I need some help, nutrition site for homecooking

I can actually answer this    I teaspoon of powdered eggshell (very finely ground - as if through a coffee grinder) contains approximately 1800 mg of calcium.
 
You need to add 1/2 teaspoon of powdered eggshell per pound (16 oz) of FOOD (ie: not just the meat) if you are completely homecooking.
 
If you're making 8 ounces of food at a time, add 1/4 teaspoon
If you're making 4 ounces of food at a time, add 1/8 teaspoon
 
Hope that helps !
 
(ps - why did they reject your question ?  was it because you replied to another post and didn't trim the original post out ?)

Here is a site that might help
 
[linkhttp://b-naturals.com/Apr2006.php]http://b-naturals.com/Apr2006.php[/link]

Cazzy, that baturals site seems to be old. Are there any 2007 articles?

I have heard about eggshells, but they are not as good as Calcium Citrate, or so I have heard. This is really hard.

I replied correctly. Something about being long, but it wasn't long. Yahoo is VERY hard to post and follow. I like other forums MUCH better.

K9Nutrition is a very high-volume list, and I've noticed that sometimes questions get "buried".  You might want to try posting again.

As far as calcium supplements, I know some use calcium citrate or calcium carbonate supplements, but it seems to me that the majority of home-cookers feel comfortable using ground up eggshell (I do).  I doubt that it matters so much what form you use, as long as you supplement an appropriate amount of calcium.  Here's something that was posted on another board about calcium from eggshell.  You might find it interesting/re-assuring:

Short-term effects of a chicken egg shell powder enriched dairy-based products on bone mineral density in persons with osteoporosis or osteopenia

Schaafsma A; Pakan I
Department of Research & Development Leeuwarden, Friesland Coberco Dairy Foods, Leeuwarden, The Netherlands. [email=SchaafsA@FDF.nl]SchaafsA@FDF.nl[/email]

Abstract
Based on the high calcium content, chicken egg shells are an interesting source of calcium. We studied the short-term effects on bone mineral density (BMD) of the lumbar spine and hip in 9 women and one man (mean age +/- SD, 63.9 +/- 8.1 years) with osteoporosis or osteopenia. Also the effects on pain and general well-being were monitored. Ten women (62.5 +/- 5.0 years) from a population study on BMD served as a control group. During a study period of 4-8 months, the intervention group consumed twice daily a dairy-based supplement which resulted in a daily intake of, among others, 3.0 g of egg shell powder, 400 IU of vitamin D3 and 400 mg of magnesium. BMD of the lumbar spine (anteroposterior (AP) and lateral (LA) position) and hip were measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. After the intervention period, BMDs of the lumbar spine, total proximal femur and trochanter were significantly (p < 0.05) increased with (median) 4.4%: (range) 1.7 to 10.4% (lumbar spine AP), 5.7%: -1.3 to 15.9% (lumbar spine LA), 2.2%: -1.9 to 9.4% (total proximal femur), 1.8%: -1.8 to 9.0% (trochanter). Within a period of 4 months, an important reduction in pain was reported and as a consequence an improvement in general well-being. In the control group, BMDs of the lumbar spine AP and of the femoral neck significantly decreased over a period of 8 months with -0.7% (-1.3 to 0.2%) and -0.9% (-2.4 to -0.1%) respectively. Six women of the intervention group continued to use the supplement on their own free will and without any check on compliance, up to 24 months. They consumed the supplement only once daily except for the last three months when they were asked to take the double dosage again. After 24 months BMDs did not differ from baseline. This study shows that egg shell powder is a source of bioavailable calcium. Furthermore, this pilot study indicates that the chicken egg shell powder enriched dairy-based supplement increases BMD of subjects with a low bone mass in the short term and as a consequence delays bone demineralisation for a longer period. (Tab. 3, Fig. 1, Ref. 23.)

link [linkhttp://www.medscape.com/medline/abstract/10758743]http://www.medscape.com/medline/abstract/10758743[/link]

Maybe I am too careful. I am just really afraid to do it wrong. Seems like everyone has a diff. opinion about calcium. I wonder if I could use one for a while then switch. Still, the amount scares me. I cook small amounts of salmon and beef usually. Hard to measure.

Also, has anyone ever had a problem with the eggshells changing the poo? Her poo is perfect even after changing to the new homecooking. I guess I would bake them to sterilize them, then put them into a coffee grinder until powder. 
 
Thanks Myra and JoAnn, about the eggshells. Guess I need to dive in and try that first. Seems like I am frozen, too afraid to try anything. I did buy Cal. Citrate. I keep adding kibble every few days while I try to get this right. I can't remember worrying so much in a while!

The point is that you need to add 900 mg of Calcium per pound of food.   SO, see how much calcium the C.Citrate you bought delivers, let me know and I'll do the math for you if you like.
Its not that bad if you're only going to be doing this short term - dogs fed kibble have stores of nutrients in them that they can fall upon if you don't get the ratios right.
What you're trying to do is to balance phosphorus to calcium - if you're going to be homecooking longer term there are other nutrients you'd need to watch also.

And really, you dont need to cook fresh every day - you can cook in batches and freeze daily sized portions.   
 
 
ETA:  I think you'd benefit from reading a couple of Monica Segal's pamplets - especially the one about enhancing commercial diets and the home feeding primer.

Sally; This spreadsheet will do all the figuring for you; it was designed by Chelsea; [linkhttp://www.dutchbingo.net/personal/nutrients.xls]http://www.dutchbingo.net/personal/nutrients.xls[/link]

Just put Trudy's weight in the box under weight in pounds and then click on a blank box and all the nutrients will be calculated for you, including calcium.

I cook salmon steaks one by one. I feed that for a few days. I cook the crock pot with one steak and veggies and freeze some. I REALLY, REALLY APPRECIATE this help. I think I will sleep better tonight! I will look closely at your posts right now and maybe finally get it![sm=wink.gif]  

This spreadsheet will do all the figuring for you; it was designed by Chelsea;

 
I'm so glad people find that useful. I was afraid I'd be the only one ('afraid' because making it was a lot more work than just calculating Cherokee's amounts once). []

I'm so glad people find that useful. I was afraid I'd be the only one ('afraid' because making it was a lot more work than just calculating Cherokee's amounts once).

 
  I think it's amazing that you were able to do it; you must be very good at math. []

You need to add 1/2 teaspoon of powdered eggshell per pound (16 oz) of FOOD (ie: not just the meat) if you are completely homecooking.

 
This must be new information.   Can you direct me to where you found this info?  Thanks.
 
I just have a real hard time wrapping my brain around this whole "balancing" of calcium.  How can you possibly have this general amount of calcium to add to a recipe when depending on what veggies you use the ratios of calcium to phos are going to change.  For example, I was told broccoli was very high in phosphorus.  So, how can this work? 
 
And, I wonder. . .is this supplementing based on the assumption that the dog gets absolutely no other sources of calcium like dairy?? 
 

Those guidelines (1/2 tsp per lb of food) are very general and won't guarantee a balance - only a good deal of spreadsheet work can do that .... BUT as a general rule its not horrible.    The goal is to get calciumhosporus in a 1.3 - 2.0 :1 range.  Meat (including eggs and boneless fish) isthe highest contributer of phosporus to the diet.  Since veggies are really a very small part of the diet and don't contain that much phosporus to begin with they're not going to throw the balance off too much.
The b-naturals link that Cazzy posted is one place where the 1/2 tsp per lb of food is mentioned

1) Always balance a home cooked meal with calcium. You cannot feed cooked bones to dogs safely, and when you are feeding a diet without bones, you need to add either 900 mg of calcium per pound of food served, OR 1/2 teaspoon of ground egg shell. Save eggshells and dry overnight, and grind in a clean coffee bean grinder.

Monica Segals "Enhancing Commercial Diets" suggests adding 250mg of calcium per 3.5 ounces of meat (= 71mg per ounce = 1142mg / lb = a bit more than 1/2 teaspoon of ground eggshell).
Hope that helps - I've been spending ALOT of time (way too much) reading - I just finished both of Monica's books and have 6 of her pamplets.  I've read every single one of the b-naturals newsletters on diet / nutrition - and I belong to both the K9Kitchen and K9Nutrition yahoo groups ..... pick my brains and if I don't know the answer I'll try and find it.
 
If you want to know how much phosphorus is in the food your feeding you can go to [linkhttp://www.nutritiondata.com]www.nutritiondata.com[/link] and find the foods your serving - it would give you a much better idea of how much calcium to add to each meal, but with very small amts of food its going to be very difficult to measure exactly the right amt (which is why I cook in bulk - anywhere from 7 - 12 meals per recipe).

The 900 mg. calciuum per pound of food is recommended by Lew Olson on the B-Naturals site:

Always balance a home cooked meal with calcium. You cannot feed cooked bones to dogs safely, and when you are feeding a diet without bones, you need to add either 900 mg of calcium per pound of food served, OR 1/2 teaspoon of ground egg shell. Save eggshells and dry overnight, and grind in a clean coffee bean grinder.

[linkhttp://b-naturals.com/Apr2006.php]http://b-naturals.com/Apr2006.php[/link]

It's also frequently recommended by Lew Olson and Mary Strauss on the K9Nutrition Yahoo group, and I believe Mary Strauss recommends it on her site (DogAware).  Her home-cooking article is supposed to be in the next issue of Whole Dog Journal; it'll be interesting to see if she stays with that same recommendation (I expect she will).

I figured the numbers for calcium and phosphorus on the last batch of food I fixed (loosely following one of the recipes from B-Naturals), and the 1/2 teaspoon per pound of food balanced it out well.  It came out around 1.4:1.  I'm going to continue to run the numbers on my next few batches of food, to see if it consistently works.

Maybe I am too careful. I am just really afraid to do it wrong. Seems like everyone has a diff. opinion about calcium. I wonder if I could use one for a while then switch. Still, the amount scares me. I cook small amounts of salmon and beef usually. Hard to measure. ..... I cook small amounts of salmon and beef usually. Hard to measure.

 
On the package of the food you're cooking you should see the total weight.  Just estimate how much of the total you're feeding (ie: 1/2 the package ?  1/4 of the package) or buy a postage scale and actually weigh the food.

Also, has anyone ever had a problem with the eggshells changing the poo? Her poo is perfect even after changing to the new homecooking. I guess I would bake them to sterilize them, then put them into a coffee grinder until powder

 
The only change I noticed is when I didn't grind them fine enough and the only change was that I saw bits of eggshell in her poo.  Since I've been putting it through the coffee grinder I no longer see any eggshell and her poops are just beautiful (LOL - beautiful poop - a concept only a dog lover can understand).