MissMetal Posted February 11, 2011 (edited) · Report post hi, just wondering if pet mince from a butcher is any good?? im feeding my pup a raw diet and was just wondering if introducing some pet mince would be any good? thanks Edited February 12, 2011 by MissMetal Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
oakway Posted February 11, 2011 · Report post hi, as the title says, just wondering if pet mince from a butcher is any good??im feeding my pup a raw diet and was just wondering if introducing some pet mince would be any good? thanks I personally avoid purchasing butchers mince as it is usually so full of fat it is hard to find the meat content. I go to Leonard's Chicken and purchase chicken frames and pet chicken mince, a far better quality than the butcher. I also add dry food to the chicken mince when fed. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MissMetal Posted February 11, 2011 · Report post hi, as the title says, just wondering if pet mince from a butcher is any good??im feeding my pup a raw diet and was just wondering if introducing some pet mince would be any good? thanks I personally avoid purchasing butchers mince as it is usually so full of fat it is hard to find the meat content. I go to Leonard's Chicken and purchase chicken frames and pet chicken mince, a far better quality than the butcher. I also add dry food to the chicken mince when fed. ok great thanks for the tip Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ons Posted February 11, 2011 · Report post I'd go to Lenards too if we had one within a 5 hour drive but we sadly don't I do use pet mince from the butcher however I have chosen my butcher carefully and the one I have chosen the pet mince is not very fatty at all. It was trial and error though Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Crisovar Posted February 12, 2011 · Report post My butcher makes a lovely mince it consists of Ox cheek, lamb off cuts and heart, with no crap. I also get my minced chicken frames from him, again fresh and no crap. There are some crappy pet minces but I wouldn't wipe them all. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
smooch Posted February 12, 2011 · Report post I haven't found a decent place to buy chicken mince. what I have been doing of late is buying mince at the supermarket that is marked down at the end of the day, always manage to find some half price, get what is available and freeze it until I need it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MissMetal Posted February 12, 2011 · Report post I haven't found a decent place to buy chicken mince. what I have been doing of late is buying mince at the supermarket that is marked down at the end of the day, always manage to find some half price, get what is available and freeze it until I need it. thats what ive also done... bought regular mince when its cheap or marked down, use it straight away or freeze it if its about to go out of date. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Diva Posted February 12, 2011 · Report post Depends on the butcher, if you have a good realationship with them and don't think they'd just lie to you ask what's in it. I get one lot that is just minced chicken carcasses and another that is beef and lamb offal from one butcher and they were great. I have had it from other places and it smelled spicey when defrosted, as if they had added leftover spiced sausage mince, another that was nearly off, and a third place where it was mostly fat. Needless to say I didn't get those twice. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sandra777 Posted February 12, 2011 (edited) · Report post I haven't found a decent place to buy chicken mince. what I have been doing of late is buying mince at the supermarket that is marked down at the end of the day, always manage to find some half price, get what is available and freeze it until I need it. thats what ive also done... bought regular mince when its cheap or marked down, use it straight away or freeze it if its about to go out of date. This is human-consumption mince? If so, it is pure meat, not the meat and bone mince Lenard's does. IMO - not the right food for a dog and certainly not a puppy, but it does depend on what you feed with it. Go in to the butcher and ask them what's in the mince. A local one here has a chicken shop as part of their business and their pet mince is minced frames or minced red meat from the butcher part - they bag them separately. I asked a few pointed questions about the amount of fat (not that I mind that - I prefer my dogs to have a good amount of fat) and if they chucked the left overs at the end of the day into it (rissoles etc). They said no, I said let me smell it, there was nothing but meat in there that I could detect (so maybe one or two rissoles but nothing I personally worried about). I got one bad batch from them just before Christmas, it had obviously been kept too long. I ditched it except for a small sample, and took it back after they reopened. Replaced it with nice fresh stuff and added a couple of bags of lovely meaty bones and a carton of chicken frames for nothing. Just go and ask them, they don't bite and if you buy your own meat at the same time they're usually even more helpful ETA: snap Diva! Edited February 12, 2011 by Sandra777 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Staff'n'Toller Posted February 12, 2011 · Report post Great advice from Sandra777, often developing some customer loyalty with a local butcher is beneficial to both parties! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
smooch Posted February 12, 2011 · Report post I haven't found a decent place to buy chicken mince. what I have been doing of late is buying mince at the supermarket that is marked down at the end of the day, always manage to find some half price, get what is available and freeze it until I need it. thats what ive also done... bought regular mince when its cheap or marked down, use it straight away or freeze it if its about to go out of date. This is human-consumption mince? If so, it is pure meat, not the meat and bone mince Lenard's does. IMO - not the right food for a dog and certainly not a puppy, but it does depend on what you feed with it. Go in to the butcher and ask them what's in the mince. A local one here has a chicken shop as part of their business and their pet mince is minced frames or minced red meat from the butcher part - they bag them separately. I asked a few pointed questions about the amount of fat (not that I mind that - I prefer my dogs to have a good amount of fat) and if they chucked the left overs at the end of the day into it (rissoles etc). They said no, I said let me smell it, there was nothing but meat in there that I could detect (so maybe one or two rissoles but nothing I personally worried about). I got one bad batch from them just before Christmas, it had obviously been kept too long. I ditched it except for a small sample, and took it back after they reopened. Replaced it with nice fresh stuff and added a couple of bags of lovely meaty bones and a carton of chicken frames for nothing. Just go and ask them, they don't bite and if you buy your own meat at the same time they're usually even more helpful ETA: snap Diva! Yup human mince. I can't feed raw to Smooch, I cook the mince with added vegetables, plus he gets half a large turkey neck daily. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sandra777 Posted February 12, 2011 · Report post I can't feed raw to Smooch, I cook the mince with added vegetables, plus he gets half a large turkey neck daily. A cooked turkey neck? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
smooch Posted February 12, 2011 · Report post I can't feed raw to Smooch, I cook the mince with added vegetables, plus he gets half a large turkey neck daily. A cooked turkey neck? Sorry should have been a bit clearer, the turkey neck isn't cooked. If I give him more raw than that even a full turkey neck he will bring it all up within a few min. Have tried building him up to more raw slowly over the years but it just didn't work. He is now 10 years old. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sandra777 Posted February 12, 2011 · Report post I can't feed raw to Smooch, I cook the mince with added vegetables, plus he gets half a large turkey neck daily. A cooked turkey neck? Sorry should have been a bit clearer, the turkey neck isn't cooked. If I give him more raw than that even a full turkey neck he will bring it all up within a few min. Have tried building him up to more raw slowly over the years but it just didn't work. He is now 10 years old. Thanks for the clarification. A cooked turkey neck isn't something I'd want to see - they're bad enough raw Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Doberwatch Posted February 12, 2011 · Report post I guess the key factor is the meat v bone content of the mince. You don't want to feed just meat. Vital nutrients are in the bone. Lenards pet mince is simply chicken carcasses minced. Have used their mince for 2 years now with no issues. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MissMetal Posted February 12, 2011 · Report post he mostly gets chicken wings and other offcuts which include bone, sometimes an egg, liver, hearts etc etc. but yes occasionally (twice since ive owned him) i have given him raw mince. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tigey Posted February 15, 2011 · Report post i could be wrong, but we're pretty chatty with our Lenards manager because we have similar dog breeds, and he has told us the chicken mince is just ground up chicken carcasses what i do anyway (cos my mastiff is so freakin fussy) is cook the fat out of it. you can then see how fatty it is. would be good for a puppy though pretty sure it would have all the nutrients in there too. we mix in puppy biscuits (which he wont eat on their own) and tinned puppy food and sometimes human grade beef bought in bulk our butcher does beef mince, not sure what goes in that but the Lenards manager said that it bulked up his mastiffs way better than the chicken mince, more protein i suppose Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bulldust Posted February 15, 2011 · Report post i could be wrong, but we're pretty chatty with our Lenards manager because we have similar dog breeds, and he has told us the chicken mince is just ground up chicken carcasseswhat i do anyway (cos my mastiff is so freakin fussy) is cook the fat out of it. you can then see how fatty it is. would be good for a puppy though pretty sure it would have all the nutrients in there too. we mix in puppy biscuits (which he wont eat on their own) and tinned puppy food and sometimes human grade beef bought in bulk our butcher does beef mince, not sure what goes in that but the Lenards manager said that it bulked up his mastiffs way better than the chicken mince, more protein i suppose You dont cook your Lenards mince do you Tigey? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sandra777 Posted February 15, 2011 · Report post i could be wrong, but we're pretty chatty with our Lenards manager because we have similar dog breeds, and he has told us the chicken mince is just ground up chicken carcasses ''just'' is a good thing. Chicken frames (carcasses) are excellant dog food - wish they'd sell them whole as cheaply as they sell them minced what i do anyway (cos my mastiff is so freakin fussy) is cook the fat out of it. you can then see how fatty it is. would be good for a puppy thoughpretty sure it would have all the nutrients in there too. Please don't cook mince which has bone in it - REALLY BAD IDEA!!!! It's meant to be eaten raw, stop pandering to the dog and teach him to eat what he's given. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ravyk Posted February 15, 2011 · Report post It really depends on the butcher, like others have said. Some places are great, others are just down right horrible! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites