Think you can't afford to feed raw?

Thanks for the link! [] 

you can easily estimate your cost of feeding raw before trying it-- you'll feed around 2% of the dog's body weight per day in meats. So 60 pound dog, that's 1.2 pounds of meats per day. A month is 36 pounds. If you can find stuff at 50 cents a pound, that's only $18 a month. Probably be more though since it's usually only chicken parts that go that cheap. If you have to go as high as $2 a pound, that's $72 a month. Your cost will probably be in-between these two numbers.
Home-cooked meals that use cheap ingredients like rice are even cheaper to feed.
 

It costs me about $10 a week to feed my dog thats raw meat and vegies. It works out heaps cheaper that buying dog food for me anyway. I do buy my meat in bulk which drops the price too.

I'm confused.

I found my state co-ophttp://www.oklahomafood.coop I can order from them and pick it up near me, but they only have two chicken places listed. They both sell whole birds.

It says "Per Oklahoma Law, you are purchasing a live bird. We will process and freeze it for you at no extra charge (let us know if you don't want us to do this)."

One place is $3.50/pound, the other is $11.00/bird.

So is my state just crazy, or am I looking at the wrong place?

that looks like a fresh/organic food for people site, not a cheap-in-bulk-food-for-dogs site.

Or is that just the raw meat, no veggies or supps, etc?

Well, I don't feed veggies and any supplements they get I also buy for me (fish oil, Vit E, and now coconut oil) so I didn't count those in the costs, but you are quite right. The supplements add a little bit. Let's see: fish oil $12 for a bottle that lasted me 8 months (I don't give capsules daily & I just bought a new bottle last week); l Vit E was around $8, I think, same length of time; coconut oil is $9 for a jar that I anticipate will last me a month or two, but I'm using it on my skin and eating it on my food so I have no idea how long for real. 

On the other hand, kibble feeders give supplements too, so maybe it's irrelevant whether supplements are included in my math. []

ORIGINAL: jennie_c_d
There is no coop, within six hours of me. It's quite sad.

Our co-op is 4 hours away, but there are 5 of us in the area who split driving down to pick it up.  And we just found out that the co-op will deliver *if* we buy 1200# at a time. My $190 7 foot Sears-special freezer holds a few hundred pounds if I grind it up and put in ziploc baggies and flatten them.  So you might want to look into that. Just a thought.[]
 

I got free fruits and veggies from the grocery store - just asked when they cleaned out the slighty off stuff and picked it up.  Boxes and boxes of stuff - hence the extra fridge.

What a brilliant idea! I am re-working my nutrient spreadsheet for Roscoe & Bella, and I'm considering adding more fruits and veggies.  If I do, I'm totally going to try that. []

LOL--unless I put a chest freezer on my front porch (yes, my apartment is that small), or hung deer carcesses on the porch in the winter, it would be too expensive for me.  Although it might be a good way to drive off my noisey, drunken, firework lighting neighbors....

I don't have a co-op in CO at all, but someone really great pointed me in this direction:

I have found a website that has a listing of farms and ranches that are in
the "get back to nature" mode and offer grass-fed, antibiotic-free
meats. Once you're on the site, just click on your state to find out what is near you.

I am going to place an order with [linkhttp://foxfirefarms.com]this farm[/link] it looks like they have a limited time special on ground lamb at 3 something per pound.... that is awesome.

ORIGINAL: jennie_c_d


Olinda, that's crazy! I can feed my two (Emma is 17 pounds, but eats enough for a moderately active 50 pounder, Teenie is 13 pounds) and my mom's 40 pounder for less than that. If you count Emma as 50 pounds, that's 103 pounds of dog, LOL. Emma thinks she weighs 50 pounds....

Anyways, I'd be looking for a new place to shop!

 
lol, if Romeo were to eat as much as Emma he would not walk he would roll.
 
I am looking for another shop.

Mudpuppy showed her math, which is a good indication for the costs involved. It does, however, help to have a low price on meat.
 
Again, as I replied before, you would feed your dogs as best as you see fit, regardless of cost, within reason, of course. In the end, it may work out to the same or less than kibble, not including the cost of acquiring (shippiing or driving) and your time to prepare meals, etc. For example, some people cannot yet afford a chest freezer because it is such a large one time expense. To me, though, those issues are secondary. If your dogs are thriving and enjoying what you feed, rock on whichya bad self.