Homemade recipes for animals?

[Poler]

Does anyone know of any homemade recipes for chicken crumbles, dog food, or anything of the sort? Just curious, because if its possible or cheaper to make your own animal feed, you could really cut some money out from buying it at the store.

Thanks
Jacob

 

[Poler]

anyone?

 

[FarmerChick]

HI
sorry no help here. I barely have time to cook for the people in the household....LOL...just no time to prep for dog food etc.

My sister in law used to make dog biscuits. Not sure how, but if you google and search this I am sure there are tons of receipes on the internet.

I have 2 dogs and they get whatever dried dog food is on sale and cheapest and maybe I split a can of cheap wet food. And of course tons of leftovers from the fridge added...so they make out very well.

best of luck hunting down some recipes.

 

[robbobbin]

I have a complete cookbook for dog recipes. It has nice full color pictures of each finished recipe and I swear they all look good enough to eat myself. They also contain natural ingrediants, so I could eat them but don'. lol

I'm at work now-the cookbook is at home, and I can not remember the title for the life of me. Will check when I get home.

Hey check this site out.
http://www.thepoop.com/pooppantry/

for some good ideas.

 

[patandchickens]

Does anyone know of any homemade recipes for chicken crumbles, dog food, or anything of the sort? Just curious, because if its possible or cheaper to make your own animal feed, you could really cut some money out from buying it at the store.

You're very, very UNlikely to be able to make a comparable product for less money. Two exceptions: if you're comparing to high-end boutique-y style pet items where there is a high 'yuppie factor' markup; or if you are satisfied with a very simple 'primitive' low end product, like if you happen to have a very cheap source for chicken feed ingredients.

On the whole, though, you can't compete financially with companies that can purchase in vast quantities for prices massively lower than you'll ever have access to.

Mind, what you CAN compete with or exceed them in is *quality*

Another consideration with feeds is how you feel about the whole nutritional-adequacy issue. Homemade rations can be made with much higher quality ingredients and fewer potentially problematic additives; but it is a bit more of a gamble in terms of not having deficiencies of unexpected vitamins, minerals etc. I'm not saying that people shouldn't do it, I'm just saying, you need to bear in mind the uncertainties of an unanalyzed ration.

JMO,

Pat

 

[FarmerChick]

that's a good point Pat
balanced diet...do we know what it truly is for dogs and can we make it homemade?

 

[Cassandra]

I have been trying to decide what I can supplement my girls regular laying rations with. Like wondering if I mix in a little cooked rice or noodles and some eggs/shells, and left over veggies (which they get anyway) ... if the would save me buying feed so often.

Cassandra

 

[patandchickens]

I have been trying to decide what I can supplement my girls regular laying rations with. Like wondering if I mix in a little cooked rice or noodles and some eggs/shells, and left over veggies (which they get anyway) ... if the would save me buying feed so often.

Sure, of course! It will not save you *lots* of feed (not without a fair likelihood of running into nutritional imbalance issues and resulting poor performance from the chickens), but *some*. Heck, to me a large part of the POINT of having chickens is that they convert things that I can't/won't eat into things (eggs) that I will

Veggies and fruits are probably better for them than processed starches such as white rice or noodles. Bugs and meat scraps are good for them too. Weeds, except toxic ones. Obviously you want to acquaint yourself with the list of what's NOT good for them.

The best way to minimize the chances of significant nutritional imbalance is to not feed too much of any one thing, at least not for more than a day or two.

And of course, the more they are depending on food *other than* commercial layer ration, the more important to have a calcium source available free choice -- dried crushed eggshells and/or oystershell.

JMO,

Pat

 

[CityChook]

I have a black lab who gets home-made liver treats. My husband calls them doggie crack.

I get a processed, pastured hog once a year and I always ask for the liver to be included. Seems that pork liver must not be very popular as I often receive 3-4 at a time...

Puree the raw liver (about 1 lb) in your food processor. You'll need to cut it into smaller pieces first (like 2x2 or so). Try not to throw up.

Add to liver mixture:
1 cup flour
1 cup corn meal or wheat germ
3-4 cloves minced garlic (you could probably use garlic powder as well)
1 T veg. oil or lard

Spread the puree'd mixture on a cookie sheet and bake at 350 for 25 minutes. If you line the pan with wax paper, foil or a silpat pad first, it will be easier to remove the liver from the pan. Turn the "slab" out onto the counter and cut into serving size pieces. I keep a tupperware in the fridge with treats and freeze the remaining. Zoe will eat them frozen - she loves them so much.

I had a friend over once who found them in the fridge and ate one before I could stop him. He said that they "needed salt" but otherwise were very edible. Oh man...

 

[FarmerChick]

HA HA HA
I had a friend over once who found them in the fridge and ate one before I could stop him. He said that they "needed salt" but otherwise were very edible. Oh man...

********now I would have loved to see him chewing on that..HA HA


We process 1 hog per week---I have tons of livers I give to the processor...he makes livermush with it. I just can't use that many but this is a good outlet for it definitely!
thanks, I never thought of doggie treats with it!!