Can you guys critique my schedule please? Thankee!!

[Baloo317]

Monday:

AM: Ground chicken
cod liver/salmon oil
kelp/alfalfa

PM: Whole bird night
Baloo: Cornish Hen
Peanut: Quail
tripe


Tuesday:

AM: Ground beef
cod liver/salmon oil
kelp/alfalfa
OM

PM: Turkey/chicken necks/backs


Wednesday:

AM: Ground turkey
cod liver/salmon oil
kelp/alfalfa
OM

PM: Wing night
Baloo: Turkey
Peanut: chicken


Thursday:

AM: Ground beef
Egg
cod liver/salmon oil
kelp/alfalfa

PM: 1/2 bird night
Baloo: chicken
Peanut: cornish hen
tripe


Friday:

AM: Ground lamb
cod liver/salmon oil
kelp/alfalfa
OM

PM: turkey/chicken necks/backs


Saturday:

AM: Ground beef
kelp/alfalfa

PM: fish night (mackerel)
tripe


Sunday:

AM: Ground beef
cod liver/salmon oil
kelp/alfalfa
OM

PM: turkey/chicken necks/backs


Obviously amounts as appropriate. What do you think?

[JustineNYC]

Looks like my schedule except I feed chicken hearts and gizzards mixed in, in at least two meals, liver once a week, also raw egg with shells once a week.

And Dale gets veggies as a filler cause the doctor wanted his fat intake at a minimum.

[jlab]

Looks like a menu from a doggy health spa!

Good Stuff:
- Good animal variety
- Lots of whole prey
- Weekly fish for Omega 3's
- Organs are good but just make sure you keep them to ~10% of total diet over long period of time
- Like all the tripe you're feeding and I'm sure the dogs do too!

Bad Stuff:
- potential o/d of Vitamin A and Vitamin D from too much cod liver oil

Unnecessary Stuff:
- kelp/alfalfa are plants with nutrients not readily absorbed by digestive system of carnivores - waste of money
- salmon oil supps are nice for diets without regular fish meals but since you're regularly feeding fish, fish oils are not needed

Other:
- Feed the ground meats in kongs to make them work for their food and provide adequate time for digestive juices to flow

[Apollopuppy]

Looks good for the most part, I fully agree with what Jlab has said. Here are my critiques (bearing in mind that they are coming from a ferret/cat raw feeder (if my opinion matters to you) They are pretty much the same as Jlabs critiques.

I'd say kick the supplements (why supplement when a simple diet tweak can be made to fix any deficiencies?), bye-bye to the alfalfa and kelp (I cant really see a reason to give it). And try and replace that ground meat with meat chunks. For example, I feed my ferret and cat beef steak tips (beef chunks used for stew) instead of ground beef. Because the chunks arent ground they take more effort to chew and provide better jaw exercise AND foods that arent ground dont have as much surface area that can be exposed to bacteria. Granted, CHUNKS of meat are more expensive then ground meat, and I only have a two pound ferret and an 8 lb cat to feed. Maybe some of the dog raw feeders on here could give their opinions on the matter.

Good luck! Im so happy to see your starting to get the hang of the raw diet! Yay!

-Giuli

[Baloo317]

Thanks guys!

I knew the supplement critiques were comin'. ;D In all honesty, they are like a security blanket for me. Probably one day I'll be able to ditch 'em, but a few questions first:

1. I will dump the CLO, I've had reservations about it from the get-go. :-\ Regarding the salmon oil, they don't get much, could I keep it in for awhile do you think? I know it might not be "necessary", but they only get one teeny capsule a day...? (and not on fish day!)

2. Is there any harm in giving them kelp/alfalfa, outside of wasting my money, potentially? If there isn't, I'd like to keep them in rotation..... at least for a little while.

They only get a little bit of OM on the days they get it, definitely around 10%.

Thanks for the tip Guili! That's true, and I might try to pick up stewing beef to have a few times instead of the ground beef. This is basically my starter model, I'll probably be fine tuning quite a bit in the next little while.

[ObedienceLabs4Me]

1. I will dump the CLO, I've had reservations about it from the get-go. :-\ Regarding the salmon oil, they don't get much, could I keep it in for awhile do you think? I know it might not be "necessary", but they only get one teeny capsule a day...? (and not on fish day!)

2. Is there any harm in giving them kelp/alfalfa, outside of wasting my money, potentially? If there isn't, I'd like to keep them in rotation..... at least for a little while.

The only time I give Caleb extra sardine oil is when the furnance is running and he is getting too dried out. Last winter he was on it but this winter he has not needed it so I have not used it. He gets sardines once a week as a meal. I let him tell me what he needs.

My holistic vet told me I really didnt need the kelp. But, since I had all ready bought some she said it would not hurt but not really necessary.

[jlab]

1. Regarding the salmon oil, they don't get much, could I keep it in for awhile do you think? I know it might not be "necessary", but they only get one teeny capsule a day...? (and not on fish day!)

Sure - feed all the salmon oil you want. It may not be necessary but it won't hurt.

2. Is there any harm in giving them kelp/alfalfa, outside of wasting my money, potentially? If there isn't, I'd like to keep them in rotation..... at least for a little while.

No harm in kelp/alfalfa. I fed them for years similar to your diet plan with no harm.

[Fallriver]

Try to get your salmon from Alaskan sources as it has a lower level of mercury.

I do disagree with JL on the salmon oil supplements. Personally, I give them any day they are not eating fish. Grass fed beef has an Omega 6 to 3 ratio of about 3:1 (as with other grass fed animals). Grain fed animals can be as high as 20:1.
If you want to be scientific, do the math and figure out how much oil you need to supplement to get to that magical 3:1 ratio. IF you feed veggies, you need to add more because veggies are 10:1. Range fed eggs are 1.5:1 and supermarket eggs are 20:1.

I am more of a guesstimator and just add it daily. I don't think fish once or twice a week will do it because it is

[Apollopuppy]

Just out of curiosity (because I honestly have no idea) can dogs even digest and make use of kelp/alfalfa? I know if I gave it to my ferret it would come out the back door virtually unchanged (however ferrets have a VERY different digestive system from dogs). Just trying to learn the difference between the two animals. Thanks!

-Giuli

[Fallriver]

I think your guess is as good as anyone else's. They can digest EFAs from flax oil but only about half of it.