Homeade dog food?

[LittleBigBantam]

My coon hound is VERY picky. And, food is expensive. He is on the larger side, and gets about 4 cups of food per day. Anyone have any recipes or anything I could use? He doesnt really like rice, likes all meat, and will only eat a few vegetables. He is an outside dog, and exercises frequently.

 

[MrFluffyandGirls]

You can substitute cooked grits for your rice and add some little pieces of cheese in the mix to encourage him to eat his veggies. The fat from cooked meat is important for coon dogs with high energy. Add what ever protein source your using chicken, beef, venison, rabbit etc.
I don't feed my dogs home cooked meals or RAW but that's what I saw the older generation of dog hunters do during lean times. Of course they mixed it with table scrapes. My father-in law used to go to the school cafe and pick up buckets of scrap.

 

[LittleBigBantam]

You can substitute cooked grits for your rice and add some little pieces of cheese in the mix to encourage him to eat his veggies. The fat from cooked meat is important for coon dogs with high energy. Add what ever protein source your using chicken, beef, venison, rabbit etc.
I don't feed my dogs home cooked meals or RAW but that's what I saw the older generation of dog hunters do during lean times. Of course they mixed it with table scrapes. My father-in law used to go to the school cafe and pick up buckets of scrap.

Okay, thank you for the advice!

 

[Araucana Nest]

Brown rice is the best carb because of its nutritional value. I cook for my dogs and used to market fresh dog food. My dogs are landraces that evolved on a high carb diet in Turkey called Yal. I used that as a starting point. Most of the time I use hulled barley as a base but also use brown rice and will switch when I finish this last 100 pounds of barley. I pressure cook chicken and remove the long bones (the other bones are so done they crumble in my hands). I use that chicken and stock to slow cook the barley and veggies in. Once cooked I let it cool and add yogurt and their vitamin/mineral supplements. If cooked all together, your dog will probably like the rice and everything esle as long as it is all proportional.

My recipe was sent to a lab for analysis but since I often switch ingredients depending on whether my goats or cows are lactating and what's growing in the garden, it does little good. I also switch to beef if it is on sale at the butcher shop and buy organ meats to add once a week (heart and liver). Chicken necks have a perfect calcium to phosphorus ration and I feed those raw as a treat. In the end it isn't cheaper but it is fresher, more nutritious, more delicious for them and less expensive than the super premium kibble. My American Bulldog can't eat this diet. She is on a chicken and rice kibble but I add raw whole egg a coupe of times a week, plus the yogurt.

There is a nutrition calculator on a site called BalanceIt! which will let you put a recipe together and then analyze your recipe for free.

 

[Rammy]

https://www.sufficientself.com/threads/canning-dog-food-from-offal.15420/page-2#post-447852
Here is a link from Sufficient Self from a member who cans thier own dog food. It may give you some ideas and suggestions.

 

[LittleBigBantam]

Brown rice is the best carb because of its nutritional value. I cook for my dogs and used to market fresh dog food. My dogs are landraces that evolved on a high carb diet in Turkey called Yal. I used that as a starting point. Most of the time I use hulled barley as a base but also use brown rice and will switch when I finish this last 100 pounds of barley. I pressure cook chicken and remove the long bones (the other bones are so done they crumble in my hands). I use that chicken and stock to slow cook the barley and veggies in. Once cooked I let it cool and add yogurt and their vitamin/mineral supplements. If cooked all together, your dog will probably like the rice and everything esle as long as it is all proportional.

My recipe was sent to a lab for analysis but since I often switch ingredients depending on whether my goats or cows are lactating and what's growing in the garden, it does little good. I also switch to beef if it is on sale at the butcher shop and buy organ meats to add once a week (heart and liver). Chicken necks have a perfect calcium to phosphorus ration and I feed those raw as a treat. In the end it isn't cheaper but it is fresher, more nutritious, more delicious for them and less expensive than the super premium kibble. My American Bulldog can't eat this diet. She is on a chicken and rice kibble but I add raw whole egg a coupe of times a week, plus the yogurt.

There is a nutrition calculator on a site called BalanceIt! which will let you put a recipe together and then analyze your recipe for free.

Thank you so much! Now is making dog food cheaper, or more expensive than buying from a pet store or walmart?

 

[Araucana Nest]

Thank you so much! Now is making dog food cheaper, or more expensive than buying from a pet store or walmart?

If you have most of the ingredients, it would be almost as cheap. Rice, barley, oats, etc. aren't expensive. The proteins are and so is the vitamins/ mineral mixes for canines. You need both of those. They are indispensable. I know people who screw up their dogs on homemade diets and don't supplement the right amounts of vitamins and minerals. A trip to the vet to correct that will be more expensive than anything you buy to cook.

I have culled cockerels so that saves me but chicken leg quarters are only .50/lb anyway. I have a personal dairy so yogurt and raw milk isn't an expense, eggs are always available, etc. If you do it properly, all included minus labor, it will not be cheaper than a cheap bag of dog food at Walmart (not sure how much they are but I know they are cheap) but in my experience, it is less expensive that the super premium brands of kibble they are superior to.

 

[Flockincrazy]

My coon hound is VERY picky. And, food is expensive. He is on the larger side, and gets about 4 cups of food per day. Anyone have any recipes or anything I could use? He doesnt really like rice, likes all meat, and will only eat a few vegetables. He is an outside dog, and exercises frequently.

That is why he likes more meat the more protein the better i make grilled chicken or pork and add what veggies he likes and there's his food i do deer meat sometimes to
My dogs food and treats recipes
FOOD
1c Apples
1c Sweet potatoes
1c Carrots
2c Brown Rice
3c Chicken, Pork, Deer
1c Butternut squash
1c Broccoli
1c Milk
1/4c Canola oil
Simmer till soft covered stirring often over medium heat
TREATS
1c Puree pumpkin
2 Eggs
1/3c peanut butter
2c Whole wheat flour
1/2tsp pumpkin pie spice or cinnamon
Bake 350° 20-40min depending on how crunchy you want them
I have 2beagles that eat this every day and have gone from 8lbs at 2yrs old to 20lbs now at 3yrs old (female) and 12lbs at 1yo to 27lbs now at 2yrs old (male) they are rescues and were very abused and malnourished and small because it stunted their growth

When we first got them they were very dependent on each other and now

They are spoiled brats