Kitchen looks like a scene from Dexter! (and a ? about pork)

Gosh, my kitchen is a bloody mess after prepping raw meals after my meat market pick-up. Yuck. I am finding, however, I am getting a pretty strong stomach. Touching kidneys and liver? No problem! I do hate the smell of beef liver though.

I feel like I may have over-spent a little. $190 for 22 lbs of whole mackerel, 30 lbs of beef knuckle bones, 13 lbs of beef hearts, 11 lb of beef kidneys, 12 lbs of beef liver, 40 lbs of chicken backs, 20 lbs of chicken quarters, and 5 lbs of chicken livers. I packaged it up to get nearly a month's worth of meals for two dogs. I have a few lbs of mackerel, obviously all of the beef knuckle bones (rec bones), a couple lbs of heart, about half of the kidney, most of the beef liver, and about half of the chicken livers left. So, in a few week I will get some more chicken backs and quarters, and try a new meat, maybe some turkey necks and white meat turkey trim.

Next time I get mackerel, I am going to probably give them one fish a day. I put the little ones aside for the kitty.

So, a question regarding pork... In my neck of the woods at this place I go to, the pork is a lot less than the beef. For example, Beef hearts are $1.50 per lb vs. pork hearts for $1.20. Beef kidneys are $1.99 per lb and pork kidneys are $.86 per lb. Beef liver is $1.30 per lb and pork liver is $0.76 per lb. Is there a reason why it's cheaper? Also, Does anyone feed their dog pork tails, ears, or tongue?

WOW! Don't feed raw but can imaging the project. Did you have a furry helper?

I would tend to think beef is higher priced because of availability, there is more pork available, therefore reducing the price.... I think.

I buy both beef and pork and take turns feeding them. I have fed pork tongue and it was well accepted. Tongue is tough and chewy but it's mostly meat, so it gets a good rating from me. I have not fed ears or tails because I don't think there's as much nutritional value in those pieces versus other pieces of pork that are more meaty. I did pick up some pork tendons and fed them. My dog pretty well eats anything meat wise so she was o.k. with them, but I haven't bought them again because there didn't seem to be much nutrition for the money I spent, versus a meaty piece of pork. Ears are mostly cartilage so I don't bother wasting my money on them...I figure tails are mostly bone and my dog doesn't need any more bone because she gets pork neck bones and pork ribs and does very well eating them for her source of calcium.

I tend to weigh things out regarding how much nutrition they are going to get from the piece of meat versus the price of it. Some cuts and pieces are just too freaky for me, I can't do it, such as brains or anything like that.

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Originally Posted by POPTOP

WOW! Don't feed raw but can imaging the project. Did you have a furry helper?

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I had three!

At one point the kitten was inside the 40 lb bag of chicken backs that were on the floor as I ran out of counter space.

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Originally Posted by DuryLane

I would tend to think beef is higher priced because of availability, there is more pork available, therefore reducing the price.... I think.

I buy both beef and pork and take turns feeding them. I have fed pork tongue and it was well accepted. Tongue is tough and chewy but it's mostly meat, so it gets a good rating from me. I have not fed ears or tails because I don't think there's as much nutritional value in those pieces versus other pieces of pork that are more meaty. I did pick up some pork tendons and fed them. My dog pretty well eats anything meat wise so she was o.k. with them, but I haven't bought them again because there didn't seem to be much nutrition for the money I spent, versus a meaty piece of pork. Ears are mostly cartilage so I don't bother wasting my money on them...I figure tails are mostly bone and my dog doesn't need any more bone because she gets pork neck bones and pork ribs and does very well eating them for her source of calcium.

I tend to weigh things out regarding how much nutrition they are going to get from the piece of meat versus the price of it. Some cuts and pieces are just too freaky for me, I can't do it, such as brains or anything like that.

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Yeah, but I would like to get the best bang for my buck. I have two 100 pounders going through 4 lbs of meat per day. So, if pork is as good as beef and half the price, I'm in! Though I will probably forgo the tails and ears. They get plenty of bone in the chicken backs.

I don't know that I can do brains or eyeballs. Fish eyeballs do not bother me too much though. In fact, sorting out the fish was the easy part since it's just whole fish, no guts or blood. And they partially thaw really fast and don't stick together like chicken.

I will probably forgo purchasing lamb in bulk because it is $3-$4 per lb. But, they do have whole lamb necks so I might try that at some point when I get a big paycheck. The buffalo is pretty spendy, too. Oh, and goat and mutton are about as much as lamb.

Pork is slightly lower in protein but it does have a really good mix of EFAs.

Ha, you have a lot of meat there!

Oh so much fun! :D The trickiest part is to wash the smell off your hands!

I don't know about pork because where I live I don't want to risk feeding it. Raw pork here can be contaminated with Aujeszky's. The only option for me is to cook it, but I don't bother. I feed a variety of protein so I don't really need it.

hey guys, while we're discussing pork and other meats.....is it ok to feed raw venison and lamb? Stupid question, I know....as I've already been feeding them.

But I keep reading how toxoplasmas (IIRC) is worse or is probable in exotic meats. Pork, lamb, venison were all mentioned as possibilities for this issue.

I've already been feeding both lamb/venison without issue - but I'm leery of pork.

Pork in my neck of the woods is probably half the price of beef. I feed everything, tongues, ears, tails(although I get ox-tails)feet, lungs, gizzards, heart, hooves, I even fed bulls testicles once, Dodger loved those! But the gas was horrible, lol.

Ears, tails and feet are cartilage and good for our dogs joints. I feed them as often as I can find them.

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Originally Posted by Woofie

hey guys,least e we're discussing pork and other meats.....is it ok to feed raw venison and lamb? Stupid question, I know....as I've already been feeding them.

But I keep reading how toxoplasmas (IIRC) is worse or is probable in exotic meats. Pork, lamb, venison were all mentioned as possibilities for this issue.

I've already been feeding both lamb/venison without issue - but I'm leery of pork.

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Freeze all wild game meat at least two weeks and you are fine....IMO venison is one of the best proteins to feed. And avoid wild pork completely, but grocery store pork from the US/Canada is fine