Need advice on how best to process deer for raw feeding..... - Page 1

I have seven deer that i am wanting to process (butchered)  for feeding for my GSD's. Can someone tell me the how i should have the processor cut up the meat for the dogs?  I know how i would do it if I it was for myself. It needs to be proportioned as i will be be freezing since i have seven to butcher.....thanks for all you help in advance!

Do you plan to keep any of the meat for yourself? Are they field dressed or whole?

I use a hatchet, an axe would work well to. You kinda look like jack Nickelson from the shinning but it gets the job done fast. I cut it up into setions then debone if needed and cut up into pieces. freeze and serve.
keith

The Yahoo Raw Feeding group has tons of advice on butchering animals for raw feeding- search the archive for posts by Tina Berry since she feeds venison as her primary meat source.
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/rawfeeding/

Agree with Kwolfe...for dogs, if you're not going to keep any for yourself, it doesn't much matter. I've always just hacked it up crudely with an ax or hatchet and then made smaller pieces for smaller dogs w/a game knife kit I got at the farm store. I can't stand game, so I would never eat it anyway, and the dogs don't mind a bit if you get blood all over the yard and there are bits of hair in their food. If you're not eating it, I'd save my money and process it myself, for sure. 

A friend used to hack it up in his driveway in an upscale suburb...always made me laugh, the bright blood spattered all over the snow right in the front yard. Gotta have a somewhat sick sense of humor to enjoy that one, but the irony was entertaining. 

We process all our game ourselves, even the stuff for us to eat. While the deer is hanging, we skin it & cut out what we want for ourselves. The backstraps, tenderloins for certain, & sometimes a roast or two (depends on how much meat we want for ourselves).
Once that is done, we use a hatchet to wack it into managable 1/4's & then run it through the saw to cut into meal size pieces. I don't worry about cutting the meat off the bones or separating any of it. We feed everything except for the head. Large bones are used more as fun chews, not as meals. I dehydrate the heart & liver for training treats, as the dogs will do anything for those....lol

Theres not much need for a processor for your dog food. At this point since they are at the processor, have it ground save the bones and all the lungs heart liver etc, if you ammend it with a formula for your dogs. Sawzall is my favorite. Its fast and since its for the dogs they are not interested in pretty cuts. I have heard tales of the front legs splintering so I have always avoided those. I have never heard anyone directly with splintering  and if anyone else can chime in on that issue Im always looking for fact on that.

debone it and put it thru a grinder. separate into freezer baggies (air removed) and freeze.

friend just came back from vet, her dog got a peice of raw bone stuck in its gut, so I will not suggest giving bones.

You'll pay extra to have the deer deboned, that's up to you if you don't want to do it yourself.
That's a lot of deer just for dog food, surely you eat it too, just don't waste it.

I do my own, and I seldom grind any of it up, the prime cuts I keep for myself as steaks, the rest go to the dogs but not as their primary food source, only as a supplement.
I discard the lower legs, shoulders go to the dogs whole.
Ribs, back and neck all get sectioned, small sections, you need a saw.
The processor will do anything you want for a price and he has a band saw, a handy thing to have.

I feed the heart and livers sparingly mixed with other cuts, and I never worry about deer bones, I've never had a problem with deer bones.

I sometimes tan the hides myself, but I also sometimes cut the cape, (the thickest part of the hide), into 4" strips and hang out to dry for chews.
Letting the deer hang and cool gives any parasites time to drop off before you do anything, we have plenty of ticks here in Southern Indiana.

I'd rather my dogs had a piece of meat to chew instead of woofing down ground meat but if your mixing the meat with something else it might be better ground up for that purpose, it's up to you.
I always mix, always have variety, and add all kinds of things to their food.

How many dogs are you feeding?












 

I don't think it was mentioned: Freeze in dinner sized portions (~ 2 lbs.)