Mincer

[Pam99]

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After a weekend of researching the raw diet ive decided to jump straight in and transition Ruby onto it. Ive tried her on a few raw items over the weekend and shes loved it and no runny bum so ive ordered a three week starter pack but when that finishes id like to do my own creations. So can anyone recommend a mincer that can handle chunky meat and bones?

 

[excuseme]

I have a nice big but quiet old "Hobart". size 22. I bought this on ebay, probably 10 years ago.
It minces if required; chicken carcuses, rabbits, pheasants. These do need to be chopped into smaller portions so that they can be pushed down the throat of the mincer with bones included and coarse mincing plates.
Most of our meats unless bought as pet mince are fed as chunks or left on the bone.
I mince lungs with liver, heart, kidneys (offal) a very rich mince!

 

[Pam99]

With ruby being a puppy im still scared to give her bones. Im bashing the wings up to within an inch of their lives! I guess ill get more confident as we get into raw. Im really looking forward to all the different exciting things i can give her

 

[JoanneF]

I must admit, I hold chicken wings to make sure my dog doesn't eat them too fast. But he is quite chilled about that, not every dog would be.

 

[Pam99]

I must admit, I hold chicken wings to make sure my dog doesn't eat them too fast. But he is quite chilled about that, not every dog would be.

Yes that is exactly what ive been doing with ruby, hold it and let her strip it, i kind of like it plus im safe in the knowledge shes not dowing them!

 

[niamh123]

Here is a pic of my puppy enjoying a chicken carcass aged 11 weeks,I also used to hold chicken wings until he realised how much he needed to chew an item of RMB but by 11 weeks the wings would only need to be crunched twice before he swallowed them whole

 

[Hemlock]

I weaned my pups straight onto raw and by five weeks they could crunch up chicken wings by themselves. It's really nice sitting with them, a pup on each foot, two on my lap, one either side of me, all eating their chicken wings.

Not that there is anything wrong with being cautious, so if you like to bash up the bones, that's fine. Just saying that little pups are much more competent at eating than we might think.

 

[Pam99]

Thanks everyone for your replies. Tonight Ruby had 25% kibble and 75% raw using the 80:10:10 ratio. If her tummy settles ill get rid of the kibble completely. The only question i have is with the 80% meat does this have to be pure muscle meat ie no fat? And how does fish fit into the equation? Eg. Sardines and whitebait?

 

[JudyN]

A certain amount of fat is fine, and healthy. Duck, for instance, is a fatty meat so it wouldn't be a good idea to feed it continually, but is still OK. Fish is good too - I'd count that as part of the 80% muscle meat.

But there's no need to overthink it and aim for a perfect balance, any more than we do for our own diets.

 

[Hemlock]

Unless you buy your fish from a pet food source, or else use tinned, always freeze it for a month or so then thaw out and feed. Fish sometimes contains nasties that cooking or freezing destroys. Only cook boneless fish.

Not to scare you - fish is a very good food.

 

[Pam99]

Unless you buy your fish from a pet food source, or else use tinned, always freeze it for a month or so then thaw out and feed. Fish sometimes contains nasties that cooking or freezing destroys. Only cook boneless fish.

Not to scare you - fish is a very good food.

Oh heck, poor ruby, she had a raw sardine from morrisons this morning! I'll start freezing them with a date label on. Can they eat chicken drumsticks? I need to get over my fear of bones! ...and is ox heart classed as offal or muscle meat? Thanks for all the info. The forum really has been a godsend

 

[JudyN]

Chicken drumsticks are fine I believe that heart can be considered either as offal or muscle meat (or it may just depend on who you ask...). Which doesn't help with your calculations, but just underlines that you don't have the get the percentages perfect. It can be quite rich though, so start with small amounts and build up.

 

[excuseme]

My vet says that heart is muscle, well yes it is in it's own right, but it is totally different and far more rich than body muscle.
It is a working organ as lungs, kidneys, liver and only a small part of an animals anatomy. If you were to gut an animal carefully, let's say a sheep or a deer the "offal," which has the Heart, lungs, liver and kidneys, these can come out all hanging together. The colour and consistency of the heart is nothing like the remainder of the meat on the carcass. There are other parts of an animal that some will mention as "Offal", tongue, but that again is a "muscle" although not as rich as the heart, testicles, the rumen/tripe. There will be other bits and pieces that also come under the "offal" bracket, I'm sure someone will name some others.

Hmmm.

 

[JoanneF]

There will be other bits and pieces that also come under the "offal" bracket, I'm sure someone will name some others.

We could make a quiz out of this!

 

[Hemlock]

From my domestic science lessons way back in the '60s, "offal" meant "off all joints". So it means organ meat.