# How much money per pound should I expect to spend on the more novel proteins?



## LilasMom (Mar 10, 2012)

Still pretty new to raw feeding, so I don't really know what prices to expect for proteins like venison, wild boar, rabbit, etc. I have usually only bought chicken or beef so I am not sure if say, $7 dollars a pound for venison trimmings is fair or not. 

How much do you guys pay per pound for the more "novel" proteins?


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## Sprocket (Oct 4, 2011)

I don't buy anything over 2$ a lb and that's a stretch. Most of what I buy is under 1$ or free. The most expensive things I buy are beef heart, pork and kidney. Those range from 1.90$ to 1.20$


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## Chocx2 (Nov 16, 2009)

I get beef heart for 1.29, pork heart for under 1.00 Chicken, whole .81 cent a pound. Turkey necks run around 1. a pound also..Lamb is the most expensive along with goat so I'm a little short on that protein.


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## LilasMom (Mar 10, 2012)

Well I don't have access to a co op right now (membership pending), so I am spending a little bit more since I am mostly getting my meat at whole foods. I was looking at some online retailers though, but $7 a pound for trimmings was as cheap as I found online.

I might have to suck it up and go hunting with my uncle, although I don't think deer season is for a while.


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## Sprocket (Oct 4, 2011)

LilasMom said:


> Well I don't have access to a co op right now (membership pending), so I am spending a little bit more since I am mostly getting my meat at whole foods. I was looking at some online retailers though, but $7 a pound for trimmings was as cheap as I found online.
> 
> I might have to suck it up and go hunting with my uncle, although I don't think deer season is for a while.


Can't you buy from a different store other than Whole Paycheck, I mean Foods!. 

Drew and I were in there last week and we started laughing that we would never buy dog food there!

Sign up for weekly ads at grocery stores, sign up for their online coupons, go to every cheap grocery store in your area. I had been getting most of my cheap stuff at a place called "FoodMAxx". Then I discovered a "Food4Less" and their prices are actually cheaper!. Safeway and Lucky around here sometimes have GREAT prices on meat. It helps to be able to buy the entire stock load when its cheap instead of a little bit here or there.

I would never ever ever buy dog food at Wholefoods. They are just WAY up there in price.


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

i think that my costs are skewed because i do belong to a co op and we buy in bulk...

i don't get craigslist stuff nor do i go to farms, as others do.

i think your costs will be determined by what you want to feed your dogs.

we tend to get carried away....but we don't have kids....we have budgeted their food by not budgeting their food.

if i see tongue at the chinese grocer, i buy it. if i see quail, i buy it.

if i want rabbit heads for them, we buy it.

not everyone can do this.....or even wants to do this...but i have health issues that keep me home, so i obsess about our health and our dogs' health  then again, i'm a little crazy any way.

and i justify it because i don't do much in the way of travel or clothes buying..or going out.......everything we do is based on healthy nutrition for us and for the dogs....

i think if you can feed four proteins, chicken - turkey - pork - beef ...okay, five proteins...fish....then i think you're golden.

shop the sales at your supermarkets....i know in my town there are four of them that constantly have meat and fish wars.

if you can't feed organic grass fed/grass finished....spend some money on good fish oil with omega threes....and don't worry.

we do the best we can....


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## LilasMom (Mar 10, 2012)

I am like you magicre, I don't travel or shop or anything so what I do spend, I spend on food. Personally I am a foodie, and I loooove stuff like goat cheese and salami, so while my sister is like "Omg! Shoes!", I am like, "Omg! Sun-dried Tomato Pesto!" lol. 

I am just really paranoid about meat, so I try to only buy organic or if I know the source. I don't mind spending a bit more, but I don't want to be way over spending on things like venison, bison, rabbit, etc if there is a place where I can get it cheaper. Like online I see mostly in the 15-30 dollars a pound range, and I have no idea if this is sort of expensive or really expensive when it comes to more "exotic" meats, and a lot of the pet places online just have those meats ground.

BTW just a small transition update: Lila didn't like quail so I am just going to introduce pork after all. If everything goes well with pork then that will take us to a total of three proteins so far, and then try fish next.


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## GoingPostal (Sep 5, 2011)

Really depends on the area, venison here is free because everybody has it, rabbit is $2-$4 a pound, bison and lamb are crazy $7-14 a pound. duck $3-4/pound. Locally I can buy chicken, turkey, beef and pork anywhere from $1-$3 pound. I get a lot of weird meats and organs from hare today to expand my options, there's no co-ops or ethnic markets where I live unfortunately.


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

stuff's expensive online, especially when you consider the shipping costs.

three bags of rabbit heads cost a certain amount and then i paid almost the same amount in shipping.

this is the first time i ever did this, and i probably won't do it again.....

but if i didn't have my co op...my dogs wouldn't eat as well...or have as much variety and they'd be fine.....that's what is important....


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## BoxerParty (Nov 9, 2011)

LilasMom said:


> Personally I am a foodie, and I loooove stuff like goat cheese and salami, so while my sister is like "Omg! Shoes!", I am like, "Omg! Sun-dried Tomato Pesto!".


We may be twins. :biggrin:


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## tem_sat (Jun 20, 2010)

I am about an hour away from you and I buy through the San Antonio co-op. For everything except sardines, mackerel, and smelt, I average at about 80 cents per pound. I buy sardines and smelt at HEB Central Market for about $5.00 per pound and mackerel at Whole Foods for about $5.50 per pound.


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## LilasMom (Mar 10, 2012)

I signed up for the San Antonio group as well as the Austin group, I am just waiting on their approval. I would loooove to spend .80 a pound, or even a dollar.

And I didn't even think about the shipping costs of ordering online. It probably would be twice the cost.


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## Tobi (Mar 18, 2011)

We pay 3-4$ a lb for "novel" proteins, emu, ostrich, lamb, mutton, beef (nicer cuts). We also frequent a few stores in our area that are known for marking things down... ribeyes for say 3.50$ instead of 10$ because it's about to expire. unless it's got some green on things like that we eat em :heh:

Shipping costs sometimes aren't that bad. it really depends on how far it has to be freighted. There is one place I've ordered from in Tennessee and they only charged 22$ for a 75lb shipment of meats.


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

LilasMom said:


> I am like you magicre, I don't travel or shop or anything so what I do spend, I spend on food. Personally I am a foodie, and I loooove stuff like goat cheese and salami, so while my sister is like "Omg! Shoes!", I am like, "Omg! Sun-dried Tomato Pesto!" lol.
> 
> I am just really paranoid about meat, so I try to only buy organic or if I know the source. I don't mind spending a bit more, but I don't want to be way over spending on things like venison, bison, rabbit, etc if there is a place where I can get it cheaper. Like online I see mostly in the 15-30 dollars a pound range, and I have no idea if this is sort of expensive or really expensive when it comes to more "exotic" meats, and a lot of the pet places online just have those meats ground.
> 
> BTW just a small transition update: Lila didn't like quail so I am just going to introduce pork after all. If everything goes well with pork then that will take us to a total of three proteins so far, and then try fish next.


i know what you mean about being a foodie. i am one, too....it's hell on the food budget because i transferred my foodiness to my dogs...even though they would be fine on the five proteins that are much cheaper.

i think if i wanted to feed ostrich, for instance, and my pet carnivore or a place like it only carried ground...then i'd buy it and feed it with a bony meal. ostrich is pretty lean and yes, it's an exotic food.

when we have hare today orders from my co op, that's when i buy the things i can't find in grocery stores or the chinese or korean market, etc....and then i order the oddities i can't find elsewhere. but those 'buys' are not that often.....they are special buys.

i have two freezers and two smallish dogs....they eat less than a pound a day...i have leeway in my cost per pound.

wsome things are very inexpensive and others not so cheap.....when i buy rabbit i don't get it from the oriental market...even though they cost me 7 dolla. i buy them from my supermarket because i know they are from oregon, even though they are twice the money.

then again, my dogs don't get rabbit as a staple.


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

Tobi said:


> We pay 3-4$ a lb for "novel" proteins, emu, ostrich, lamb, mutton, beef (nicer cuts). We also frequent a few stores in our area that are known for marking things down... ribeyes for say 3.50$ instead of 10$ because it's about to expire. unless it's got some green on things like that we eat em :heh:
> 
> Shipping costs sometimes aren't that bad. it really depends on how far it has to be freighted. There is one place I've ordered from in Tennessee and they only charged 22$ for a 75lb shipment of meats.


do you still go to that slaughterhouse?


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## Tobi (Mar 18, 2011)

magicre said:


> do you still go to that slaughterhouse?


Yes ma'am... we are planning a little trip up there monday in fact. trachea, heart, pig heads, cow heads, maybe he'd like brains? they still want 1$ a lb but i'm going to talk them down if we have to continue to dig though buckets, and stuff and it's not hindering them in any way.


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

Tobi said:


> Yes ma'am... we are planning a little trip up there monday in fact. trachea, heart, pig heads, cow heads, maybe he'd like brains? they still want 1$ a lb but i'm going to talk them down if we have to continue to dig though buckets, and stuff and it's not hindering them in any way.


with those kinds of goodies that you get...i cannot imagine tobi not eating. i just can't.

that's like letting me loose in a french pastry shop at a dollar a pound. 

what an ungrateful wretch.


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## Tobi (Mar 18, 2011)

magicre said:


> with those kinds of goodies that you get...i cannot imagine tobi not eating. i just can't.
> 
> that's like letting me loose in a french pastry shop at a dollar a pound.
> 
> what an ungrateful wretch.


SEEEEE :lol: hence my frustration! and it took me 4 months to be able to get in with these companies, and get my permit! *shakes fist at the little white [email protected]$ [email protected]#$*


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

i totally get it. i have a malia.

she's the same way.

but remember you broke those bones and he had you all to himself....and you've spoiled him rotten which tells me that if you ever have children....well, i don't even want to go there yet...

when malia did it, i took her to the vet after she hadn't eaten in two days....because she was still getting chicken...at first, i thought she just didn't like chicken.

but by the end of the second day, we made the appt...and the vet thought she might have had a belly ache because well, dogs like people....get belly aches...so he gave her an anti nausea shot and lo and behold, she ate the next day.

then she stopped again, so she got slippery elm bark and chicken broth....because she was drinking, i did not feel the need to give her pedialyte at that time. had she gone longer, i would have.

then the heavens opened up and she ate because why? she was feeling better and she was hungry.

there's no guarantee that tobi didn't drink some water that had a bug in it...whether or not it's moving water....

there's always a chance he has a belly ache...nothing more and nothing less.

but i get the sense he is young and it's hot out and he just isn't food driven like other dogs are, like malia who eats because she's hungry, not like bubba who eats because it is orgasmic to him.


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## LilasMom (Mar 10, 2012)

Ugh I think I am going to have to just suck it up and deal with the cost, at least until I am approved by the co op and score some fresh meat. My uncle said that dove season is in september and deer season is in november, can dogs eat dove? lol probably but just making sure.


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## Tobi (Mar 18, 2011)

LilasMom said:


> Ugh I think I am going to have to just suck it up and deal with the cost, at least until I am approved by the co op and score some fresh meat. My uncle said that dove season is in september and deer season is in november, can dogs eat dove? lol probably but just making sure.


They sure can, the bones will just disintegrate in their powerful stomach acids. Venison season is fantastic! stock up then, look for any processors in your area, talk to relatives, friends of relatives, posters, craigslists etc! we got 400lbs last season, and we didn't take the full amount because we couldn't find any cheap freezers! lol some processors process amounts that would make you sick because it all goes to waste.


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## LilasMom (Mar 10, 2012)

I am sooo going to stock up. Basically free meat, and it leaves a lot extra money to spend on Christmas presents this fall! I also must get a freezer. The place I am moving into next month only has one of those small freezers that take up the top 1/3 of the fridge, less space than I have right now, and I am overflowing as it is. No room for frozen pizzas or ice cream at my place haha. 

What size of freezer would you recommend? Like how many square cubic feet should it be? I only have four small pets but there may be times when I will have to stock up on meat (like this fall!).


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## CavePaws (Jan 25, 2011)

Have you heard of Texas Tripe? Look it up online if you haven't already! There is Venison and Wild Boar available usually and it is under 2.50/lb for the Venison. The wild boar is super cheap and there is a lot of other stuff available as well. You don't have to order Texas Tripe through the co-op this month since your membership is pending. Roger/TT still delivers in Round Rock towards the end of every month since we have so many raw feeders in Austin.


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## LilasMom (Mar 10, 2012)

I had heard of it before but since I applied for the Austin co op I sort of forgot about it, but omg… so cheap! I can't believe I didn't register before, I did just in time for south delivery!

What are chicken frames?


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## Tobi (Mar 18, 2011)

LilasMom said:


> I am sooo going to stock up. Basically free meat, and it leaves a lot extra money to spend on Christmas presents this fall! I also must get a freezer. The place I am moving into next month only has one of those small freezers that take up the top 1/3 of the fridge, less space than I have right now, and I am overflowing as it is. No room for frozen pizzas or ice cream at my place haha.
> 
> What size of freezer would you recommend? Like how many square cubic feet should it be? I only have four small pets but there may be times when I will have to stock up on meat (like this fall!).


we have a 7.5 cubic foot chest freezer, http://littlehouseonthegreatflats.files.wordpress.com/2010/09/img_3160.jpg?w=468&h=311 just like this one... we can get about.. 400lbs of meat in there if my math was correct :lol:
we found ours on Craigslist, and it's working fantastically still. We only Feed our boy, he eats about a lb to 3lbs per day depending on if he feels like eating or not -_- so it works well for us. but for stocking up and saving up, we'd like to have about 4-5X the space so we can have venison year round.


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## LilasMom (Mar 10, 2012)

Great I will look for something like that, maybe bigger so I can have deer year round too.


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## LilasMom (Mar 10, 2012)

What are chicken frames?


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## Tobi (Mar 18, 2011)

LilasMom said:


> What are chicken frames?


Basically, what is leftover after all the edible (human) meat has been removed. so it would be the back, the breast bone, and the ribs.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v178/msjam/chix2.jpg

you can see the breast bone at the top, the neck would be at the left and the legs would be on the right.


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## LilasMom (Mar 10, 2012)

Okay thanks!


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## CavePaws (Jan 25, 2011)

I can say the chicken backs have more meat on them than the frames usually. I got his chicken backs during my last order and was really pleased as I wasnt expecting them to have much on them at all. There were little chicken kidneys still attached to most of them which was a plus in my book!


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## Elliehanna (Jan 16, 2012)

I wish I could get as good a deals as you all...I pay 2.99 per lb of beef heart, .70 a pound for chicken leg quarters, that is about all I feed right now, have to go 45 miles to get turkey that isn't a whole on from the grocery store, not to pork yet but I think that will run between 1.0 and 2 a pound, oh yea I can get beef steak trimmings (lots of fat) for 1.34 a pound, donno how much of that I should feed my boy as I am not sure how good it is other than he needs the fat content in general but at least it means he can get a lot of cals and not have to be fed near as much...anyhow I might start useing this one place but it involves driving 2+ hours to pick up and I would have to have a lot of freezer space to make it work (and I have a 2 month old baby so will be a bit till I can use it anyhow still)


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