How much does raw feeding cost?

[ItWasntMeItWasIm]

For two labradors...? Also how much freezer space is needed?

The younger one seems to have a delicate digestive system and with most kibble his poo isn't as firm as desired! I thought raw feeding might be a good idea but we are on a budget.

[missbattenburg]

I think it depends on how you do it and where you source your meat from.

For example, a friend of mine feeds 3 collies on a home balanced raw diet for less than£40 a month. She lives in a cheap part of the country, has an arrangement with the butchers and the dogs are elderly so need less food.

I feed battendog (springer) a commercially mixed raw food and spend £80 a month on just him.

She mixes in large quantities to get economy of scale and so has a deep chest freezer specifically for the purpose.

I buy a month's supply at a time and use 2 shelves in our standing freezer.

[tabulahrasa]

With large dogs to do it on a budget you need a whole freezer and a source of cheap meat IMO.

[pugalugs90]

We've got a medium and small sized dog. Local butchers sells dog meat for around £1 p/kg i think it is? They combined eat around 500g a day so it works out cheap for us. It was more expensive to get a good grade kibble. Butcher also throws in bags of bones for free. We have a fridge freezer in garage and freezer is used for dog meat and bones. Works really well. Dogs love it. Have insane shiny coat and bounds of energy they are literally 'built like a butchers dog'

[Wolfiefan]

Depends how you do it. A wolfhound costs us about £1:50 a day. But a “high end” (pretty packaging and good marketing) of a more unusual meat? £15 a day.
We don’t share a freezer. Coz. Tripe.

[Asteria36]

We get raw food from daf pet food. It is delivered frozen and our small labrador has one sachet a day (£10ish for 14) with some extra raw veggies - she adores carrots. She also gets the odd raw bone from the butcher. The sachet is about the size of a Soreen malt loaf and they stack quite nicely in our upright freezer. Avoid the tripe and fish as they smell horrendous.

[Wildboar]

It depends where you get your meat. We used to feed our dog for less than £5 a month. Our butchers would give us free chicken carcasses or scrap meat if we brought something else in the shop or put money in the charity box. They would give us enough to fill a freezer for a month.

[ItWasntMeItWasIm]

Thanks. We don't have much freezer space but could maybe have a chest freezer at Pil's.

I might speak to the local butcher - we always get bones free if we ask

[ItWasntMeItWasIm]

Cross posted with a couple of posts. Definitely looks like it could work out cheaper than kibble. Even the more expensive options.

[Asteria36]

Might be worth looking on free cycle or fb Market place for a cheap little freezer so you don't have to worry about going out to get the food - also it can be a little smelly so having its own space is a bonus.
Totally do the raw food thing though. Our dog is markedly happier and healthier. The vet (who she only ever visits for annual checks) always bangs on about how young and healthy she looks. She is 8 and has a grey beard but somehow still looks like a yearling!
By all accounts dogs can happily live up to a decade longer on raw food. My father's last labrador was nearly 19 when he died.

[tabulahrasa]

“It is delivered frozen and our small labrador has one sachet a day”

My lab sized dog needed 2 1/3ish of those a day...so I was at about £1.80 a day and that was before adding bones in, so roughly twice what his dry food did.

That isn’t why he’s back on dry food, but that is why I reckon you need a cheap source of meat before it’s not expensive.

[Wolfiefan]

It’s not so easy to DIY though. You need a range of proteins and the right ratio meat/offal/bone.
That’s why I’m glad my friend is a farmer.

[VintageFur]

I use Bella & Duke and get a monthly delivery (just one dog). It takes one draw in my standard size freezer (only have 4 draws) so the week before delivery I find myself desperately jigging things around
It costs me £37/month but every single gram is eaten and my movements around the fridge-freezer are closely monitored. I also like supporting a small local business. Dog has never been more thrilled - he didn't used to even bother getting off the sofa for his kibble - added bonus his coat is now so soft and fluffy. I'm a convert.

[VintageFur]

*drawer - gawd it was reading that thread on "wrong words" has put it backwards in my brain.

[Ellapaella]

We spend about £26 per week on raw food for our lab. It does need a fair bit of fridge/freezer space, in fact we have a second fridge freezer in the garage to store it.

[Ellapaella]

We get natural instinct which comes in 1kg tubs and she has 1.2 tubs a day.

[picklemepopcorn]

I buy chicken from the supermarket at £2.50kg. Pork at 3.50. Minced beef at £4.

I used to use specialist suppliers, but find it a hassle having non human food in my chest freezer.

They should eat about 3% of their body weight a day. My boy eats 6%- he's just highly strung.

So it depends on the size of your dog, and what he is prepared to eat.

[picklemepopcorn]

And my dog's coat doesn't smell, and looks fab. He still clears a room though...

[ItWasntMeItWasIm]

Thanks this is all very helpful. We don't have any space for a chest freezer unfortunately. Unless we get rid of a couple of large dogs...

[pugalugs90]

So surprised about the comments from the vet being positive. Our vet said she urged us strongly to keep away from raw food due to the risk of us or dogs becoming ill. We obviously ignored and have always consulted a pet nutritionist who swears by raw meat we were converted. The vet wanted us on science plan 🤢 no way! It goes straight though them

[Vallahalagonebutnotforgotten]

Ellapaella how much? You give you labrador 2.2kg a day? Even if the tubs are 500g a day that is way too much food.

That can't be right

30kg lab should get about 2.5% so about 750g a day split over two meals

[Vallahalagonebutnotforgotten]

Raw food does need to be frozen to kill bugs etc then there is nominal risk of dogs becoming ill.

[Ellapaella]

@Vallahalagonebutnotforgotten my mistake!
I give a total of 1.2kg a day. 600gr per meal.

[Ellapaella]

And that amount is most definitely what's recommended on the box!

[Vallahalagonebutnotforgotten]

That is still a lot a hell of a lot - how much does your dog weigh?

If you are giving 3% of body weight that means the dog is abut 40kg which is huge for a lab!

[Ellapaella]

She is still young though.. only 12 months. I have to admit I'm confused now. @Vallahalagonebutnotforgotten here is the chart, she's 12 months and weighs 30kg..
I presumed she wasn't an adult until around a year in age and I'm sure that's what the vet said..