DIY / Home Made Raw
- RFFDMSUK
- Dec 13, 2024
- 5 min read
Updated: Apr 24
DIY Raw Feeding: Is It Cheaper Than Pre-Made Meals?
Many pet owners wonder whether DIY raw feeding is more cost-effective than purchasing pre-made raw meals. The answer largely depends on where you source your ingredients and how much value you place on the time spent preparing meals.
By carefully planning a balanced diet of red meat, white meat, and game meat, DIY feeding can be affordable and highly rewarding for your dog’s health.
What Is DIY Raw Feeding?
DIY raw feeding involves preparing meals using boneless chunks or minces and adding offal and bone to create a well-rounded diet. There are two key variations:
✔️ Whole-Prey Feeding – Feeding a whole animal to mimic a natural diet.
✔️ Franken-Prey Feeding – Combining parts from different species to simulate a whole animal.
While DIY raw feeding requires time, effort, and careful planning, it can provide flexibility in ingredient selection and cost savings if done correctly.
Steps to Start DIY Feeding
Since balancing a varied raw diet can be challenging, follow these steps to transition smoothly into DIY feeding:
Step 1: Start with Pre-Made Raw Diet
🐾 Begin with a pre-made raw diet for a few weeks or months. This helps you learn your dog’s needs and build confidence before making your own meals.
Step 2: Introduce Raw Meaty Bones
🐾 Occasionally feed raw meaty bones, then adjust the bone-to-meat ratio by offering a bone-free meal. Monitor your dog's stool consistency—if stools are white or hard, reduce bone content and balance meals accordingly.
💡 Tip: Always include organ meats in meals, such as kidney (5%) and liver (5%). While skipping organs occasionally won’t cause harm, they are essential for a balanced diet.
Step 3: Transition Slowly to DIY Feeding
🐾 Begin with DIY meals 1-2 days a week to test your dog's response. Some dogs may be picky with offal and need it minced into meat or lightly flash-fried before fully transitioning to raw.
🐾 Once confident, increase DIY meals gradually while monitoring your dog’s digestive tolerance and meal preferences.
Essential Equipment for DIY Raw Feeding
Setting up for DIY raw feeding requires proper tools to streamline meal preparation. Here are some recommended supplies (linked for reference, but not affiliated):
🛠 Must-Have Supplies
Digital kitchen scales including spare batteries
Reusable freezer bags or good Tupperware
A vacuum packer & sealing bags if space is hard to come by in your freezer
A good quality meat cleaver
Strong kitchen scissors
A method for labelling that is freezer proof
A defrosting board to help safely speed up defrosting, especially useful for those who get a little forgetful at times so may forget to get the food out ready
A freezer big enough to fulfil your DIY dreams but ensuring its energy efficiency. A full freezer is apparently more energy efficient than a partially filled one so plan in advance and rotate what you have bought. (Some freezers we have personally used are: Beko Chest Freezer, Hotpoint Chest Freezer, Hotpoint Freestanding Freezer. Please note these are only examples, RFFDMSUK do not take any responsibility for appliances or equipment purchased. Any faulty goods must be reported to the manufacturer or retailer.
🔍 Some members ask about a grinder that can handle sinew and some level of bones. The following has been recommended by a game keeper who minces bones for his dogs raw food. 📌 Meat Grinder Commercial Electric Mincer 170KG/Hr Stainless Steel Butchers Sausage Maker Cutter Burger Mince Heavy Duty Blades
Finding Affordable Ingredients for DIY Meals
Planning cost-effective DIY meals requires smart sourcing and price comparisons:
Supermarkets may offer discounted "yellow label" meats—cross-check prices with raw pet food suppliers for better deals.
Many raw pet food suppliers cater to DIY feeders. Find options locally from our Suppliers Map to locate local suppliers and save on delivery costs.
🐾 Plan ahead! A well-stocked freezer makes DIY feeding more cost-effective and ensures you rotate ingredients efficiently.
Balancing a DIY Raw Diet
To maintain proper nutrition, aim for the following meal composition:
Protein & Organ Breakdown
✔️ 70-80% meat (20% as muscle meat such as heart, trachea, and lung)
✔️ 10% bone (adjust using our Bone Calculator) - keep a check on poo to know how your dog tolerates bone by using our charts here
✔️ 5% liver (Essential unless feeding a low-purine diet—consult a nutritional expert)
✔️ 5% other secreting organs (kidney, spleen, pancreas, brain, etc.)
🔎 Recommended Nutritional Experts: 1 on 1 nutritionists
Additional Nutritional Considerations
💡 Supplementation for DIY Feeders: If not including plant matter, consider adding a general supplement:
🦴 Extra Nutrients for Joint & Gut Health
✔️ Bone broth daily – Supports digestion & joint health.
✔️ Raw eggs (2-3 times weekly) – Nutrient-rich addition.
✔️ Raw oily fish (2-3 times weekly) – Essential Omega-3s.
🛠 Adjusting Bone Content: If feeding high-bone meals, always have boneless options ready to balance stool consistency.
Liver & Copper Sensitivity
📌 Liver Feeding Guidelines
✔️ 5% of total diet should be liver (avoid exceeding this to prevent loose stools).
💡 Vitamin A Considerations
✔️ Maximum 62,500 IU per 1000 calories (rarely exceeded unless overfed excessively).
✔️ Beef liver – 135 calories per 100g (16,989 IU vitamin A).
✔️ Chicken liver – 119 calories per 100g (11,078 IU vitamin A).
🐾 Copper Sensitivity in Certain Breeds:
Bedlington Terriers struggle with copper metabolism—other breeds affected include:
✔️ Dobermans
✔️ West Highland White Terriers
✔️ Skye Terriers
✔️ Dalmatians
✔️ Labrador Retrievers
Clarifying Muscle Meat vs. Offal
🔎 Organs That Are Muscle Meat: In raw feeding, only secreting organs count as offal. Muscle-based organs such as heart, lungs, tongue, green tripe, gizzards, and trachea are classified as muscle meat.
🚨 Too Much Heart Can Cause Digestive Upset
✔️ Heart should be no more than 20% of total diet—start low and increase slowly to monitor tolerance.
💡 Tripe Sensitivity: Some dogs may react to high-histamine foods like tripe. For more information, check our Blog About Tripe.
Final Tips for DIY Raw Feeding Success
🐾 Plan & Track Progress
✔️ Use meal planning to avoid mistakes—raw feeding can take time to master, but support is available!✔️ Observe stool consistency – Adjust meals accordingly for optimal digestion.
🐾 Every Dog is Unique!
✔️ Some dogs tolerate higher or lower bone content—10% is only a guideline.
✔️ Monitor tolerance to new proteins & organs—small adjustments prevent digestive distress.
DIY raw feeding is an investment in your dog's health—with proper preparation, it can be economical, nutritious, and incredibly rewarding! 🐾✨
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