What 60 lbs of homemade ground looks like...

This is what I spent a big chunk of my weekend making:



That's a total  of 60 lbs of chicken, turkey, pork, beef and lamb.  

Cost: $2.70 / lb

It should last my 4 kitties about 7 1/2 weeks.

Time for my reward!     

mschauer said:

This is what I spent a big chunk of my weekend making:





That's a total  of 60 lbs of chicken, turkey, pork, beef and lamb.  

Cost: $2.70 / lb

It should last my 4 kitties about 7 1/2 weeks.


Time for my reward!  :drink:   

:bigwink:

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COOL
So...... That is obviously frankerprey right there? Or is it ground?
Care to share some secrets of the trade? THAT is Cheap!! Whoa!!
What cuts of meat do you buy, how big do you cut, what is your mix..... etc? Share the love, share!

WOW just WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!! Great job :bigthumb: A labor of love and a reward of a :drink: :beerpals: What a wonderfully organized freezer too. I am SO envious..... I am SO wanting my cat's to be eating all raw - but they are just fighting it. Only the four P's that is. The more I read up and research about raw feeding, the more I want this for my cats - so very much.

I am very impressed with the work you put into preparing and packaging 60 lbs. of meat !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's ground not frankenprey.

The beef is beef chuck roast, kidney, heart, liver, thymus.

The turkey is turkey thighs, chicken thighs, turkey heart, liver, gizzards.

The pork is pork, shoulder roast, heart, liver, kidney, spleen.

The chicken is thighs, hearts, liver. All chicken.

The lamb is leg of lamb, and beef heart, liver and thymus.

The chicken organs are from the grocery store. The other organs and the turkey are from a local store that specializes in supplies for raw feeders. The rest is from Costco.

I usually use ground bone but have been experimenting with MCHA (freeze dried bone). It maintains the full nutrient profile of whole bone but I don't have to worry about sharp pieces.

   

Yes, do tell your secrets!!!!!  That right there is making me think that I will be able to afford the raw for my kitties!!!  I REALLY want to get started soon as they are still kittens and will still eat pretty much anything.  Is it completely balanced?  Do you supplement in the meat or with other foods throughout the week? 

mschauer said:

It's ground not frankenprey.

The beef is beef chuck roast, kidney, heart, liver, thymus.
The turkey is turkey thighs, chicken thighs, turkey heart, liver, gizzards.
The pork is pork, shoulder roast, heart, liver, kidney, spleen.
The chicken is thighs, hearts, liver. All chicken.
The lamb is leg of lamb, and beef heart, liver and thymus.

The chicken organs are from the grocery store. The other organs and the turkey are from a local store that specializes in supplies for raw feeders. The rest is from Costco.

I usually use ground bone but have been experimenting with MCHA (freeze dried bone). It maintains the full nutrient profile of whole bone but I don't have to worry about sharp pieces.

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How do you supplement it? Do you use eggs, taurine, vitamins? Do you follow a specific recipe, or just meat?
What grinder do you have?
Sorry for all the questions
and..... what is the percentage you use? for meat/bone/organs?

Carolina said:

How do you supplement it? Do you use eggs, taurine, vitamins? Do you follow a specific recipe, or just meat?
What grinder do you have?
Sorry for all the questions

and..... what is the percentage you use? for meat/bone/organs?

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For supplements I use vit E (mostly as a preservative), and B complex. I sprinkle extra taurine over their meals 3 or 4 times a week. I also do add eggs to the ground mix and the 4 of them split 2 tins of sardines a week.

I don't use the meat/bone/organ percent method. I wrote a computer program that analyzes a recipe using data in the USDA nutrient database and some information from elsewhere. I compare the analysis against the AAFCO and NRC recommendations and adjust as I see fit. I have the NRC publication so I can look up what the recommendations really mean and decide whether for myself whether I need to be concerned about a difference between my recipes and the recommendations. And the recipes vary a bit each time based on what ingredients I find and sometimes on whim. 

I shoot for a calcium phosphorus ratio of 1:1. I also shoot for a omega6 fatty acid to omega3 fatty acid ratio of about 5:1 but it is far from certain how important that is. 

The grinder is a Tasin 108. I also have one of the more expensive Tasins. I don't remember the model number but it wasn't worth the extra money. It's a lot quieter than the 108 but it doesn't grind any better.

Questions are always welcome! 

parsleysage said:

 Is it completely balanced?  Do you supplement in the meat or with other foods throughout the week? 

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Well, depends on your definition of "balanced". 

As far as I am concerned it is balanced once I add the sardines during the week.

You are SO organized!

I definitely do not have the confidence to make home made ground and supplement myself.

But thank you SO much for sharing - that's AMAZING!

LDG said:

I definitely do not have the confidence to make home made ground and supplement myself.

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Well, the computer program helps a lot. I know my recipes can't be terribly lacking in anything important! 

OK, my cost isn't quite double yours... but I just placed my first order from Hare Today. I ordered pork, rabbit, turkey, and supplement. I just paid $5.07 per pound for supplemented food, shipped. ...and that was NOT a bulk order (just 20 pounds of meat, to give it a try).

It's going to cost me about $300 a month to feed the cats (8 of them) raw, vs about $400 for the canned I was feeding them. :nod:

LDG said:

OK, my cost isn't quite double yours... but I just placed my first order from Hare Today. I ordered pork, rabbit, turkey, and supplement. I just paid $5.07 per pound for supplemented food, shipped. ...and that was NOT a bulk order (just 20 pounds of meat, to give it a try).
It's going to cost me about $300 a month to feed the cats (8 of them) raw, vs about $400 for the canned I was feeding them.

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$5.07 / lb including shipping ain't bad at all! My problem with ordering raw online has always been that in the summer I would have to use overnight shipping if the food is to get to Houston from the east coast still frozen. That  and I really have a pretty good selection of locally available stuff so it really doesn't make sense for me to bother with online ordering.

Really, $5.07 isn't bad at all especially since it is less than you are paying now.

Is that standard ground shipping?

mschauer said:

$5.07 / lb including shipping ain't bad at all! My problem with ordering raw online has always been that in the summer I would have to use overnight shipping if the food is to get to Houston from the east coast still frozen. That  and I really have a pretty good selection of locally available stuff so it really doesn't make sense for me to bother with online ordering.

Really, $5.07 isn't bad at all especially since it is less than you are paying now.

Is that standard ground shipping?

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She is offline so I am going to answer that - that is FeDex 2days shipping

Oh, I have ordered from them when it was pretty warm here in Dallas..... not a problem.... The outer layer was slightly thawed, but nothing worrisome at all........ pretty frozen, pretty good.... :nod:

Carolina said:

She is offline so I am going to answer that - that is FeDex 2days shipping

Oh, I have ordered from them when it was pretty warm here in Dallas..... not a problem.... The outer layer was slightly thawed, but nothing worrisome at all........ pretty frozen, pretty good....

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Laurie is in NJ, right? Hare-Today is in PA so the shipping would be pretty cheap for her.

You haven't ordered from them in the summer when it is hot (not warm) both in Dallas and all along the travel route. Let me know how it goes in July-Sept. 

mschauer said:

Laurie is in NJ, right? Hare-Today is in PA so the shipping would be pretty cheap for her.

You haven't ordered from them in the summer when it is hot (not warm) both in Dallas and all along the travel route. Let me know how it goes in July-Sept. 

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LOL - last week was 85F here..... so... yeah pretty warm LOL Sure, not like summer, but not winter either....
My shipping was also 2 days and cheap too..... anyways - the deal is, they don't have the overcharges the other places do..... they just charge the shipping for it. Mine was pretty much the same as Laurie.... I think $20 or something like that if memory doesn't fail me. But yeah.... I plan to order from them the same way..... Since they are an online shipping company.... I would imagine they do alright during those months too.....

Carolina said:

LOL - last week was 85F here..... so... yeah pretty warm LOL Sure, not like summer, but not winter either....
My shipping was also 2 days and cheap too..... anyways - the deal is, they don't have the overcharges the other places do..... they just charge the shipping for it. Mine was pretty much the same as Laurie.... I think $20 or something like that if memory doesn't fail me. But yeah.... I plan to order from them the same way..... Since they are an online shipping company.... I would imagine they do alright during those months too.....

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Huh? I just looked and Fed Ex 2nd to Houston for what she ordered would be $114.65. That's on an $85.79 order.

Like I said, let me know how if goes in the summer! It doesn't matter to me anyway. It's a lot cheaper for me to either make my own or to buy locally.

Maybe you used Fed Ex 3 day home delivery? That would have been $26 to Houston for Lauries order. 

Your freezer is so organized, you don't even want to know how bad mine looks.  Though I have improved on my "freezer tetris" skills

 

mschauer said:

This is what I spent a big chunk of my weekend making:

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mschauer said:

Maybe you used Fed Ex 3 day home delivery? That would have been $26 to Houston for Lauries order. 

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Maybe they have a different pricing structure with Fed Ex? It was actually cheaper to choose the Fed Ex 2-day than the UPS 2-day! UPS 2-day was $23-something, and Fed Ex 2-day was $22-something. :dk: The total shipping weight was 31 pounds for 20 pounds of meat and the supplement (I don't know how much that weighs). They do send it in a styrofoam cooler with dry ice, but that's included in the shipping price. As Carolina said, they don't charge extra for that. Seemed VERY reasonable to me. :nod:

Fortunately, I don't think it's going to be an issue in the summer. We have meat shipped to us fairly frequently, and when shipped in styrofoam with dry ice, it always arrives still frozen, no matter the time of year (and we often order stuff from Wisconsin). The only time it didn't was during the power outage one summer, when everything got delayed by three days. :lol3: Those were some stinky bratwurst.

LDG said:

Maybe they have a different pricing structure with Fed Ex? It was actually cheaper to choose the Fed Ex 2-day than the UPS 2-day! UPS 2-day was $23-something, and Fed Ex 2-day was $22-something.

The total shipping weight was 31 pounds for 20 pounds of meat and the supplement (I don't know how much that weighs). They do send it in a styrofoam cooler with dry ice, but that's included in the shipping price. As Carolina said, they don't charge extra for that. Seemed VERY reasonable to me.

Fortunately, I don't think it's going to be an issue in the summer. We have meat shipped to us fairly frequently, and when shipped in styrofoam with dry ice, it always arrives still frozen, no matter the time of year (and we often order stuff from Wisconsin). The only time it didn't was during the power outage one summer, when everything got delayed by three days.

Those were some stinky bratwurst.

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You have to remember you are a lot closer to both Wisconsin and PA than Houston is! The only $20-something shipping Hare-Today had for your order to Houston was for 3 day, not 2 day.

The dry ice may well keep meat frozen even during the trip to Houston in the summer. I still wouldn't try it until some else does. Anyway, like I said, I don't really have any reason to order from them anyway. Maybe as a 1 or 2 times a year though.. Maybe.

Anyway, I'm glad it is an affordable option for you. I've been making my own for so long that it is no big deal to me but I remember what it was like when I started. It seemed overwhelming. Now I'm really happy to have *total* control over what goes into what the little furries eat!