# Ground beef vs turkey



## Howard Gaines III (Dec 26, 2007)

Trying to use more raw food with my new GSD litter. What are some of the pros or cons with using beef at 25% fat or turkey with the same fat level? Should there be other foods added?


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## Matt Vandart (Nov 28, 2012)

http://rawfeddogs.org/rawguide.html


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## Connie Sutherland (Mar 27, 2006)

Howard Gaines III said:


> Trying to use more raw food with my new GSD litter. What are some of the pros or cons with using beef at 25% fat or turkey with the same fat level? Should there be other foods added?


Do you mean along with a balanced commercial food?

Because you don't want to screw up the calcium-phosphorus ratio (as well as a couple others), or the calcium level itself, by adding a bunch of boneless meat to a balanced ALS diet. 

Growing puppies aren't the right dogs to give random diets to. (I know you don't mean to do a random diet, but it doesn't take much boneless meat to screw up a balanced diet for growing puppies. Because they're forming bones, teeth, organs, etc., they have much less wiggle room for several nutrients. IMO, insufficient calcium is probably the most common mistake in homemade diets. [And too much calcium is just as bad for puppies, who don't yet have the adult dog's mechanism for regulating calcium absorption.])

5% or so of the diet would be the maximum unbalanced food I personally would use with growing puppies. JMO!






Alternatively, you could balance the add-ins, making it OK to use more than 10%. A third to a half of the bowl of raw meat should be RMBs (the raw meaty bones that are soft enough for the dog to chew and eat completely ... the foundation of a raw diet). Chicken backs and necks, and chicken quarters or thighs, are all popular RMBs.

If your RMBs are bonier (like backs and necks), make them a third of the raw part. If they are less bony and more meaty, like chicken quarters or thighs, make them half of the raw part.)


All JMO, of course. I'm not a health professional.


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## Howard Gaines III (Dec 26, 2007)

Thanks Connie...no bones to pick here! :roll:


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## Connie Sutherland (Mar 27, 2006)

Howard Gaines III said:


> Thanks Connie...no bones to pick here! :roll:



:lol:

I forgot to add that since I base the diet on poultry RMBs (especially chicken backs), I use other meat (rather than poultry) for the boneless part.


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## rick smith (Dec 31, 2010)

U might wanna also keep in mind that ground beef can come in many diff blends...from very fat to very lean :roll:


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## David Windmueller (Nov 4, 2013)

I've noticed with my dog that the more red the meat is and the higher the fat content, the greater energy yield in my dog.

Examples:

When I feed chicken, my dog is pretty easy going.

When I feed pork, he needs regular exercise or he'll drive me crazy.

When I feed beef, he can't be killed.

When I increase the fat content, his energy is a little higher than normal.


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## Ben Thompson (May 2, 2009)

Red meat will add size to the puppy. If your pup was small for his age like mine was. I figure shepherds are done growing structurally at around 9 months then they fill out from there. There head done growing at around 2 years. Fully mentally mature at around 3 years. I think having a good balanced diet from the beginning is the way to go, clean food all the way. Some of the higher end kibbles seem to keep dogs smaller then they should be that was my experience. If you can afford it do a balanced raw diet.


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## Geoff Empey (Jan 8, 2008)

Howard Gaines III said:


> What are some of the pros or cons with using beef at 25% fat or turkey with the same fat level?


Beef is notorious for having antibiotics and added hormones, turkey not so much. 

I am with what Connie said about the random diet. Don't screw around with something that you do not understand without a lot support from someone that knows. 

Here is an article I found earlier today for a club member who has the same types of questions as yourself. http://www.whole-dog-journal.com/is...ood-Diets-For-Puppies_20126-1.html?s=FB121413


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## Howard Gaines III (Dec 26, 2007)

The issue with dry dog food, they still slip corn related products into the mix...been reading it closer that Santa with a Naughty List! :twisted:


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## Tamara McIntosh (Jul 14, 2009)

Geoff Empey said:


> Beef is notorious for having antibiotics and added hormones, turkey not so much.
> /13_11/features/Raw-Dog-Food-Diets-For-Puppies_20126-1.html?s=FB121413[/url]


I disagree geoff, as it is incredibly hard to find turkey or chicken feed that does not contain antibiotics right in the feed. And when you ask for feed without it they give you the crazy eye and tell you your birds will all die. Poultry is heavily medicated from birth to death. Unless you get grass/free range fed birds.


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