Which RMB's are balanced?

    • Gold Top Dog

    Which RMB's are balanced?

    What RMB's have the right meat-bone ratio?
    • Gold Top Dog
    Chicken leg quarters make up the majority of the RMBs that I give. Pork neckbones are also good (although some people don't like feeding raw pork, personally I've never had any trouble with it) chicken wings, turkey wings, chicken backs, chicken/turkey legs, and whole rabbits (or a rabbit carcass cut into quarters) are all good.
    • Gold Top Dog
    none. I've always been told if you feed raw, you need to feed around 60% raw meaty bones (assorted), 35% meat without bones, and 5% organ meats.
     
    If you're only tossing a raw meaty bone a couple times a week to an adult dog that's fine, no real need to balance the diet since it's more in the category of "snack".
    • Gold Top Dog
    I was told by a nutritionist that ONLY whole critters are anywhere near nutritionally complete. Because our soil is lacking in some vital minerals, farm raised animals seem to be somewhat deficient in some micronutrients - and it will vary from supply source to supply source. And younger animals that are usually seen in the grocery store have lower levels of OFAs - and without the brain you'll always be deficient in B and DHA. This is why variety is so vital to the RMB based diet.

    As to calcium and phosphorus, isn't there a resource you can use to determine the nutrients in various "dog meats"? Not the USDA database, which rarely offers the data for bones. I'm sorry I don't have this in front of me or I'd pass it on. Maybe someone will have it.

    Leg quarters are close to ideal, but you don't want to feed these all the time in the interest of variety. Meaty flank cuts are good, as are rump cuts - like the "picnic" from a pork leg. Necks are NOT usually meaty enough, at least the ones I"m getting aren't. Nor is a shank or rib, typically - I like to offer a shank and a chop together. The loin is too meaty on most beasts. Chicken backs or picked carcasses are too bony - again, you'll want to throw a breast or leg in if these constitute a large portion of the diet. You can also supplement a very bony cut with a really meaty recreational bone.
    • Gold Top Dog
    And younger animals that are usually seen in the grocery store have lower levels of OFAs - and without the brain you'll always be deficient in B and DHA.


    Which SUCKS because those nutrients are soooo important to brain function. They're often lacking in the human diet, too (no doubt because of mass farming practices). Fortunately for my wild monkeys, I've found a grocery store that sells pork brains. They love it! It's soooo fatty. Yuck.

    Hopefully, I'll soon have a source for whole rabbits.