RAW Feeding (BARF/RMB) for newbies

[LoveForLizards]

Originally Posted by fenwoman

I'm not sure you can get horsemeat in this country. It might be worth phoning around some horse slaughteres to see if you could buyt direct from them. I suspect however the answer will be "sorry, elf and safety" because I'm not sure they are allowed to slaughter for human consumption and for animal consumption, I have a feeling the meat had a dye sprayed on it. Try your nearest hunt kennels also ?

I thought it was legally sold in this country? I'll have to find out the numbers for some slaughter houses then!

Originally Posted by sarahc

before I trawl through all the info you have all posted could anyone answer a couple of things for me.Are chicken wing type bones safe for flat faced breeds with narrow wind pipes.Do any pug,peke,boston or bulldog owners on here give them.Can anyone recommend a specific processor grinder I could get for crunching up the bones.I've just about knackered the Kenwood Chef on the first go.

If the dog cant fit the whole bone in it's mouth, should be fine. As for a meat processor for grinding bones, meat hammer and a wooden chopping board.

[sarahc]

thanks.

[fenwoman]

Originally Posted by LoveForLizards

I thought it was legally sold in this country? I'll have to find out the numbers for some slaughter houses then!

Look for abattoirs, but AFAIAA normal abattoirs don't kill horses. For that you need to look for 'horse slaughterer'. Which is why I wondered if you could buy it for human consumption over here. The knackerman I use for any fallen stock, is also a horse slaughterer but I have a feeling all the meat gets sold to be processed into animal food.
Try the nearest abattoir in any case as, even if you can't get horse meat, you should be able to get plenty of other meat.

[LoveForLizards]

Originally Posted by fenwoman

Look for abattoirs, but AFAIAA normal abattoirs don't kill horses. For that you need to look for 'horse slaughterer'. Which is why I wondered if you could buy it for human consumption over here. The knackerman I use for any fallen stock, is also a horse slaughterer but I have a feeling all the meat gets sold to be processed into animal food.
Try the nearest abattoir in any case as, even if you can't get horse meat, you should be able to get plenty of other meat.

According to Wikipedia it is legal to slaughter and butcher horses for meat in this country, for the food trade, so I will have to see. Can't imagine Abattoirs being open about it because of the "taboo" over horse meat but I'll ask around. Will be asking about the Abattoirs for offals, bones etc.

Thanks Fenny

[fenwoman]

Originally Posted by LoveForLizards

According to Wikipedia it is legal to slaughter and butcher horses for meat in this country, for the food trade, so I will have to see. Can't imagine Abattoirs being open about it because of the "taboo" over horse meat but I'll ask around. Will be asking about the Abattoirs for offals, bones etc.

Thanks Fenny

Yes there is indeed nothing illegal about it but I don't know one abattoir worker who would happily slaughter a horse or horses on a regular basis. Horses are after all revered in this country and not seen as meat by the majority.Horse slaughterers are also known as 'knackers' and they specialise in horses.
I use either of 2 abattoirs for my livestock and neither do horses. It's tradition rather than the legalities. Ask abattoirs for their 'waste'. You do them a favour by taking it since they pay a lot of money to get it disposed of properly so the less they dispose of, the more money they save. It'll probably be easier to source meat from an abattoir than a knacker.However, if you have any knackers (horse slaughterers in the yellow pages) in your area, certainly worth asking them too.
Good luck with it.

[SCOTLANDUKBOA]

hi

thinking of switching over to a barf diet for my cats, got all the books info etc, but having problems finding a grinder that will grind chicken wings? some people have given me and idea of where to get one but when i speak to the company, they say their grinders dont grind bones.

so has anyone got any ideas where i can get one? or maybe someone is using a particular make just now,

ta
linda

[fenwoman]

Originally Posted by SCOTLANDUKBOA

hi

thinking of switching over to a barf diet for my cats, got all the books info etc, but having problems finding a grinder that will grind chicken wings? some people have given me and idea of where to get one but when i speak to the company, they say their grinders dont grind bones.

so has anyone got any ideas where i can get one? or maybe someone is using a particular make just now,

ta
linda

Why grind them? Why not simply feed them as is? Otherwise buy ready minced chicken with bone in.I culled an old hen this afternoon and simply slung it to the cats as it was. Last time I looked, there were feathers everywhere but hardly any of the chicken left.

[SCOTLANDUKBOA]

hehe laughing at the hen thing, well i am a complete newbie to this and so is the cats (they dont know that yet) so i bought a really good book on it and they have recipes for making stuff up, eggs, chicken wings, hearts all that kinda stuff, so was going to try that , only thing i am lacking is the grinder ....grr

If i was in the USA it wouldnt be a problem as I have been speaking to people over there in their barf club and they have loads to choose from, and like you say most feed whole things, but to start with i would like to make my own little things to try it on them.

thanks much for replying

linda

[fenwoman]

Originally Posted by SCOTLANDUKBOA

hehe laughing at the hen thing, well i am a complete newbie to this and so is the cats (they dont know that yet) so i bought a really good book on it and they have recipes for making stuff up, eggs, chicken wings, hearts all that kinda stuff, so was going to try that , only thing i am lacking is the grinder ....grr

If i was in the USA it wouldnt be a problem as I have been speaking to people over there in their barf club and they have loads to choose from, and like you say most feed whole things, but to start with i would like to make my own little things to try it on them.

thanks much for replying

linda

Have you tried day old chicks? Try not to obsess about doing everything as per the book, especially if the book was written by an America. Your local butcher should be able to supply you with ox heart which is cheap and find out if anyone goes ferreting near you. You must offer skin and bones aswell as the meat though, hence my feeding whole carcase.
I never thought of BARF as needing any kind of instruction or recipe book or having to 'make' stuff. Since cats are obligate carnivores give them what a wild cat would eat. Whole carcase quails, rats or mice, day old chicks aswell as raw free range eggs, ox heart etc.

[SCOTLANDUKBOA]

hi many thanks for that

i will try the chick thing first and see wot their reaction is, and speak to my butcher, as you said it is an american book so will try options that you mentioned, I also seen some quails so will see wot they do with that

thanks again for your help, its much appreciated!

linda