# Questions to ask butcher?



## Me&MyMin (Apr 17, 2012)

I'm going to the butcher tomorrow to pick up some turkey giblets, lamb kidneys and a couple marrow bones. What else should I ask them too see what I can get? What items am I looking for to have a complete meal for my pup. What animals, what organs, what parts? And I asked for tripe which was not an option in va apparently.I have a 3 Month old 5 lb miniature pinscher. Also can turkey giblets and lamb kidneys be a complete meal maybe along with a chicken neck?


Thx


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## Sibe (Nov 21, 2010)

Personally I wouldn't get marrow bones. They're too hard and damage teeth. You're right about the tripe, butchers can't sell it.

Ask for organs, heart, tongue, reproductive organs (fed as meat not organ), feet, and any other bits of meat or "scraps" from any animal. Also ask if you can get a discount for buying bulk.

Complete meals can include any kind of variety, so yes, I'd say giblets and kidney and neck would be fine (giblets being liver, heart, and gizzard?). I wouldn't base a whole diet around that though.


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## Kathyy (Jun 15, 2008)

Turkey giblets are the liver, heart, gizzard and neck. I assume you mean gizzard? Max just finished off a large package of chicken gizzards fed as meat. It works fine. And lamb kidneys are definitely organs.

Ask for cheap meat without too much fat and not so much bone. Beef chuck and round, pork shoulder, lamb shoulder. Meaty scraps would be excellent. Max gets a couple varieties of trim and it contains lots of nice tough connective tissue and tendons. Meat that is going out of date soon is usually marked down, good stuff. 

I want meat that costs less than $2 a pound. Red meat like pork, beef and lamb is worth more to me than poultry. I will buy anything that isn't enhanced in that price range. If it is chops or other cuts with odd shaped bones I will cut out the bone and serve only the meat.

Your little guy isn't going to eat much, perhaps you aren't on such a strict budget. Remember he probably only is going to eat 4-6 ounces total per day.

Your pup can eat any part of any animal but watch out for 'enhanced' meats. They are treated with a salty solution to plump up the chicken, turkey and pork and can easily cause very uncomfortable gut issues. Grill the meat guy, the meat should contain less than 100 mg of sodium per serving. I have seen meats with 450 mg of sodium per serving! Not going into my dog.

If you are just starting out feeding raw then just get plain chicken. Cheapest is likely to buy a whole one and cut it to size or much more fun, give your little one a big bit and he gets to eat as much as he likes 3-4 times a day.


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## Me&MyMin (Apr 17, 2012)

Ok yea they didn't have much organs except the giblets and kidneys. They had chicken backs 89 cents per lb, but you have to buy 40 lbs! Not sure if I have the space for that. I have been feeding natures variety raw. I was thinking I could stretch it out longer if I feed the turkey giblets and chicken necks for lunch and NC Raw for breakfast and dinner.

Thx


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## Willowy (Dec 10, 2007)

Sibe said:


> You're right about the tripe, butchers can't sell it.


They sell tripe at Wal-Mart here. They have some white stuff labeled as "scalded tripe" and some pink stuff labeled "beef tripe". I know this isn't the unwashed "green" tripe that's desirable for dogs, but is it really tripe? It sort of looks like intestines. If butchers and stores can't sell tripe, what is that stuff?


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## Kathyy (Jun 15, 2008)

They cannot sell 'green' tripe - unwashed, not bleached tripe. 

Max has had beef intestines which are called 'tripas' from WalMart, they still smelled pretty bad, bad enough to be good and tasty. I have seen 3 different beef tripe at Mexican markets, the usual honeycomb, book and one that looks like a shag carpet.


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## Me&MyMin (Apr 17, 2012)

I found some stuff called Tripett on amazon what do you guys think of this. Not a bad price for a case I think.

Thx

http://www.amazon.com/Tripett-Green...OW4E/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1334839894&sr=8-1


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## MagicRe (Jan 8, 2010)

if you can't find real tripe, not the bleached stuff sold in stores which is for human consumption, not dogs, then trippet will do.

you can also order from hare-today.com or greentripe.com and get tripe that way.

but you're just starting out, even though you are feeding a pre made raw patty....and it's still going to be a transition...

giblets are nice, but only the liver and kidney are organs.....the gizzards are a little richer than chicken itself.

i'd start out with chicken and then slowly move up the food chain...

anything that secretes is considered an organ: liver, kidney, ovaries, testicles, adrenal glands, thymus, spleen, brain.

lungs and heart are considered to be meat.


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## Willowy (Dec 10, 2007)

What does a brain secrete? I didn't know brains were considered organs in a raw diet.


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## MagicRe (Jan 8, 2010)

brains secrete hormones. the pituitary gland is in the brain.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypothalamus


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## Me&MyMin (Apr 17, 2012)

Ok so can I ground up all the turkey giblets together Raw and make dishes of it to serve along with a chicken neck? Or should i cook or jus toss the giblets? And what should I do with the lamb kidneys. I got 9 of them I'm thawing one out now. It's pretty big I'm sure he shouldn't eat it all. Can I cut it in pieces and serve it along with the chicken neck and ground up turkey giblets?

Thx!


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## MagicRe (Jan 8, 2010)

no need to grind anything. or cook anything.

give your minpin a chicken neck and see how he does. 

giblets are a little rich for a newly transitioned dog.

just give chicken necks and wings for the first few weeks. see how he adjusts.

if his poo is too chalky then add more boneless chicken.

how much does he weigh? you don't want to overfeed him, especially in the beginning.

freeze the giblets until a few months from now.


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## Me&MyMin (Apr 17, 2012)

Hey thx for the hare today link!i live in va so it being in pa is nice. I just ordered 1 lb ground beef/venison/bone blend, 1 lb Ground green tripe with spleen, and 3 lbs ground rabbit/bone/organs? Will these items be a complete nutritional diet? I was thinking adding some frozen veges fruits for snacks. I will also be feeding Natures Variety Raw , I just want to stretch it out as much as I can with some raw from haretoday. Right now he's gets NV in the morning and eve. Then a chicken neck for lunch. NV site says he's 4.6 oz per day so I try to keep it at that amount. Been doing 4 nuggets each an oz and one chicken neck per day.

My min pin is 3 months old and 5 -6 lbs. his poos have been vey good nice and small and brown. They whiten out after being left out a few hrs. Is that bad?


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## MagicRe (Jan 8, 2010)

it means he's getting too much bone. 

at five pounds, your dog should be fed approximately 2.4 oz per day.....and that is figuring three per cent....how much do you think he will weigh at maturity?

this is a balance over time thing. if you eat healthy, then you're not going to cram all of your nutrients into one feeding, are you?

so yes, what you bought is a good thing and you can feed the tripe/spleen combo, maybe a teaspoon, every few days, because it has organs in it....

tripe doesn't have to be fed every day. the same for the rabbit....

if you're feeding 4.6 oz per day, then you have to take that into account when adding in the other things you bought. so you'd feed the NV in the morning, the chicken neck in the afternoon and maybe a little bit of what you bought at night, totalling 4.6 ounces per day.

but try to remember that the chalkier the stool, the less bone you need to feed....so that needs to be balanced out.

you don't have to feed the chicken necks on a daily basis, since there is bone in most of what you are feeding now. you can feed the chicken necks a few times a week so your minpin will get teeth cleaning benefits...


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## Me&MyMin (Apr 17, 2012)

Thanks for all the input magic. Ill keep those giblets on ice for now and start feeding chicken mecks mayb 3-4 times a week. Ill limit the tripe to 3 times a week. And ill jus mix in the rabbit here an there. 

He should be 10 lbs fully grown. Hes very active too so i put that into account. And could i mix the lamb kidneys with the NV as long as i cut back the servings? 

Thx again!


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## MagicRe (Jan 8, 2010)

really watch his stools. you're introducing so many different proteins to him, i'm afraid you might not care for the results of offering too much so soon.

i generally intro a new protein for two weeks before adding in another one to see how my dogs react.


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## Me&MyMin (Apr 17, 2012)

Ok lets keep it here haha. Yea hes been on the chicken for almost two weeks now so ill continue feeding
Him jus that for now. Ill just freeze what i get for a while before i start putting it in his diet. I plan to buy more natures variety so ill see how he does with the different types of that first.

Thx!


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## MagicRe (Jan 8, 2010)

what he's been on is nature's variety chicken which has all kinds of additions....are we talking about their instinct? or are they medallions?

right now, the NV is a complete and balanced diet, although i truly believe that what you buy in the store is more under your control, even if NV is a good company...

http://www.naturesvariety.com/raw_products_chicken -- is this what you're feeding him?


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## Willowy (Dec 10, 2007)

I'm told that NV raw is about 15% bone. . .so that's probably why his poop is chalky. Keep that in mind when balancing out the bone content of the rest of his diet.


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## Me&MyMin (Apr 17, 2012)

Yeah magic that's the exact brand except organic chicken. I give him one and a half nuggets in the morning 1 in the afternoon and a chicken neck I will rotate days with the chicken neck now. And 1 and a half for dinner. When he's dpfully grown he would get about 4-6 a day depending on his activity level. Average activity is 4 and very active is 6.

Wouldn't all poop become chalky after a few hours?

Thx.


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## Me&MyMin (Apr 17, 2012)

And another thing after every meal he just searches for more food for like an hour straight and cries for more food but I kno it's easy to over feed a 5 lb puppy so I don't give him anymore. My mom already over fed him once when i specifically told her what to feed him and he threw up. What can i do to get him to stop wanting more food?

Thx


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## MagicRe (Jan 8, 2010)

Me&MyMin said:


> And another thing after every meal he just searches for more food for like an hour straight and cries for more food but I kno it's easy to over feed a 5 lb puppy so I don't give him anymore. My mom already over fed him once when i specifically told her what to feed him and he threw up. What can i do to get him to stop wanting more food?
> 
> 
> 
> Thx


nothing. 

there is nothing you can do. mine do the same thing and so do my friends' dogs.

you'd think we were starving them and we are not.


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