What about using venison for making dog food?

[FarmerChick]

Catahoula
wow I checked out that breed big time. NONE near me at all to get a pup. I like that breed of dog alot.

 

[me&thegals]

I was thinking about canning. Problem is that I have a glass top stove. I'll have to research if this brand will handle the weight of the canner, jars and water - some do, other's don't. I sure didn't think about that when I bought the stove. All I saw was a really nice stove on clearance.

I do have a few cooked recipes, and my dogs have had plenty of them. But they sure do love the raw!

A couple ideas. First, don't spend the money on processing. I like the idea of cutting into chunks for the dog to "process" by itself. Really, though, it is very easy to cut meat off a deer. Awkward, perhaps, but easy.

Secondly, consider looking at steam canners. I have been using mine for probably 5+ years now and LOVE it! I have a glasstop also and was always petrified about breaking it. A steam canner uses about 1/20th the total water, so much less water, time and electricity. I have great sealage rates--probably better than water bath--lower electric bill, much more time to get the next batch done, etc.

Good luck!

 

[k15n1]

Don't waste your money getting it processed - you'll lose a lot of the meat, organs, and bone that is appropriate for dog food. For example, you can feed a whole head - all wasted if you went to a processor. With that said, don't feed brain or spine if you're in a CWD area.

Processing is super easy for dogs. Hack up everything into 1 pound or 1/2 pound pieces depending on your dogs' sizes. Feed the organs too. Cut intestines into short lengths and dump the contents. Don't try to hard to clean them. Dogs eat poop. And stomach contents of ruminants is a good source of vitamin E. Feed the bones also, they are ESSENTIAL to maintain a calcium/phosphorus balance. A dog can get very, very sick if you feed raw meat and organs without including raw bone. Weight-bearing bones are not part of the diet, but recreational chews. For safety, keep the bones wrapped - moist. When they dry out, they aren't safe for dogs to chew on anymore.

Maybe a hack saw with a coarse blade would work to cut the bones?

 

[R2D2]

If you train your dog to eat non-store bought meat from a pup, and fresh road kill, or hunted game will do. No need to waste money with a processor.You can also raise rabbits cheaply as dog food.Good luck if your trying to feed a dog wild stuff when its long used to canned /dry dog food. most will have to be pretty hungry before they will change their diet, some won't...

 

[Marianne]

My dogs have been getting raw for about a year now. Ground 'whatever' from the greyhound supply house, chicken, liver, beef neck bones..won't do pork neck bones again, both were upchucking like crazy after that. Before I had a fenced yard for them, they went down to the creek and each brought back a deer leg, so I don't anticipate any problems. I just know that I'm spending probably $100 a month or more feeding all these animals around here and I'm looking for less expensive alternatives.

I just got a call from SIL. He said processing is $75 then $0.10 per pound on top of that, depending on what you want done with it, so I'd be looking at $150!! But he said the same, don't pay for it. He'll call when he has one for me, and most of the work will be done by the time I get there.

AND to top it off, DS#1 that has been vegetarian for years just told me that he'd eat deer meat!! I'm going to have to ask him what the deal is there, I bet it's from the growth hormones, etc as to why he's vegetarian. Anyway, if we can get some chow from it too, I'm sure not going to complain!

 

[Beekissed]

If you have a sawsall and some cold weather, sawing up your deer strictly for dog purposes becomes extremely easy. Allow your deer to freeze and then saw away, store it in freezer bags in serving size chunks and then just get some out to thaw each evening for next day's meals.

This all takes very little time if you have a helper to steady your carcass.

My dog will eat every scrap except the gut and intestines...I never bother to clean those out for him. He eats the heads, hides, legs....everything.

 

[tortoise]

Don't waste your money getting it processed - you'll lose a lot of the meat, organs, and bone that is appropriate for dog food. For example, you can feed a whole head - all wasted if you went to a processor. With that said, don't feed brain or spine if you're in a CWD area.

Processing is super easy for dogs. Hack up everything into 1 pound or 1/2 pound pieces depending on your dogs' sizes. Feed the organs too. Cut intestines into short lengths and dump the contents. Don't try to hard to clean them. Dogs eat poop. And stomach contents of ruminants is a good source of vitamin E. Feed the bones also, they are ESSENTIAL to maintain a calcium/phosphorus balance. A dog can get very, very sick if you feed raw meat and organs without including raw bone. Weight-bearing bones are not part of the diet, but recreational chews. For safety, keep the bones wrapped - moist. When they dry out, they aren't safe for dogs to chew on anymore.

Maybe a hack saw with a coarse blade would work to cut the bones?

Actually a fine tooth saw would be better. You can get a bone saw blade for a hack saw. It is more like a file than a blade. Surgeons use textured wire to cut through bone. Fresh bone is quite soft and easy to cut - compared to hardwood, for example. FROZEN carcasses can be cut up fine with a saws-all. I haven't tried that one myself, but know others who have.

 

[Marianne]

And more good tips! That way I can get a small piece of bone along with their daily meat and the bone chips/dust is a good thing for them.

I forgot to add that SIL knew right away about the CWD and said not to feed the brains to the dogs. When I mentioned keeping the bones moist, he suggested putting them in a bucket of water and letting that freeze. He said we'd get it all figured out after he got the deer. He hunts every day, so he said that it could be this morning!

Now then, wrapping all this! I was going to go pick up some more freezer paper but this morning I am wondering if I could just wrap each days worth of meat/bone in grocery plastic bags? I do that when I pick up a 10# bag of leg/thigh portions for them. Then I take all the little bags, put them in another bag and pop it in the freezer. It's easy to distinguish from our meat that way. But the venison would be in the freezer much longer. I'm assuming they won't care if it's a little freezer burned later. Meat that we'll eat I'll wrap in freezer paper.

 

[the funny farm6]

Meat that we know we are going to eat quickly (loins!) We wrap in plastic wrap and then in a thick layer of news paper.

Also just a note: my uncle decided to cut his deer up a few years ago with a chainsaw. Just so you know- DID NOT WORK!!!if I remember rightly there was beer involved.

 

[Marianne]