# Raising Meat Animals for Raw Diet



## Anne Vaini (Mar 15, 2007)

Does anyone raise animals for meat for their dogs? It is something I had wanted to do. I finally got started with some fluffy bunnies. I picked French Angoras - a dual-purpose meat and fiber rabbit.


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## kristin tresidder (Oct 23, 2008)

that top picture is just wrong! LOL!


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## Tina Rempel (Feb 13, 2008)

The top picture is perfect! LOL

Raised various animals for meat for the family, that was before knowing about raw diets for dogs. I still have my rabbitry set up from a few years ago and have considered filling it again. At the same time I'm trying to downsize and give myself time to do other things. I may get a few goats again since they take less time to care for and could benefit both the dogs and me.


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## Maren Bell Jones (Jun 7, 2006)

Cute bunnies! We do a good bit of alpaca work at our vet school, so they've got me interested in the weird critters for fiber production. I'm breeding rats for snake food (the dogs are just not interested, already tried...) and for pets. Let me know if you'd like a performance rat, Anne. I've got an interesting future breeding planned that should be excellent. :wink:


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## Chris Michalek (Feb 13, 2008)

are you going to butcher them first or use them to build prey drive?

I remember Jennifer Coulter once posted a picture of her with a reciprocating saw, wild look on her face and a deer carcass.... I can see you in a similar pose.

I have a buddy that is doing this with chickens and guinea pigs


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## Ted Efthymiadis (Apr 3, 2009)

Anne Vaini said:


> Does anyone raise animals for meat for their dogs? It is something I had wanted to do. I finally got started with some fluffy bunnies. I picked French Angoras - a dual-purpose meat and fiber rabbit.



I have been thinking about doing this, rather I decided I don't have the time, so I just let my dogs kill what they want in the forest. The only thing better than cheap is free. 

www.qualityk9.ca/test/yum.jpg


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## Maren Bell Jones (Jun 7, 2006)

Make sure you check them dogs for tapeworms, Ted. :wink:


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## Paul Fox (May 25, 2009)

I can see the 3rd one will provide plenty of roughage lol but not much meat. I like the idea of goats and if you are really handy you get a hat or a rug thrown in to the bargain.


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## susan tuck (Mar 28, 2006)

I think I would go with Guinea Pigs. You would also have a specialty market to sell to if there is any sort of a Peruvian community near you.


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## Anne Vaini (Mar 15, 2007)

Chris Michalek said:


> are you going to butcher them first or use them to build prey drive?
> 
> I remember Jennifer Coulter once posted a picture of her with a reciprocating saw, wild look on her face and a deer carcass.... I can see you in a similar pose.
> 
> I have a buddy that is doing this with chickens and guinea pigs


 
Funny Chris. :lol: In the absence of WDF, a yearling doe was hit by a car, wandered into my yard and died. After she decayed, I took her skeleotn, cleaned and bleached it and am now color-coding / painting the the bones before articulating the skeleton.

:-\"

Not joking!




























#-o


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## Jennifer Coulter (Sep 18, 2007)

Anne, you are making me look very sane right now8):wink:


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## mike suttle (Feb 19, 2008)

Anne Vaini said:


> Does anyone raise animals for meat for their dogs? It is something I had wanted to do. I finally got started with some fluffy bunnies. I picked French Angoras - a dual-purpose meat and fiber rabbit.


That first picture is awesome!!
I feed my dogs a lot of deer meat. We get crop damage permits here on the farm so the meat is free and we can shoot a lot deer around here. I am not sure how many rabbits I wold go through feeding 40 dogs per day for a year. I would have to build a big facility just for the rabbits and hire someone to deal with them if I tried to do it with this many dogs. For me free deer meat is the best option. I also butcher a couple old decreped beef cows a year for the baby puppies.


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## Chris Michalek (Feb 13, 2008)

Jennifer Coulter said:


> Anne, you are making me look very sane right now8):wink:


I KNOW!!! Post that pic with you and the saw again.


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## Bob Scott (Mar 30, 2006)

Jennifer Coulter said:


> Anne, you are making me look very sane right now8):wink:


Jennifer, we can only question Anne's sanity based on those......"WIERD" pics. 
The pic of YOU left no doubt! :grin:


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## Connie Sutherland (Mar 27, 2006)

Anne Vaini said:


> Funny Chris. :lol: In the absence of WDF, a yearling doe was hit by a car, wandered into my yard and died. After she decayed, I took her skeleotn, cleaned and bleached it and am now color-coding / painting the the bones before articulating the skeleton.
> 
> 
> Not joking!


Oh, gosh! :lol: We can all be quoted in the eventual and inevitable in-depth news story about you. :lol:


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## Debbie Skinner (Sep 11, 2008)

We raised rabbits for meat for about 5 years. This is back about 20 years ago. We had the hanging cages in a small barn with auto feeder and waters. Since we were raising rabbits strictly for meat production for ourselves and the dogs, we chose "commercial whites". These are a meat rabbit developed for rapid gain and good meat conformation. It's a strain developed from breeding New Zealand Whites and Californians with Flemish Giant thrown in. No other type of rabbit comes close if you are breeding for meat production. Does will raise up 8 babies that by 8-10 weeks old are 8-10lbs each. Where I am in SoCal, we must cool a rabbitry in the summer. However, we have a friend that is a custom butcher so it's not worth the hassle now to raise meat for the dogs. It's less expensive and hassle to buy it as he butchers hogs, cattle, goats, sheep. Also, deer and elk during the season. I often get whole deer when the hunters bring them in w/o dressing them to the butcher after a day..which makes it way to gamey for humans. I do miss the rabbit meat..YUMMY! )


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## milder batmusen (Jun 1, 2009)

no I dont raise animals for food but know alot who does and the dogs take their bite


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## Anne Vaini (Mar 15, 2007)

milder batmusen said:


> no I dont raise animals for food but know alot who does and the dogs take their bite


 
Dog eating dead animal ON THE CARPET, NEXT TO A BABY??!! 

 :-& :-x[-X [-( #-o


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## Connie Sutherland (Mar 27, 2006)

Anne Vaini said:


> Dog eating dead animal ON THE CARPET, NEXT TO A BABY??!!
> 
> :-& :-x[-X [-( #-o



OMG, I had just enlarged that thumbnail and almost fainted.

To the O.P.: Please rethink everything about that photo starting with baby on the floor near the RMBs being gnawed.


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## Maren Bell Jones (Jun 7, 2006)

There are so many things wrong with that. Wow. Just...wow. [-(


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## Anne Vaini (Mar 15, 2007)

mike suttle said:


> That first picture is awesome!!
> I feed my dogs a lot of deer meat. We get crop damage permits here on the farm so the meat is free and we can shoot a lot deer around here. I am not sure how many rabbits I wold go through feeding 40 dogs per day for a year. I would have to build a big facility just for the rabbits and hire someone to deal with them if I tried to do it with this many dogs. For me free deer meat is the best option. I also butcher a couple old decreped beef cows a year for the baby puppies.


40 dogs x 2 pounds per day = 80 pounds of meat per day. 6 pounds per bunny, and you need approximately 26 per day, or 9,490 per year. A doe can produce up to 64 bun-buns per year. You would need approximately 150 does and 15 bucks to feed your kennel. (Sounds like a full-time job!) :lol:

Free deer meat sounds good! 8)


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## milder batmusen (Jun 1, 2009)

Anne Vaini said:


> Dog eating dead animal ON THE CARPET, NEXT TO A BABY??!!
> 
> :-& :-x[-X [-( #-o



cant se the problem the baby canot crawl or anything at his age and the dogs food dont come near the baby


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## Anne Vaini (Mar 15, 2007)

milder batmusen said:


> cant se the problem the baby canot crawl or anything at his age and the dogs food dont come near the baby


Can't see the problem? 

You're looking at putting a dog and an infant in one of the 7 most common situations to prompt a fatal dog attack. While I wasn't there, I believe there was inadequate supervision. When a dog and a child are involved, one or BOTH of them must be under "touch supervision" - meaning that either one or both of them can be touched at every moment. Dogs (especially when attacking) are a whole lot faster than people. Just "watching" them is not good enough.

[-X

You're feeding raw meat from an animal on a soft, porous surface. A blanket will not protect the carpet from becoming contaminated. Child crawls over that area of the carpet later, picks up some bacteria or parasite...

:-&









Try this: Feed the dog in a CLOSED, solid-bottom dog crate or kennel, in a room separate from the baby. Problems solved.


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## milder batmusen (Jun 1, 2009)

Anne Vaini said:


> Can't see the problem?
> 
> You're looking at putting a dog and an infant in one of the 7 most common situations to prompt a fatal dog attack. While I wasn't there, I believe there was inadequate supervision. When a dog and a child are involved, one or BOTH of them must be under "touch supervision" - meaning that either one or both of them can be touched at every moment. Dogs (especially when attacking) are a whole lot faster than people. Just "watching" them is not good enough.
> 
> ...



there is no problem I wrote a dog attack:-k I just wrote that the baby cant crawl so he wont get near the dog so how can he get atacked when I am a feet away from them an my dogs does not bite
I must know my dogs alot better than anyone else and if I in anyway thought that they would hurt him I would never let the child come so near the dogs 
because of food and they would not bite because someone is looking at them eating they are so cool with someone near their food or I will my self put the dog to rest forever if it has such a high food defense drive I will not own that type of dog 

are you saying that children and dogs only can be in the same room if there is an adult right next to them :roll:that is crazy if that is what you mean then no one cant own dogs and children at the same time 
you cant stay at their side all of the time and if you think dogs are that untrusteble then maybe you dont know a damn thing about your dogs behavior 

I know my dogs and know that they would not bite in that kind of situation and I know many owners say that but I KNOW THEM LIKE MY OWN POCKET 

do you own dogs you seem very fastidius about dogs if I should think of bacteria all the time I would not own pets or live a normalt life people are so touchy today around everything IM suprised that people today can live if htey are that toouchy about small thing 
I don understand why kids get sick so often today if they get near a bacteria they get sick because there not use to it


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## Anne Vaini (Mar 15, 2007)

milder batmusen said:


> there is no problem I wrote a dog attack:-k I just wrote that the baby cant crawl so he wont get near the dog so how can he get atacked when I am a feet away from them an my dogs does not bite
> I must know my dogs alot better than anyone else and if I in anyway thought that they would hurt him I would never let the child come so near the dogs
> because of food and they would not bite because someone is looking at them eating they are so cool with someone near their food or I will my self put the dog to rest forever if it has such a high food defense drive I will not own that type of dog
> 
> ...


 

I have dogs, a 13-month old baby (roommates' child) and a 28-month old toddler. I strongly believe in the "hygiene theory," which roughly states that sanitizing the world is a bad idea. 

HOWEVER, I don't intentionally or carelessly expose the children to bacteria. If I feed raw indoors, I feed it in the bathtub, with the bathroom door closed. Clean-up is a breeze! :lol: If I feed raw outdoors, I drop in on the ground in a fenced kennel area that the children cannot get to.

Never trust any dog. Past behavior is not a predictor of future behavior. Read the book "Fatal Dog Attacks" by Karen Delise - a must-read for all parents, even when they don't own a dog - and a must-read for all dog owners, even those that don't have children.


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## Connie Sutherland (Mar 27, 2006)

milder batmusen said:


> an my dogs does not bite .... they are so cool with someone near their food ....


I am not trying to be confrontational, but NO, you do not know that your dogs do not bite. 

The fastidious comments won't fly here, you know. :lol: I have multiple dogs, like many of us; I feed raw, like many of us; and "picky" doesn't cut it with me, with a house always full of dog-fur tumbleweeds.

But I don't feed raw meat on absorbent fabric. Why would I?

Come on.  We are concerned for your child -- not attacking you. Think about it before jumping on the defensive. 

99.99% of dog-bites-kid occurrences are "He never did that before!" things. Obviously, no dog ever bit a kid. Until he did.

The baby does not belong on the floor near that eating dog.


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## Connie Sutherland (Mar 27, 2006)

Just want to add that no one thinks their dog will bite their child. No one thinks they are endangering their child with their lack of forethought. I'd bet that all of the parents of bitten kids would have said beforehand _"I know my dogs and know that they would not bite in that kind of situation and I know many owners say that but I KNOW THEM LIKE MY OWN POCKET." _

But a lot of children are bitten in their homes by the family dogs. Those parents were all wrong.

People with experience (some meanies will call them old people) and people who have worked in the dog world (shelters, vet practices, etc.) will point out an obviously dangerous situation, such as a baby on the floor near an eating dog and no touch-supervision in place, out of concern and caring. 

I fall into the "experienced" category (not as "experienced" as Bob, of course, but plenty "experienced") as well as the other categories, and I can tell you absolutely that you have a potentially bad situation set up there. Why not simply change it?


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## Connie Sutherland (Mar 27, 2006)

Let's get back to "raising meat animals" .....


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## Jennifer Coulter (Sep 18, 2007)

I have another OT question (sorry Connie!)

Anne, what did you use to clean the deer bones before you started your painted bones project?


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## Connie Sutherland (Mar 27, 2006)

Jennifer Coulter said:


> Anne, what did you use to clean the deer bones before you started your painted bones project?


Dog-licking. Lots of dog-licking.


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## Anne Vaini (Mar 15, 2007)

Jennifer Coulter said:


> I have another OT question (sorry Connie!)
> 
> Anne, what did you use to clean the deer bones before you started your painted bones project?


Sorry - no dog licking. :lol: Nature. Maggots had her skeletonized in 4 weeks. I was able to pull out bones after 2 1/2 weeks. I broke of the cartilage and soaked them in a strong bleash solution overnight, and put them back outside to dry. 

I've had to wait quite a while now. As the paint dried on the first batch, little worms were coming out of the marrow bones. (Ewww!) I hadn't waited long enough. I hope those bones won't smell!


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## Maren Bell Jones (Jun 7, 2006)

Hey Jennifer, is it for your bear skull? The guy who is in charge of the anatomy lab is also an amateur taxidermist (go fig...) and he uses a European mounting method with boiling and hydrogen peroxide. He did a friend of mine's white tail deer head and it came out just beautiful. If the brain and tissue is gone, I think that's well over half the battle. I think if you google European mount, you'll come up with some ideas.


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## Kristen Cabe (Mar 27, 2006)

I entertained the idea of raising meat rabbits a year or two ago, but dismissed for lack of space, and not enough spine to actually be able to kill them when the time came.


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## Anne Vaini (Mar 15, 2007)

Kristen Cabe said:


> I entertained the idea of raising meat rabbits a year or two ago, but dismissed for lack of space, and not enough spine to actually be able to kill them when the time came.


Don't you have some privacy fence? My cages hang on a privacy fence in my yard, with a sunshade over them. Pretty slick!


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## Kristen Cabe (Mar 27, 2006)

The only privacy panels I have simply separate the front yard from the back yard. The rest of the fence is wire.


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## Michelle Reusser (Mar 29, 2008)

When I have the property, I want to raise chickens. ducks, rabbits and goats. A steer a year and what we don't eat the dogs can have.


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## Kayla Barth (Apr 18, 2009)

I have thought about feeding my horse to my dog....I mean I save the money of boarding, vet, and farrier; she ends up donating her body to a good cause and I dont have to buy dog food for a long time......HAAHAHAHAHAHA I was just kidding please don't go PETA on me. When my parents are comming to visit they are bringing down the old meat that they have in the freezer....probably deer, beef, chicken, and maybe some guinea hen as well. 

One day when I get the space I will probably do the same thing as Michelle and raise my own meet again...nothing beat Butchering day.


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## milder batmusen (Jun 1, 2009)

Anne Vaini said:


> I have dogs, a 13-month old baby (roommates' child) and a 28-month old toddler. I strongly believe in the "hygiene theory," which roughly states that sanitizing the world is a bad idea.
> 
> *HOWEVER, I don't intentionally or carelessly expose the children to bacteria. If I feed raw indoors, I feed it in the bathtub,* with the bathroom door closed. Clean-up is a breeze! :lol: If I feed raw outdoors, I drop in on the ground in a fenced kennel area that the children cannot get to.
> 
> Never trust any dog. Past behavior is not a predictor of future behavior. Read the book "Fatal Dog Attacks" by Karen Delise - a must-read for all parents, even when they don't own a dog - and a must-read for all dog owners, even those that don't have children.



well most of my feeding is the kitchen with the food in their bowls 


Maybe alot of dogs are food aggresive but mine are still not but I dont mean that they dont have a limit every dog does but I know where my dogs limit are and my baby are not alowed to pet or come to near the dogs when they eat


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## milder batmusen (Jun 1, 2009)

Connie Sutherland said:


> I am not trying to be confrontational, but NO, *you do not know that your dogs do not bite. *
> 
> The fastidious comments won't fly here, you know. :lol: I have multiple dogs, like many of us; I feed raw, like many of us; and "picky" doesn't cut it with me, with a house always full of dog-fur tumbleweeds.
> 
> ...



I did not mean that they could not bite I meant that I know where there limit or boundary is so I will know just what will get them upset ofcourse you cant say that dogs will never bite but you have to as a dogowner know your dogs


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## milder batmusen (Jun 1, 2009)

Connie Sutherland said:


> J*ust want to add that no one thinks their dog will bite their child. No one thinks they are endangering their child with their lack of forethought. I'd bet that all of the parents of bitten kids would have said beforehand "I know my dogs and know that they would not bite in that kind of situation and I know many owners say that but I KNOW THEM LIKE MY OWN POCKET."
> *
> But a lot of children are bitten in their homes by the family dogs. Those parents were all wrong.
> 
> ...



I guess you are imploying to what I wrote about that they would never bite my child but that is not what I meant 

every dog has at limit to how much it can take before he will bite I know that I am also farely sure that I know there my own dogs boundrys so I make sure that the baby never crosses the line and risck of getten bitten


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## Maren Bell Jones (Jun 7, 2006)

Even with bowls, if you have young ones, you MUST take extra precaution. This is precisely why many vets (and other health care professionals like MDs!) do not advocate feeding a raw diet because of immune compromised individuals like children who put their hands in everything like a dog bowl and then go straight to their mouths. I likewise don't think we should constantly shield children from every little microbe, but when you guys talk about buying chicken for cheap at the grocery store, just a heads up, but those chickens ain't coming from the family farm being butchered by hand one at a time. Not exactly squeaky clean. I don't have kids, but if I did, the dogs would all be fed outside. As it stands, they all must eat anything raw in their crates only.


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## Michelle Reusser (Mar 29, 2008)

I only feed RAW outside, who wants that mess inside anyway. Dogs never keep it in the bowl or even on the kitchen floor, they want to drag it to a nice soft spot to lay down and eat. No way I'd deal with that on my carpets. Outside in the kennel or on the grass. I hate washing inside of crates.


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## Mike Scheiber (Feb 17, 2008)

milder batmusen said:


> no I dont raise animals for food but know alot who does and the dogs take their bite


For fuk sakes is that a baby moving in on that dog eating what looks to be a rabbit=P~


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## Maren Bell Jones (Jun 7, 2006)

When we bought our house 2 years ago, the wall to wall carpets were the first thing to go! Every once in a while, one will try and slink over to their dog bed with their prize in their mouth. I just have to give them a stern look and point and they scamper back to their crates.


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## Connie Sutherland (Mar 27, 2006)

Maren Bell Jones said:


> When we bought our house 2 years ago, the wall to wall carpets were the first thing to go! Every once in a while, one will try and slink over to their dog bed with their prize in their mouth. I just have to give them a stern look and point and they scamper back to their crates.


I would like my carpet gone too, but it's on a stoopid California cement slab. :-(

Yeah, my dogs would love to get a goodie into their dog beds for a long private session, too.

I draw the line at E. coli and salmonella soaked into the carpet. (Obviously, my "line" is pretty loose; I'm not a spray-antibiotics-all-over-the-house person. :lol: )


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## Maren Bell Jones (Jun 7, 2006)

I've threatened that I want an all concrete slab with a drain and a high pressure hose in each room for years. Splash a bit of bleach, hose it down, good to go! :grin:


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## Connie Sutherland (Mar 27, 2006)

Maren Bell Jones said:


> I've threatened that I want an all concrete slab with a drain and a high pressure hose in each room for years. Splash a bit of bleach, hose it down, good to go! :grin:


LOL!!!

The drain does sound excellent. As long as I'm sure it's one-way. :lol:


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## Lynn Cheffins (Jul 11, 2006)

I am glad I am not the only one who has considered the concrete and floor drain idea :lol:

Wall to wall lino at my place is as close as I have gotten...


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## Dan Long (Jan 10, 2008)

Michelle Kehoe said:


> I only feed RAW outside, who wants that mess inside anyway. Dogs never keep it in the bowl or even on the kitchen floor, they want to drag it to a nice soft spot to lay down and eat. No way I'd deal with that on my carpets. Outside in the kennel or on the grass. I hate washing inside of crates.


That's how I do it too. If it's too nasty outside, like pouring rain, they go in the garage. Always supervised to prevent spats and food stealing.


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## Debbie Skinner (Sep 11, 2008)

Right now I have to feed my little puppies their mid-day meal indoors because we have "meat bees" that swarm the raw meat. I've got traps and bait out, but all the good "stuff" pesticides that worked well like Diazinon are banned in California. ](*,) These meat bees are a seasonal July-August problem here and so during the summer I feed the adults and older pups early morning 5am (before light) and after dark (8pm-9pm) when the bees are asleep.


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## Tina Rempel (Feb 13, 2008)

Lynn Cheffins said:


> I am glad I am not the only one who has considered the concrete and floor drain idea :lol:
> 
> Wall to wall lino at my place is as close as I have gotten...


I have a feeling many dog people think the same about this.... :lol: I want tile with floor drains. Switched from carpet to vinyl last December and love it.

Have a call in about some young goats to raise right now....


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## Debbie Skinner (Sep 11, 2008)

Goats are good, but consider Barbados sheep as they are hair sheep and if you select the right ones they will twin and even have triplets. No wool as these are hair sheep and don't have the disposition of goats that will try to figure out what you don't want them to eat and go for that. Also, goats will climb on everything (cars for example). I've raised both and would not raise goats again. They are more likely to "browse" on trees and bushes than graze too. Also, a true story: My goats broke into a storage shed and ate my old files rather than grazing on the training field. Paper over grass..go figure!


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## Tina Rempel (Feb 13, 2008)

I've raised both goats and sheep before. My best Nubian cross doe consistently had triplets. I liked the Katahdin hair sheep with consistent twins.  For now I'm just getting young ones and raising until time to butcher, not getting new breeding stock. Heck, right now I have four Heritage/exotic breeds of sheep in the pasture. All pets, all going to new homes, not the freezer.


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## David Scholes (Jul 12, 2008)

susan tuck said:


> I think I would go with Guinea Pigs. You would also have a specialty market to sell to if there is any sort of a Peruvian community near you.


They're actually pretty tasty. Wish I could find the large ones they breed in Peru for meat.


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## David Scholes (Jul 12, 2008)

I'm raising Khaki Campbell ducks. They lay eggs much better than any chicken I've ever owned. With just three hens and a drake you can have more offspring than you can keep up with, if you have an incubator. Using a broody hen is nice because they teach them to forage for bugs and I don't need to worry about keeping them warm. The hens are also aggressive so protect against some predators. Our cats leave them alone. The ducklings grow faster than most chickens and are hardier. The eggs taste almost indistinguishable from free range chicken eggs, just bigger and more yoke and more of them per bird.









I also have new zealand white rabbits. I feed lots of weeds from the garden and once they are weaned feed very few to no pellets. I can get about 6 litters a year per doe and they average about 8 per litter. I'm very interested to hear how the french angoras work out. 

I normally just feed the ones that die and the parts we don't eat to the dog. I use raw dried rabbit skins as a training aid. My dog is getting pretty good at not hurting the loose poultry and rabbits. She loves to herd them and goes nuts when they go outside the fence or normal boundaries.


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## milder batmusen (Jun 1, 2009)

I will with draw this discussion It seems that people only focus is on the picture with the dog eating


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## David Scholes (Jul 12, 2008)

Lynn Cheffins said:


> I am glad I am not the only one who has considered the concrete and floor drain idea :lol:
> 
> Wall to wall lino at my place is as close as I have gotten...


I just sold a house that had 15 dogs and almost that many cats. They really could have used that idea for flooring. Smell was overwhelming but made a good deal.


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## Jeff Oehlsen (Apr 7, 2006)

Quote: 
I will with draw this discussion It seems that people only focus is on the picture with the dog eating

Don't worry about it. Dog people here, especially the women are just ****ing nuts. They are all control freaks, most barely made it through high school, but rave on and on about shit they do not understand. Maren is the only one qualified....sorta...to talk about pathogens, but you can see by her statement of wanting to live in a concrete house with a drain, that she has gone overboard. LOL

**** em.


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## Connie Sutherland (Mar 27, 2006)

Jeff Oehlsen said:


> .... Dog people here, especially the women are just ****ing nuts. They are all control freaks, most barely made it through high school ....



:lol: :lol: :lol:

It must be quite a job being Jeff.


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## Jeff Oehlsen (Apr 7, 2006)

You have NO idea how hard it is to deal with the fact that people are becoming dumber every day.

I blame the educational system for turning out complacent compliant followers and for the fact that they intentionally destroy the kids that question the need for this pablum that they feed.


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## Connie Sutherland (Mar 27, 2006)

Jeff Oehlsen said:


> You have NO idea how hard it is to deal with the fact that people are becoming dumber every day. ... I blame the educational system for turning out complacent compliant followers ....


Well, I know that I wake up every day and thank heaven that one of us escaped to admonish the rest of us when we slip back onto our loser path.

And I'm in the middle of acquiring more of that damned pablum, too. :-&

:lol: :lol: :lol:


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## Connie Sutherland (Mar 27, 2006)

Debbie Skinner said:


> Right now I have to feed my little puppies their mid-day meal indoors because we have "meat bees" that swarm the raw meat.


 I'm pretty sure I don't even want to know about "meat bees."


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## susan tuck (Mar 28, 2006)

DAVID I agree about the duck eggs. We have Magpie Calls, Snowy Calls and a token Cayuga that thinks he's a little Call We also have a pair of Guinea fowl and a couple of Bantam Cochin hens and a couple of standard Wyandotte hens. The little Calls lay duck eggs as big as the standard sized Wyandotte chicken eggs. One of our Magpies, one of the Snowy's and both the Bantam chicken hens are excellent setters, so we collect some duck eggs for eating and let them hatch some out. Sure are cute little boogers too.


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## Connie Sutherland (Mar 27, 2006)

Debbie Skinner said:


> .... My goats broke into a storage shed and ate my old files rather than grazing on the training field. Paper over grass..go figure!


Better than those useless shredders that they're always piecing back together the strips from on TV crime shows.

Who would piece those goat papers back together?


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## Connie Sutherland (Mar 27, 2006)

susan tuck said:


> DAVID I agree about the duck eggs. We have Magpie Calls, Snowy Calls and a token Cayuga that thinks he's a little Call We also have a pair of Guinea fowl and a couple of Bantam Cochin hens and a couple of standard Wyandotte hens. The little Calls lay duck eggs as big as the standard sized Wyandotte chicken eggs. One of our Magpies, one of the Snowy's and both the Bantam chicken hens are excellent setters, so we collect some duck eggs for eating and let them hatch some out. Sure are cute little boogers too.


How many eggs come from, say, three ducks? Do you get enough to sell, or enough to eat them every day, or what?

Or do they just lay eggs once a year or something like that?


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## susan tuck (Mar 28, 2006)

Calls are an ornamental breed of minature duck, not big on egg production, and a little bit difficult to hatch sometimes, but our Cayuga hen gave us lots of eggs, and they were much bigger than what you can get from any chicken! We recently had to give our mated pair of Cayuga ducks to someone who has no ducks (but does have large LegHorn chickens) because the Cayuga drake was intent on killing our Calls, as well as his own offspring. We kept one Cayuga duckling, who has imprinted on the Calls & runs around with the little call ducklings sort of like Baby Huey. :-\" So between our Guineas, Bantams & Calls we have eggs for the human hh members and even 1 or 2 a week for my GSD. The other dogs, nope, not enough, oh well too bad. 

I can tell you our duck eggs are richer than chicken eggs, and are delicious. I have heard others who have Cambells say what David said, that they rival chickens in egg production.


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## susan tuck (Mar 28, 2006)

connie sutherland said:


> better than those useless shredders that they're always piecing back together the strips from on tv crime shows.
> 
> Who would piece those goat papers back together?


ahahahhahahaha!!!!!!!!

I would like to get two doe Feinting Goats. This way when I get pissed off I will know at least someone is listening.


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## Connie Sutherland (Mar 27, 2006)

Oh, I loved those goats when I copyedited a raising-goats book for Storey last year. :lol:


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## Maren Bell Jones (Jun 7, 2006)

Jeff Oehlsen said:


> Quote:
> I will with draw this discussion It seems that people only focus is on the picture with the dog eating
> 
> Don't worry about it. Dog people here, especially the women are just ****ing nuts. They are all control freaks, most barely made it through high school, but rave on and on about shit they do not understand. Maren is the only one qualified....sorta...to talk about pathogens, but you can see by her statement of wanting to live in a concrete house with a drain, that she has gone overboard. LOL
> ...


LOL, thanks for the vote of quasi-confidence, Jeff. :wink: Except my little side comment about bleach...who said anything about pathogens? :lol: I just want it easier to clean, I don't need it sterile enough to do surgery on. I've actually heard many parents make the same comment about their kids and wanting a drain and a high pressure hose. Probably wouldn't hurt for some bachelor males too... :-\"


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## David Scholes (Jul 12, 2008)

Connie Sutherland said:


> How many eggs come from, say, three ducks? Do you get enough to sell, or enough to eat them every day, or what?
> 
> Or do they just lay eggs once a year or something like that?


My Khaki Campbells were bred for egg production. I have three females and I get more eggs from them than my five chicken hens. My three duck hens produce 3 sometimes 4 eggs a day. My brother had a light on them in the winter and his produced steady thru the winter. I didn't have a light and so they only seemed to lay when we had warmer clearer weather. Ducks bred specially for egg production produce more eggs than the white leghorn commercial chickens.

The downside is they sometimes lay their eggs in the muck and can make a mess in their water. Also chicken hens are quiet and the roosters are noisy. It is reverse in ducks. The duck hens are noisy quackers (especially when being raped by the males) and the males are quieter. 

I just feed my ducks scratch or COB (corn, oates & barley) whatever is cheaper and they forrage greens, bugs, garden weeds and table scraps etc. I do feed the babies chick starter for the first few weeks.

You don't need males to produce eggs only for hatching fertility.

The newly hatched ducklings sell for $5 each. I also sold some to the local feed store in trade for feed for $3.50. Most hatcheries require minimum orders of 15 but most people only want 2 to 5, so there is typically an unsatisfied demand that the feed stores normally fill at inflated prices. Most people just seem to want them for fun and not for egg production or meat. I do get a few minority groups that like to buy a few of my rabbits and ducks and chickens for meat.

I just need to learn how to sex the newly hatched ducklings.


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## Bob Scott (Mar 30, 2006)

Connie Sutherland said:


> I'm pretty sure I don't even want to know about "meat bees."



Another name for Yellow Jackets!


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## Connie Sutherland (Mar 27, 2006)

David Scholes said:


> My Khaki Campbells were bred for egg production. I have three females and I get more eggs from them than my five chicken hens. My three duck hens produce 3 sometimes 4 eggs a day. My brother had a light on them in the winter and his produced steady thru the winter. I didn't have a light and so they only seemed to lay when we had warmer clearer weather. Ducks bred specially for egg production produce more eggs than the white leghorn commercial chickens.
> 
> The downside is they sometimes lay their eggs in the muck and can make a mess in their water. Also chicken hens are quiet and the roosters are noisy. It is reverse in ducks. The duck hens are noisy quackers (especially when being raped by the males) and the males are quieter.
> 
> ...


So two things I think I get here: (1) All females would make for quiet egg-layers, and (2) figuring out which ducklings are females is not easy?


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## David Scholes (Jul 12, 2008)

Connie Sutherland said:


> So two things I think I get here: (1) All females would make for quiet egg-layers, and (2) figuring out which ducklings are females is not easy?


(1) Quieter. You just don't want them right next to your bedroom window. They are not as noisy as a rooster crow. I consider them fairly quiet.
(2) You can buy them from the hatchery sexed, all male or all female or strait run. The coloring is the same on most breeds so you have to vent sex them. Just flipping them over they look the same. You have to do some squeezing and examination and I haven't learned how yet. I can tell after about 5 weeks when color of the bill starts to turn green on a male khaki campbell.


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## Connie Sutherland (Mar 27, 2006)

Gotcha.

Thanks!


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## Tina Rempel (Feb 13, 2008)

I liked my Runner Ducks, great egg layers. Too bad the coyotes liked them too..... :-(

Four young Lamancha goats are now in the pasture growing.....


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## michael carroll (Jan 19, 2009)

I don't raise any feeder animals,I go to the local deer processers during hunting season,get straight out of the cooler,scrap meat and bones.I get it by the truck load,saves the processer on disposal fees and gives me several freezers full of fresh raw for my dogs,and they love it.Sometimes beef when he butchers for someone.Just seperate into meals,bag and freeze and its all for free.Just sitting here one day wondering what they did with it made a couple of calls and had a steady supply ever since.The only problem is getting the dogs to eat anything else when I run out.


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