When I first thought about feeding raw, I looked at meat prices and thought, this is gonna be so expensive, but it actually turned out to be cheaper than I thought. Prices do vary depending on where you live and what you have available to you, but some of these tips may help. I've noticed some people find it cheaper to feed than the higher quality more expensive kibbles, some find it about the same price, and some find feeding raw more expensive than feeding any commercial kibble. You usually can include the cost reduction of dental cleanings, which can also vary. The longer you feed raw usually the better you get at making it more affordable.
If it's not affordable to feed fully raw, consider giving a couple raw meals a week in place of kibble (some dogs can handle this, some can't) it's best not to feed kibble and raw in the same meal as they digest differently. I would try feeding RMB's (chicken thighs, drumsticks, turkey necks) first, than maybe later on try fish or a boneless meal of beef or pork going very slowly, too much too soon can cause issues.
The freezer is most important, the bigger the freezer, the more meat you can buy in bulk that's on sale or clearance etc. to save money. Craigslist can be a great place to buy freezers used. Just one of my freezers (the 5 cubic ft), holds about 120lbs of meat which lasts me about almost 3 months. Unlike humans, dogs can eat meat that is freezer burned as long as it has remained frozen, and even "stinky" few days old meat (I would not feed this till the dog has been on raw for a while and can handle the extra bacteria load that can come from spoiled meat). So it's ok to buy meat and freeze it for 6 months before you feed it. As long as the meat stays cold, you can also defrost it and refreeze if you buy in bulk and need to separate the meat out.
Pet Raw Feeding Co-ops are wonderful for buying in bulk and saving money, if you have one in your area you may want to check it out. I don't have one yet, so I mostly shop all my local grocery stores for my meat or my local farmers human food Coop .
I buy fish, chicken, turkey, beef, and pork for their usual variety diet, added together the price per pound I pay averaged comes to around 1.60/lb, you usually feed between 1.5-3% of your dogs ideal body weight, if I can feed more meat under 1.00/lb it makes it more affordable. Sometimes I will splurge for other kinds of meat once in a while to add a little more variety to their diet like goat, lamb, etc. For my 23lb puggle who eats 6.5 oz per day, and 38lb beagle mix who eats 8.5 oz a day, it costs me on average, about 1.60-2.00 a day to feed both dogs. If I subtract the costs of vet dentals, because my dogs haven't needed them eating raw bones, the cost isn't more than feeding most average or better commercial kibbles.
I occasionally shop the weekly sales, check out sale flyers or look for clearance meat anytime I happen to be at a Grocery store or Super Walmart etc. I've scored 40lbs of ground beef for 1.00/lb, a beef brisket from Walmart on clearance for 1.60/lb, chicken leg quarters for .60/lb etc. Whole turkeys around thanksgiving can be as cheap as .78/lb or even .69/lbs right after so you can buy a few freeze them and later cut them up into meals. I also buy meat from my local farmers coop, I can get grassfed ground meat trim mix for 1.50/lb and big lamb bones with lots of grassfed meat still on them for about 6 huge bones for 5.00.
 |
| Turkey necks on clearance at Walmart. |
While beef and pork can be expensive per pound, chicken is usually fairly cheap, specially when it's on sale. I might pay as much as 1.90/lb for beef on sale or on clearance, but only pay .60 a pound for bone in unenhanced chicken quarters on sale, which helps to average out the cost of the beef.
Once your dog is past the "transition phase" and is used to all the meats you will be feeding in their diet, you can feed bone in chicken every day for one of your meals and a variety of boneless meat for the other meal, which can bring down the cost.
Example: (Ideally the more red meat the better, but this ok to do if you are on a tight budget.)
Mon morning chicken thigh / Mon night boneless pork shoulder meat
Tues morning chicken thigh / Tues night boneless beef brisket meat
Wed morning chicken drumstick / Wed night raw fish
Thurs morning chicken thigh/ Thurs night boneless turkey
You can look for heart, tongue, and gizzards which count as meat (as opposed to organ) in the world of raw feeding, but are often cheaper than other muscle meats. Do not feed organs that count as meat till you have fully transitioned to the diet and are feeding organs that count as organs like liver and kidneys etc. because they are heart and gizzards etc. are rich and you do need to introduce them very slowly, just like you introduce liver. Ground meats are ok to feed as long as it's not too often, the only ground meat I usually feed are beef or lamb(on clearance). Ground meats tend to have higher amounts of bacteria.
Sometimes I'll feed more red meats if I get a good deal on them, I also may feed 3 meals of the oily fish instead of two depending on how much fish oil I supplement with (It's very important they get enough omega 3)
Other sources to get meat include talking to a local butcher and see if you can get scraps cheap, ask about the meat that they would normally throw out, that is almost out of date, that people ordered and didn't pick up, their freezer clean-outs, and parts that don't sell (like trachea, lungs, spleen, etc.). Some butchers will save their trim for you (once they get to know you). Build a relationship with them first. Many butchers will give you these things for free, once they know you (and especially if you are a regular customer who buys meat for yourself). Some places may say no due to liability, but private small butchers may be more willing to deal.
Any local food distributor/supplier (where restaurants order their food from) may allow you to buy in bulk and save money.
Or check with some restaurants maybe one could add your order to theirs, or offer to give you their unused meat they would otherwise have to throw out.
Local farmers may be willing to give you a deal or local hunters that may be willing to share their meat, or need to clean out their freezers etc. You can find hunters (and their unwanted meat) by posting a notice on bulletin boards where they may congregate (like feed, tractor, country supply, sports, army supply, or gun stores), or at hunter check points, and by posting in online hunter's forums. *Freeze any wild game meat or fish for at least 2 months before feeding.
My state offers a free deer exchange program, where a hunter can give a deer away if he doesn't want it. Check your local laws, I think in most states it's illegal to buy or sell wild game meat privately, but you may be able to pay for part of the processing fee.
Check out the meat processing plants and/or slaughter houses – they process the animals for farmers or hunters(amongst others). You can often get the left over pieces for free.
Ask a few of your local grocery stores and butchers what it would cost to order things for you by the case. Compare prices. One of the ethnic markets butcher told me if I buy more than 40lbs of meat at a time they'll give me close to at cost prices, I haven't done it yet because my freezer is still pretty packed with good deals I picked up.
Some people do post ads on Craigslist or Free-cycle etc. for free meat, like if someone is cleaning out their freezer and has any old meat that isn't processed or seasoned. I haven't tried this, but I know some people who are comfortable doing this and have scored great deals (65-100lbs of meat for free).
