Leo would like to know if it's possible to lick a chicken wing to death.
I gave them whole wings this morning for the first time. The two chow hounds ate theirs right down, but Leo keeps licking his and frowning. I cut it up into 3 pieces for him so we'll see if that helps. Pretty sure that Brady is painting the bathroom floor in salmonella though, sigh. I'll need to come up with another solution for feeding if there is going to be anything whole and raw included.
Saturday, February 16, 2008
Tuesday, February 05, 2008
A food update
I've refined the feeding process here a little bit to make it pretty easy on myself. 'Cause I'm all about easy. :o) (well, no, obviously if I was *all* about easy, I'd just feed kibble)
I buy 10 pound bags of chicken leg quarters at Wal-Mart for $4.60. I throw two of those bags into my new 18 qt roaster oven found on clearance (thanks for the tip Sarah!), cover with water, and cook for a couple of hours. I get out the individual serving bowls and add to each 1 cup of dry oats, a small sweet potato cut into slices, 1.5 - 2 cups of broth from the roaster, and about 1.5 to 2 cups of chicken that I pull the bones out of (they fall right out, just have to search a little for the itty bitty ones). The oats and sweet potato are softened by the hot broth and by the time it is served the broth is absorbed. Each serving is 1 feeding for 3 dogs (mine eat twice a day), so at mealtime I just take a container out of the fridge, heat it a tad in the microwave to make it easier to separate into bowls, and split it in 3. One day a week they get canned salmon, and one meal a day I add other veggies or fruit, whatever I have...usually carrots, greens (I chop those in the food processor quick), broccoli, apples, or bananas. I don't give eggs or cottage cheese because they give Brady the room-clearing farts (although actually he does still have stinky farts. He didn't on the kibble, wah). Not all that expensive...for a week my costs are:
$9.94 - 20 lbs chicken quarters
$2.50 - sweet potatoes
$1.00 - oats
$2.87 - canned salmon
--------------------------
$16.31 per week for 3 dogs. Misc other veggies are negligible and usually just what I have left over from whatever we eat.
That puts my monthly cost at about $70. I was paying nearly $50 for kibble per month. I unfortunately haven't found a great source for cheaper better quality chicken...the Wal-Mart stuff is not something I would eat. I don't really think there's anything inherently WRONG with it, but I'm picky about my food.
So far the dogs have been eating like this for a month. I honestly can't say that I see some fantastic difference in their coats, but Brady is bald as a cue ball, Lizzie is getting ready to blow hers, and Leo's coat always looks good so it's hard to compare. :P I will say that Lizzie is at a better weight than she was before. We'll see how coats come in.
Dave still thinks I'm nuts. Perhaps I am. :o)
***************************************
Small addition:
It was pointed out to me that I need to be giving calcium, so I'm adding bone meal and may consider making the morning meal of raw chicken wings. Hopefully they can eat those quickly and neatly enough so as not to smear chicken juice all over my house, LOL. I also am adding probiotic supplement to aid with digestion, and will fall on knees praying that it also helps Brady's stinky gas problem. And I give ground flax seed once a day...flax is good for you! You should take it too! :D
I buy 10 pound bags of chicken leg quarters at Wal-Mart for $4.60. I throw two of those bags into my new 18 qt roaster oven found on clearance (thanks for the tip Sarah!), cover with water, and cook for a couple of hours. I get out the individual serving bowls and add to each 1 cup of dry oats, a small sweet potato cut into slices, 1.5 - 2 cups of broth from the roaster, and about 1.5 to 2 cups of chicken that I pull the bones out of (they fall right out, just have to search a little for the itty bitty ones). The oats and sweet potato are softened by the hot broth and by the time it is served the broth is absorbed. Each serving is 1 feeding for 3 dogs (mine eat twice a day), so at mealtime I just take a container out of the fridge, heat it a tad in the microwave to make it easier to separate into bowls, and split it in 3. One day a week they get canned salmon, and one meal a day I add other veggies or fruit, whatever I have...usually carrots, greens (I chop those in the food processor quick), broccoli, apples, or bananas. I don't give eggs or cottage cheese because they give Brady the room-clearing farts (although actually he does still have stinky farts. He didn't on the kibble, wah). Not all that expensive...for a week my costs are:
$9.94 - 20 lbs chicken quarters
$2.50 - sweet potatoes
$1.00 - oats
$2.87 - canned salmon
--------------------------
$16.31 per week for 3 dogs. Misc other veggies are negligible and usually just what I have left over from whatever we eat.
That puts my monthly cost at about $70. I was paying nearly $50 for kibble per month. I unfortunately haven't found a great source for cheaper better quality chicken...the Wal-Mart stuff is not something I would eat. I don't really think there's anything inherently WRONG with it, but I'm picky about my food.
So far the dogs have been eating like this for a month. I honestly can't say that I see some fantastic difference in their coats, but Brady is bald as a cue ball, Lizzie is getting ready to blow hers, and Leo's coat always looks good so it's hard to compare. :P I will say that Lizzie is at a better weight than she was before. We'll see how coats come in.
Dave still thinks I'm nuts. Perhaps I am. :o)
***************************************
Small addition:
It was pointed out to me that I need to be giving calcium, so I'm adding bone meal and may consider making the morning meal of raw chicken wings. Hopefully they can eat those quickly and neatly enough so as not to smear chicken juice all over my house, LOL. I also am adding probiotic supplement to aid with digestion, and will fall on knees praying that it also helps Brady's stinky gas problem. And I give ground flax seed once a day...flax is good for you! You should take it too! :D
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