Raw and pregnancy

[FrostyPaws]

Jack, or anyone that's fed a pregnant bitch raw feed, do you just increase the entire meal content as the pregnancy lengthens?

[Officially Retired]

Yes, I just add another chicken quarter, and maybe a proportionally-increased amount of the other ingredients, and that was pretty much it.

Of course, I have very small dogs, so you might want to experiment and adjust to your own-sized bitches. I also used more oils ....

One of the things that helps keep the mama's weight up [that's easier to do in summer (than winter) where you're at] is taking the bitches off the pups in the daytime after the first week. Back when I had a lot of dogs up your way, I would always have an empty pen available so I could take the bitch off the pups and place her by herself for a while. I would do this for 4-hour stretches during the day to let them recuperate for a bit. Then I put the bitch back with her pups for 2 hours, to feed them, then take her off for 4 hours, etc., until night time. Then of course mama would overnight with the pups. I would begin the separation process again in the morning.

The older the pups got, the less time with mama. By 4 weeks, the pups were being fed raw gruel, and mama would only be in there once every 2 days to get her milk volume sucked back down to prevent mastitis. Pups were usually fully-weaned by 5 weeks.

These breaks made the mama's nutritional requirements much less than if she were with her pups, 24/7, every day, for 6 straight weeks of being perpetually suckled bone-dry without interruption. Naturally a person can only do this in warmer weather, and after the first week or so, when the pups are stronger and able to maintain their own body temperature.

Hope this helps,

Jack