I was at my local pet food store and they had a new case with frozen raw for dogs and cats. I have been feeding raw for some time and always keep an eye out for quality raw dog foods at a reasonable price.
Well, this new raw food comes in a frozen tube or chub, most of them are $2.55 for a 2 pound tube. Those are the Green Tripe, Ground Chicken, Ground Turkey, Ground Venison, and a few more. Others, such as a Puppy Mix, were $3.35 for a 2 pound tube, and the most expensive was $9.95 for Ground Rabbit with bone.
Here is the web site –
http://www.blueridgebeef.com/products-raw-beef-chicken.html
They have dealers in the Southeast US, and that price seems a very good value at $1.28 to $1.63 per pound for most of it. I bought a tube of the Ground Chicken, I wanted the Venison, but they were out of it.
This looks like a quality raw food, it is all ground meat and bone without fillers. Anyone ever heard of it or tried it?
Looks like a heck of a good product SGC. I wish there was a dealer near me. I am going to inquire about direct purchasing.
I had posted this on the Raw Food Websites thread too, and Jack had a good point about this food. I will post his question below and my reply --
Nice find, SGC, and I agree the prices are reasonable.
Curious, though, there is nothing in there but the chicken and bone, so it is not a complete diet. Also, they say it is only 5% fat, which is odd, because chicken is usually 20-30% fat, so I am curious if they throw the skin away??
Let us know when you get it, and thanks again for the link!
Jack
Yes, I also noticed that this food seems to be just meat and bone ground. Which is good but I agree, that is not really a complete diet.
I looked around on their web site and on the FAQ page, and found this question and reply, which I will copy & paste below –
SHOULD WE USE SUPPLEMENTS?
WELL, I DO. THESE DAYS OUR FOOD CHAIN SEEMS TO HAVE LESS AND LESS NUTRITION IN OUR FOODS, PROCESSING HAS CAUSED A LOT OF FOOD VALUE LOST, VITAMIN AND MINERALS THAT WERE PERHAPS IN THE FOOD HAVE BEEN LOST DO TO MANY MAN MADE HURRY TO THE MARKET PROCEDURES. SO YES, SUPPLEMENTS CAN BE VERY HELPFUL IN PROVIDING EXTRA ANTIOXIDANT PROTECTION AND SUPPORT FOR THE GROWING, SHOWING, AND WORKING ATHLETES WE CALL OUR FRIENDS.
They are rather vague about what needs to be supplemented.
I would think the Blue Ridge meats would need some vegetable mash added, and a multi vitamin. It’s all meat and bone so you would add what you feel is missing.
In comparison, the Nature’s Variety frozen raw has these ingredients –
Chicken –
Chicken, Raw Ground Chicken Bone, Turkey, Turkey Liver, Turkey Heart, Apples, Carrots, Butternut Squash, Ground Flaxseeds, Montmorillonite Clay
Beef –
Beef, Beef Heart, Beef Liver, Raw Ground Beef Bone, Beef Kidney, Apples, Carrots, Butternut Squash, Ground Flaxseeds, Montmorillonite Clay
Venison --
Venison, Lamb Heart, Lamb Liver, Raw Ground Lamb Bone, Apples, Carrots, Pumpkinseeds, Butternut Squash, Ground Flaxseeds, Montmorillonite Clay
So what I am seeing is you should add some vegetable matter and maybe some of the Montmorillonite clay for a more complete diet?
I also use kelp, plain yogurt, and some apple cider vinegar as supplements with any feed I use.
The Blue Ridge raw food is a good price, raw green tripe for $1.28 a pound is an excellent value.
Nature’s Variety is $12 for a 3 pound tube up here so I can certainly easily add some diced or pureed veggies to the Blue Ridge foods.
And I also wondered about the fat percentage in their Chicken as I agree, chicken is usually higher fat, and I would doubt they throw away the skin… But who knows. I guess I should write them and ask some of these questions as I would like to know more.
------------------------------
I have the Chicken and Bone ground and the Raw Green Tripe in my freezer right now and will thaw and feed it as soon as I am out of the chicken thighs I already have on hand.
To be honest, for a grown dog, I don't see much difference in this ground Chicken with bone and the chicken thighs I can buy at the store for $1.00 a pound. But the Venison and bone ground and the Raw Tripe are good values at $1.28 a pound.
This would be a great food for pups with a few things added since it has the ground bone in it for a low price.
I have been looking into this raw food and asking about it, and here is one of the responses I received --
"This is what the food co-op I'm part of uses, so I've used them a lot. The bone is HIGH - like 20%, not my preferred 10 or less. And it's just meat and bone - organ is sold separately. So the chubs aren't a complete meal plan, I still rotate in other boneless muscle and organ."
Now to me, 20% bones does not seem too high... so what is a correct ratio of meat to bone?
I remember reading something about a ratio of 40% bone to 60% meat being a good one, but that is double the above which is being called too much bone at 20%...???
I suppose I should start another thread with this question, as it is something I don't think has been discussed.
They are getting more of this Blue Ridge Beef raw food at the end of the month and I will buy some Venison. I am still using up what is in the fridge thawed before I get into the chub of chicken from them.
But from what I am reading, I like the idea of all meat and bone ground that you can customize to your own specific diet.
I have been feeding this Blue Ridge Beef raw food and I am impressed with the quality of it. I use it along with the regular grocery store chicken that I can buy from 50 cents to $1.00 a pound.
So far I have fed the Ground Venison with Bone and the Ground Chicken with Bone. The meat is nice, very clean and nothing added to it. I thaw it in the fridge and cut the tube in thirds since I want to end up with 3 servings of about 3/4 of a pound.
I added raw chicken liver and diced up raw veggies and some plain raw beef I had left over. The Ground Venison looked very good! It reminded me of the coarse ground beef I used to buy to make chili with.
I have not gotten into the raw tripe yet, I have been putting that off, as I know it stinks like hell! But the Venison is great, and I am pleased with this food so far.
I also found another list of dealers for it --
http://www.blueridgebeef.com/distributors-list.html
Good stuff at a great price!