The American Beagler Forum

I have 3 mink farms within a couple of miles of my house. They feed there mink a mixture of mostly fish, chicken, grains, bone meal, blood meal and a powdered vitamin/mineral. The consistency of the stuff is a little thinner then cookie dough. Im going to call a farmer tommorow and ask for the exact ingredient list to post here but im thinking about trying to feed this mix to my dogs if the ingredients seem ok. Do you guys see anything that may cause issues for dogs? I found online that alot of fur farmers feed mink and fox this same feed. Its very high in fat and protein. Im thinking I could buy the stuff for around $.20/pound, as all of the ingredients are non food grade. Even if it is lacking something like beef i could suplement that into the mix after i get it from the mink farm. The good news is that they grind every other day, including weekends making it very easy to get. Im thinking about freezing the stuff in small portions and feeding it right from the freezer. Im trying to get a good diet without all the work involved in home prep.

Fish is good, only issue if it's got alot of mercury in it you don't want to feed it everyday to your dogs. I feed chicken leg quarters, olive oil, yogurt, whole egg, oatmeal to them most of the time. I shot 3 deer in archery season and grind everything I don't eat up for the dogs, save the liver and hearts also. That's what their eating right now in a mix of oatmeal, olive oil, egg, fish oil soft gel.
I buy leg quarters $25 for a 40# case. Biggest thing I see feeding only raw is dogs don't drink any water & beautiful coats. Never get rundown. I'll throw in an old banana or orange over ripe a couple times a week. Give a can of spring water tunafish once or every other week for a change. Hardly any mess to clean up just a couple dried up little turds a day.

Ok, ill ask about the mercury. Im sure they dont care as far as mink go, they only live a couple of years at the most.

when you feed yogurt do you buy the large tub from the grocery store? can you give me a general idea what percentages each ingredient is to the mix and how much you feed them a day?

1 TBS of Olive oil, 1 heaping teaspoon of plain Yogurt, 1 egg (every other day or 2 depending on their condition), 1/2 cup oatmeal(put in hot water for a few minutes to absorb and thicken), 1 fish oil soft gel, Half a leg quarter (drumstick one day/thigh with back the next)
I adjust quantities by how cold it is and how much running I'm doing. I buy a quart of plain regular fat yogurt, The big cylinder of oatmeal (1 minute, instant type) , 2 1/2 dozen eggs in a case. Deer meat I sub for the leg quarters 1/2 a pound or so. I also buy a tub of lard if you need to add some more fat the diet from cold weather extra running ect.
Summertime usually don't add oatmeal and less fat/oil. You need to give them lots of calicium to offset the protein intake via the bones and yogurt. Deer liver cutup is also nice to add and throughout the summer I'll buy a small container of chix livers everyother week lots of iron and vitamins in liver don't go crazy with the liver it's very rich.
I'm feeding 3 it seems to keep them very healthy and calmer than regular dogfood. You can change it up just realize dogs get their fuel from fat, protein rebuilds and maintains but need to offset with calcium intake. Chicken necks and backs are really cheap also and a good alternative to leg quarters.
If you fish, you can give them a whole fish bones and all. I'd cut off and of the sharp fins though. Throw in some fruit once or twice a week, banana or oranges are good (no grapes) I'll also buy a big multi vitamin canister and split it up in three put it inside alittle lard, once or twice a week to make sure they get everything they need. It's not as hard as you would think nice to have a freezer for buying bulk and fridge to thaw and keep what your feeding fresh for a few days. Check out www.JohnKoerner.org/LittleBlackBook buy his book it' is jammed with great info on feeding raw and maintaining a pack of dogs economically, well worth the read tons of money saving info from worming-breeding dogs.

I feed a raw diet as well when I can, but would be cautious of feeding whole fish. When I feed fish I filet them first. Dogs are not like cats and tend to gulp their food down especially raw. Good way for a dog to get a punctured gut or fish bone lodged in their throat, not to mention if the fish had previously swallowed a hook. I warned a buddy of mine about feeding whole fish. End result he lost a nice little male....hard way to learn a lesson! I also like to freeze the fish first and no guts are given. Fish are known to transmit tapes as well as other parasites. I worm regularly but don't want to expose them unnecessarily.

Haven't done the fish, nice to know, thanks for the info! I have fed tuna and canned mackeral once in awhile, dogs love it.

I use to know a farmer who kept a pack of deer hounds that got ran hard almost everyday. i was amazed so i asked him what food he used.His reply i make my own out the crops i grow with the only ingredient purchased was fish meal. he mixed gound soybeans corn oats all togther fed as a powder they licked up. his dogs some lived to be 17-18 years old and they looked healthy lot stamina too.

Thanks everyone for the replys, ive started feeding some outdated beef from the freezer. I could't get ahold of the mink farmer today, ill try again tomorrow. I am going to make a list of ingredients and start mixing it up. Thanks again!!

Ryan, i've got that Little Black Book here if you want to check it out. Lots of good info.

Well I talked to the mink farmer today, his mink feed is a turkey based feed. He is mixing it at about 22% fat right now and after march 15th he said he will bump it up to 26%. He sells it fresh or frozen in 50# blocks. He is getting $.35/LBS for the 50# blocks. He said i could also come get it fresh right out of the grinder. Im thinking about getting a "serving size" container and getting the food fresh and freezing it solid in small portions. I think that would make it easier then trying to safely thaw a 50# block.

That's a good deal. I'd put the grinding in gallon ziplocks you want a couple days thawed at a time. Should work out good for the dogs add a big teaspoon of yogurt in each feeding you'll be good to go.

He told me that he sells a trailer load of 50# blocks to a group of mushers every year and they feed it direct without adding anything to it.

I would like to try feeding my dogs a raw diet just to change things up now and then. Where can i get a copy of The Little Black Book?

ryan, it sounds like you have a good plan for freezing it and easy access to it you lucky duck!! I buy my raw in about 2 lb packages (looks just like hamburger packages) and I use a food scale to divide up those into individual servings as I need them. I had a dog that was thin and i brought him right back up to where he should be in a week. It was honestly jawdropping at how fast he put on the weight using the raw. I get mine from a butcher shop in illinois 2 hours from home but luckily my sister-in-law lives over there and brings it to me when i need it 50 lbs at a time. I had a gal send me a pm on how she fed it when i was asking when i first started using it. ill try to find it and send it onto you as it was very helpful and informative. my biggest question was how much to feed. I had mine on 8 ounces of raw twice a day. I also was feeding him 1/2 cup puppy chow and 1/2 cup pro plan as well night and morning. as soon as he put the weight back on I dropped him down to 4 ounces of raw night and morning and left the dry feed the same and he has been maintaining his weight well and has looked great for a while now even in these crappy sub zero days! jon