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Is this a balanced diet? (mixed with small amt of high quality kibble)

This is the place to share your best homemade dog food and treat recipes with each other! Remember to use caution if your pet has allergies and to make any diet changes gradually so that your dog's stomach can adjust to the new foods you are introducing.

  


Member Since
01/23/2009		 
 
Barked: Sun May 20, '12 4:29pm PST 
I occasionally cook up this concoction for my dogs to mix with their kibble:
1 1b ground beef, 1 lb ground turkey, chicken livers or sometimes beef liver, some type fish(mackerel, salmon), rolled oats or brown rice, sometimes sweet potatoes, olive oil, fish oil and/or flaxseed oil, spinach, broccoli, eggs, blueberries, garlic, with usually a dose of turmeric, fennel seeds & a dash of cinnamon. (after blending it all together my husband calls it Soylent Green - for you older guys like us who remember the movie-cause that's what is looks like- but all the dogs absolutely love it) If I cut out the kibble what should I add for a complete diet?
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Maxwell

I'm triple- superior MAD- now!		 
 
Barked: Sun May 20, '12 4:47pm PST 
Sounds like great stuff. Aside from the fish it probably would smell pretty good too.

Calcium at ~900 mg per pound of food is the first and most important thing. Bone meal is easiest as the phosphorus in it is an essential nutrient but many use powdered egg shell at 1/2 tsp per pound of food.

Proportions are important. Keep meaty content [meat/organ/fish/egg/dairy]to at least 50 and preferably 75% of the diet and have no more than 5% of that be liver, including it as about 1.5 ounces of each pound of meaty stuff. Generally it is super easy to get enough iron into the diet and overfeeding beef or lamb liver provides too much vitamin A and copper but zinc is a toughie. Feeding as much red meat as you can afford is a great start or including a very small amount of oysters in the diet works too, about 1/2 of the liver in the food would balance the diet for Max as he gets a lot of beef. Poor guy is currently getting a nasty supplement however.
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Member Since
01/23/2009		 
 
Barked: Mon May 21, '12 5:51am PST 
Thanks for reply. Will try the egg shells. Do you just grind up the uncooked shells? Never thought of oysters either - probably because I don't like them! Yes I worry about too much liver since I've heard shouldn't feed dogs a lot of organ meats but chicken livers are so cheap I like to include a lb at least (Kroger sells them for under $1.00) Also, all my dogs are older & do get supplements daily of glucosamine/chondroitin/msm and ester C.
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Maxwell

I'm triple- superior MAD- now!		 
 
Barked: Mon May 21, '12 8:49am PST 
You can powder raw egg shell but they powder easier if you bake or microwave them until they are crispy. I sacrificed the coffee grinder to this, a pestle and mortar can work as well.
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