What about using venison for making dog food?

[Marianne]

As is typical, our lives have changed again = less income...again.

I have tried to feed the dogs 50% raw, 50% kibble. The budget doesn't always allow for that, but I try to give them something besides just kibble every day (bone broth, chicken, what ever is on sale or marked down).

Our SIL is a hunter. I'm thinking about asking him to bag a deer for us to be used primarily as dog chow (bones and meat). DH doesn't really care for venison, but I figure I can slip some into some meals and he'll eat it.

Are there any problems with feeding the dogs the vension?
Anybody have a guess as to how much processing $$ is for an average size deer? I'm not sure I could handle trying to process it myself...

AND to top it off, my freezer is pretty full (thank goodness!). It's getting colder here, below freezing most nights, up in the 40's and 50's during the day, but that should change soon, maybe by the time I actually had some venison. My plan was to take the frozen meat from the processer's, pack it into a metal trash can, then put straw bales around and on top of the trashcan for an insulating barrier. Then as our freezer empties, I could put the venison for the dogs in there.

Any thoughts, suggestions, tips, would be appreciated.

 

[hoosier]

The last I heard it was about $80 around here, but that has been a while so may have changed.

We give our dogs everything except the intestines. If you take it to the processor, there will be a lot that you won't get back. Ours even like to chew the hide off the hair. Perhaps there are people around you that process their own deer and would give you the leftovers. You could freeze them as you got them, and then store as you proposed. Also, maybe you could help process theirs and they could help you. It wouldn't seem so overwhelming that way.

 

[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.

 

[Marianne]

That's quite a bit cheaper than I thought it would be. I hope it's close to that in our area - I was thinking something like $200. So, even if I ask for bones, etc, they won't want to save them for me? Dang it....I just really hate to ask our SIL to hunt for me. He likes to bow hunt, but he recently changed jobs, now working the graveyard shift, yet trying to stay up on his days off so he can be with their little family. I know he's getting worn out, plenty of times he's running on four hours of sleep.

I just googled it and of course, venison is good for dogs. Maybe I'll call another hunter I know. Honestly, I don't mind paying for someone else to whack it up, they could even keep a lot of the good cuts. I just don't think I could do it myself (picture chubby old lady freaking out). But in the end, I need it to be really cost effective, you know? Our dogs overall health just boomed after they started getting some raw in their diets. Before that, they were on name brand kibble, but with the addition of the raw, well, it was noticeable pretty darn fast. I just can't stand the thought of having to put them on cheap kibble.

 

[pinkfox]

dogs can eat ANY meat, deer is no exception, id probbaly not give stomach (its too messy anyway) due to parisite load, but everything else absolutly!
if youve got hunters in the family ask for squirrell too, again id personally behead, skin and remove the stomach but otherwise feed it whole ad tada, meal!
another good way is to put adds on craiglist for freezer burnt meats! people throw it out once its freezer burns but its perfectly fine for dogs!
dogs can also eat otherwise "old" meat (not rancid, but certainly past the point youd personally eat it, you know the phase, you took it out to make a meal, forgot it was there untill a day too late and now arnt sure if you realy want to risk it...yup dogs can have that! even if its already got that slight odd odor to it...as long as your dogs are otherwise healthy, they can have that too!

 

[BarefootMom]

It is so easy to process- I did my first this year by myself. The average rate for processing is around $75 here.

Are you going to can it? There is a lot of people I know that can dog food with deer and other meats too. They often add veggies to it and process it.

 

[Marianne]

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!

 

[the funny farm6]

We feed the entire deer- what we don't eat, the dogs do. We also let other hunters dump their ""gut piles" on our property. They also love to chew the hooves!

If your husband doesn't like the taist of deer for the wild game taste, try soaking a few steaks in milk for a few hours or overnight. It takes the game taste out.

Also if you want to can some, try putting a beef bullion cube in the bottom of the jar, or get some beef fat- you can get at most stores or the procesers, and put a chunk of that in with your deer meat. When you eat the meat you almost can't tell it is deer. My dad hates deer but eats the meat right out of the jar.

Also don't know about where you live but here where I am, you can call the sheriffs offace and be put on the "hit list". If a deer gets hit and the person who hit it doesn't want it they go down the list. We get 2-3 from that every year. No hunting needed! Hope this helps.

 

[BarredBuff]

Welcome the funny farm6!! Nice to have you around!

 

[the funny farm6]

Haha as I was waiting for this to post, the sheriff called on my way to pick up a 4 point buck that was hit!