BARF diet

[Maggie111]

Can someone please tell me a rough cost of a BARF diet per day? Does a pack dish up easily or do I have to start mushing about with food? If I'm going to feed Barney raw food with a newborn I'd rather it be as convenient and mess free etc as possible. Whilst I'm not a germaphobe I do always wear gloves dicing my chicken!

Nuturing by Nature is the company to try out first I guess.

[Bid]

Nurturing by Nature is the one I use - there are several around. If you are concerned about having faw food dripping around the place they are a good place to start, because their food comes in plastic dishes with lids rather than plastic bags that some companies use. Their cheapest food is minced chicken which is 77p for 400g, or 1.19 for 700g

My dogs get 2 meals a day as follows ....

Poppy (18 kg)- 150g per meal
Daisy (28 kg) - 200g per meal
Beamish (34kg) - 300g per meal

So I could feed Poppy for under 77p a day - obviously I like her to have variety so she has other mixes as well.

This is Poppy's breakfast just taken out of the freezer ....

[Maggie111]

Awesome thanks Bid!! £30 a month is pretty much what we're paying now. How long does it take to defrost a pack? Does it smell? Sorry, I know some of these questions I could put to the company if you'd rather!

I vaguely recall I can if necessary do a "mixed" diet - but I should feed days of one or the other - not feed breakfast kibble and evening barf? Just considering what if I get low on food. I don't have a big freezer so I'm wondering whether I can make it work. I guess delivery costs is the biggy if I need to order regularly but I can check out if there is anything local too.

Thanks for the pic - I don't know why but it really helps me picture it all!

[Bid]

I take the next one out of the freezer at mealtimes, so I don't forget. I've never noticed it smelling - I have been a vegetarian since 1979, but feeding this doesn't phase me. I always make sure that I put their bowls through the dishwasher, and as you can see - I have an unhygienic tiled work surface, so I make good use of a dettox spray after preparing their meals.

[Pauline]

I feed my two BARF - they weigh 25kgs & 35kgs so eat roughly 454gms a day & 600gms - my supplier is a bit cheaper than Nurturing by Nature
There are several companies now who will deliver
I've used Landywoods; http://www.anglianmeatproducts.co.uk/ & Mannifold Valley http://www.manifoldvalleymeats.co.uk/

Good luck - you're dogs will love it!

[eileenandmolly]

I do feed half complete and half barf ................my 2 have complete (Fishmongers) for breakfast, and barf for tea ...........they seem ok on it.

[gilly g]

I feed my two BARF - they weigh 25kgs & 35kgs so eat roughly 454gms a day & 600gms - my supplier is a bit cheaper than Nurturing by Nature
There are several companies now who will deliver
I've used Landywoods; http://www.anglianmeatproducts.co.uk/ & Mannifold Valley http://www.manifoldvalleymeats.co.uk/

Good luck - you're dogs will love it!

Polo, who will not entertain any type of Kibble,including the best brands , has beef chunks from Anglian Meat products. P@H sell them frozen in 2kg bags along with chunks of or minced tripe (which smells revolting), minced beef and chicken.(freeflow) I think they also sell individual frozen packs of minced chicken, beef, fish and rabbit, (or is it lamb?) so it might be worth buying these to see how you get on? P@H are probably more expensive than buying direct, but it's convenient for me.

I have a separate freezer for his food (daughter came to live back home with it ) and I defrost his food in the microwave, other than bones, which he likes frozen.

[Immi]

Immi gets nurturing by nature, and it is so simple to feed. A 400gr pack of chicken takes about 6-7 hours to defrost at room temp (out of canine reach of course!) There is no need to add anything to the diet, although i add in some eggs and organ meat (heart/liver/kidney from the butchers) for variation, and she has green tripe once a week and raw fish once a week (both from nurturing by nature). Oh and I give her a partially frozen carrot as a midday snack for her teeth which she loves.

With regards to mixing raw and packaged feeds try to avoid kibble as some preservatives are known to inhibit the uptake of nutrients in raw form (i think the advice is don't feed raw until at least 12 hours after kibble).

Edit: You might get mixed results searching on the net about BARF and Raw (prey-model) diets. There is a good article about the 2 here: http://rawfed.com/myths/preymodel.html

[Pollydoodle]

I do keep ( and feed too often ) Nature Diet or Nature's Harvest packs/tubs for when I forget to go to the butchers or can't bear the thought of hacking something in two. I think these could be quick and easy alternatives for when you are up to your eyeballs or can't face raw meat that day. Oddly enough I have started to enjoy cutting up rabbit and find the smell of raw, fresh rabbit rather pleasant.Dogs go bonkers waiting of course I notice Berriewood's starting doing their own branded Barf too.Not used them but just fyi.
With all the major food processing companies I wonder what quality goes into the product.

If I was going to go for complete hassle free I would order from Nuture by Nature

Dogs definitely love it

[Serendipi]

Hi

I feed my cats on BARF, and am planning to move the puppies on to a BARF diet when they are a bit more able to cope with bones. They have been weaned at my request on to Naturediet and I have seen a massive difference in them eating than rather than the kibble that the breeder has been feeding to the other puppies.

Good luck!!

[suebedo]

Wow - I'd never heard of BARF food before - I will investigate as Fozzie is really not a foodie dog at all and would happily leave his food all day! What an unfortunate name for a diet though, I feel quite queasy just readying the name.

[Bid]

Wow - I'd never heard of BARF food before - I will investigate as Fozzie is really not a foodie dog at all and would happily leave his food all day! What an unfortunate name for a diet though, I feel quite queasy just readying the name.

One of mine isn't a foodie dog - she is very poodley and will leave a meal from time to time if she doesn't need it. Poppy has a very slight build and I have now cut down the size of her meals and she more or less eats every one. I think I was catering for a lab when what I have is a poodle

[DiSet]

Hello, I feed raw in morning and kibble in evening. If my dog could choose he would have fully raw diet, he adores his raw in the morning. At the moment I use wolftucker and never have any waste, but it is quite expensive (includes veg and oils already mixed in). What do other people do about including vegs etc - feed veg/or not?

[Doodle Dee]

Lulu can take or leave her food but does like sardines etc. I looked at Nature by Nuture and not sure that I can do it but if Lulu likes it I may try. My problem is how do you know how much to give them? I had enough problems with the kibble trying to work it out and I have just heard from James Welbeloved how much they calculate I should give her. So how to do you know with the BARF diet - doesn't take much to confuse me!

[Bid]

What do other people do about including vegs etc - feed veg/or not?

I don't feed veg - they can get 99% of what the need from meat, fish, bone and offal. The tiny little bit extra they need is available in kelp so I feed a kelp and alfalfa supplement. The are not designed to digest carbs so I don't see a need to feed them.

So how to do you know with the BARF diet - doesn't take much to confuse me!

It's easy with BARF as what you feed is worked on their current weight and not their expected weight. In the first year when they are growing you feed up to 10% of their weight daily getting less as they reach their adult height - you can easily judge if you are not feeding the right amount by their weight and poo! Adults get between 2% and 3% of their weight daily, depending on how active they are. For example, Daisy isn't as active as some dogs becuase of her hips - she weighs 26kg, and gets 500g a day whivch is about 2%. Poppy is a teeny tiny 16kg, and gets 300g a day - again she is not as active as her walks are all on a line. Beamish on the other hand is 34kg and is a young and active beastie. He gets 700g a day of mince, plus a turkey wing or similar at lunchtime