Konza, Great to see you back on here. Congrats on that first egg. That is such an awesome feeling. It only gets better!
TNTBlake, As far as dog food goes it is very important that you feed based on the size and type of dog you have. Different dogs have different needs. Raw chicken is probably the best thing you can feed a dog. Never feed a dog cooked chicken with bones. But raw chicken with bones has some major components to help build connective tissue and promote strong muscle and bone growth. Personally my dogs won't eat raw chicken. I've been told to simply seer the outside just a tiny bit and they will learn to eat it. I haven't forced the issue cause I don't want them used to eating chickens. I give them some raw liver and organ meats particularly in the winter when it is bitterly cold. Liver in particular has a lot of fat. Organ meets shouldn't be over 20% of a daily diet. My dogs love raw grain, particularly corn. They steal from the chickens. They also love eggs, but you have to be careful not to over feed raw eggs. Milk is also good.
As far as dog foods go, Blue is a great dog food particularly if you are trying to build a dog up. Loyalle is excellent especially for bigger breeds. Nutro is probably the best all around food you can buy. Here is the problem. It is all very expensive. I often cook my dogs a concoction of meat, rice, and veggies when it is really cold. I normally use the poor cuts from home butcher meat I don't want to mess with myself, and any leftover fresh or slightly freezer burnt veggies. For an upset stomach sweet potato is probably the best food you can give your dog. It is settling, good for them, and they love it.
I'm not a dog expert by any means but my daughter is. She makes her living caring for, showing, and training dogs. My dogs mostly just get dog food. I check ingredients to make sure they get enough fat, protein, and calcium but more than that, I check price and if they like it. If they don't like it it's wasted money and the chickens end up eating it. Right now they are eating Loyalle only because it was on sale. I normally feed Diamond because it is made by the company that makes Nutro and it is reasonably priced.
I guess the biggest problem with a raw diet would be getting them to eat it and being able to afford it.
