossible for them to sell, or things like chicken frames (these are what's left after the legs and breast have been removed from the bird; it's a lot of meat and bone, usually includes the back and neck, and you can add it to other boneless meat to get that 80/10/10 ratio-- and since it's something that they're not going to be selling at the market at a huge premium, they might be willing to sell it for cheap). We now have a couple of local farmers who have their leftover chicken parts-- frames, legs, backs, necks, liver, heart, etc-- ground up and packaged for raw feeders. One has offered to have the abattoir bag up all the leftovers of his livestock for me to buy and pick up. These are humanely and naturally raised animals-- much better quality than I could otherwise afford. But again, it's a win-win. It's always worth asking.
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| This is even more mixed bag. A box of beef spleen, cases of hearts and gizzards, ground packs of chicken frames, blends including organs, blends from the farmers market. We buy a pretty wide range these days |
We don't live in a big enough urban area for utilizing a co-op. DogAware has a list of co-ops by state. This is a way for large groups of people to buy at bulk prices and split the product into smaller quantities.
We HAVE, however, been lucky enough to be able to buy from Texas Tripe. There are other companies like this, you just have to look for them. His prices are worth driving to a drop-off location for us. This is a bit like a co-op. This company deals mainly in grass-fed beef and buys in bulk from local poultry processing facilities and from local hunters. I can buy in bulk, myself (40lb cases of hearts or gizzards, 50lb blocks of chicken frames, 20lb blocks of beef trim, etc.), or I can pay a bit more for him to have already ground and packaged these things; or I can pay a little MORE for him to have already ground and portioned the various components into blends that include meat and organ, and sometimes bone. It's a way for me to buy in bulk, like a co-op, or a less expensive way to buy pre-packaged raw and still have the flexibility to build your own meals as you need to. This is how we've been buying much of our raw for a while now, and I'll talk about what we do with these products later. It's slightly more expensive than grinding my own leg quarters, but I've been shorter on time than money lately, and it's still a great deal and cheaper than buying pre-packaged commercially produced raw.
Other Options
I have one friend who buys much of her organ meats from the local butcher's college. Some people I know drive directly to some of the processors that Texas Tripe buys from. All my friends know not to throw out freezer burned meats. Once again: It's always worth asking.
Ask everyone and anyone who eats and buys meat. Friends. Hunters. Butchers. And if you are limited to the grocery store, it is still totally doable. Don't be discouraged. But if you can put in a little extra effort, you can find wonderful resources-- higher quality, more variety-- just ask around. And tell people what you're doing. I've found that most people think it's weird, but kind of neat and will offer their leftover meats and trims and leftovers from hunting. Just let people know.
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