Pendergrass Ranch - Big changes!

[Southern by choice]

Well PR...... and you didn't think WEEEEEEEEEE would be interested. Ha! look at how many people are!

Yes, it is very controversial! Everything with dogs is! I am trying to look at the different formulas, and I really respect the fact that you recognize that there is more than "one raw feed formula" .

I hope you will consider it, I am very interested in the reasons you chose your particular formula also.

 

[bonbean01]

I've noticed that LGD discussions sometimes do get pretty ummm...emotional and wondered why that would be a hot topic...but it is.

Hope you do your page

 

[PendergrassRanch]

I will see what I can come up with

What section would be best?

 

[Straw Hat Kikos]

I will see what I can come up with

What section would be best?

You should build an actual page. That way nobody can comment. Also if they have questions they could PM instead of it getting out of hand, which hopefully it doesn't.

 

[Straw Hat Kikos]

Click under your avatar on View my Page. Or go to the top bar and go to My Page. Build it in there.
Some of the best info on this site is in people's pages.

 

[PendergrassRanch]

oooh I didn't know you could do that! Cool! I will definitely do that. I like the idea a lot more now!

 

[Straw Hat Kikos]

oooh I didn't know you could do that! Cool! I will definitely do that. I like the idea a lot more now!

Yep. Much better. I have a few pages and I'm working on several now.

 

[Southern by choice]

Really looking forward to your page.

Another BYH, I don't think she'd mind saying who she is but since I'm not sure I'll just keep it at BYHer, gave me a recipe for my GSD. My girl is a very "hard" driven worker. Weight is such an issue. I'm following the recipe and found this adjustment in one of the raw recipes. Glad I did 'cause my dogs like raw eggs but we have to be careful because we do run a poultry farm...we need the eggs! The dogs will steal eggs every chance they get!

Eggs: The original recipe for Satin Balls calls for 10 raw eggs. Apart from concerns about salmonella, raw egg white contains avitin which blocks the use of the B vitamin, biotin. While there is a lot of biotin in the egg yolk, to offset the avitin in the egg white, dogs do not digest raw eggs as well as they do cooked. Cooking neutralizes the avitin, allowing full use of the biotin. Cooked eggs are more nutritious and easier to digest, with more usable calories per egg, so our recipe calls for hard-boiled eggs. The shells are included for their calcium.

This is why I asked you about a page. Gathering from different people who are actually feeding raw and then gleaning from their experiences. I thought the info about the avitin/biotin was good to know. I have been hard boiling then now, I do crush them so they don't look like an egg to the dogs. Knuckleheads.... they will steal them right out of a nesting box. Bad dogs. My GSD is slowly gaining! up 4lbs so far!

 

[PendergrassRanch]

Really looking forward to your page.

Another BYH, I don't think she'd mind saying who she is but since I'm not sure I'll just keep it at BYHer, gave me a recipe for my GSD. My girl is a very "hard" driven worker. Weight is such an issue. I'm following the recipe and found this adjustment in one of the raw recipes. Glad I did 'cause my dogs like raw eggs but we have to be careful because we do run a poultry farm...we need the eggs! The dogs will steal eggs every chance they get!

Eggs: The original recipe for Satin Balls calls for 10 raw eggs. Apart from concerns about salmonella, raw egg white contains avitin which blocks the use of the B vitamin, biotin. While there is a lot of biotin in the egg yolk, to offset the avitin in the egg white, dogs do not digest raw eggs as well as they do cooked. Cooking neutralizes the avitin, allowing full use of the biotin. Cooked eggs are more nutritious and easier to digest, with more usable calories per egg, so our recipe calls for hard-boiled eggs. The shells are included for their calcium.

This is why I asked you about a page. Gathering from different people who are actually feeding raw and then gleaning from their experiences. I thought the info about the avitin/biotin was good to know. I have been hard boiling then now, I do crush them so they don't look like an egg to the dogs. Knuckleheads.... they will steal them right out of a nesting box. Bad dogs. My GSD is slowly gaining! up 4lbs so far!

Satin balls are AMAZING for weight gain.


Lets start with digestion, dogs can digest raw eggs perfectly well, no doubt about that. Cooking the egg "could" solve the avitin issue but it also causes the loss of very valuable nutrition as well. Sort of a catch 22.

The yolk is very high in biotin so as long as the whole egg is fed, and the eggs are not a main source in the diet, then the avitin is a non issue. Eggs are a supplement, much like green tripe. They are not meant to live off of eggs but eating a good number of eggs a week will not affect them negatively. Rather it will boost their health by leaps and bounds.

Salmonella is also a non issue. Dogs are very well equipped to handle the bacteria in a raw diet. A good example is the recent recalls of kibble due to salmonella risk to HUMANS. The food was not recalled because of a risk to the dogs because healthy dogs are not affected by salmonella. The health of the hen directly affects the health of the egg so choosing your source is most important.

The shell is also a great source and a great supplement for dogs that have a hard time eating bones. I make a mixture for my picky dog. He won't eat organs so I grind elk, organs and whole raw eggs together and freeze them. Its like a little power cube for him to get all his organs as well as a boost of calcium and fatty acids. Eggs are one of the most complete sources of amino acids and the benefits definitely greatly outweigh the risks.

 

[Southern by choice]

I don't worry about the salmonella either. I've always fed raw egg, but given our poultry issue I need to make sure the dogs don't know what it is. :/ The main business here is my poultry. I breed, and sell chicks and started pullets from 3 days old- <1yr and we sell our eggs for eating.

Right now I am pretty much adding in raw. Deer meat is what I have now, not high in fat but good for them none the less. Chicken is on the way...as I have young cockerals that need slaughtered. When hatching/selling starts in the spring there will be plenty of roos. Very few people will buy straight run. They always want pullets so that means 50% of the birds I hatch will not be sold. Food for the dogs.

I also need to be able to feed off of excess from our farm, we run a very tight bio-secure farm so I can't just go out and buy animals and bring them here for food. So I am limited, that is why they still will need commercial feed. :/

So the quest continues........ Thanks so much for your input/advice. I know not everyone will agree with the "raw" practices but oh well!
I'm glad you are willing to share your experience and knowledge.