Nutrition
"I am ready to eat."
Like all other areas of this web site, I only want to share what I do and how it works for me. I know there are lots of good keepers of the hounds that have excellent feeding programs, using any of a number of quality foods. If you have a good thing going, stay with it.
Quality foods are provided by many mills through out the country. Most of their labels read a lot like the next one. For years I have used an excellent feed that is available at a fair price. We have all heard the phrase, “You get what you pay for.” While this is usually true, when it comes to dog food you could be paying for and getting more than you need. When we consider human nutrition, we are concerned with the basic four food groups, vitamins, minerals, carbohydrates, proteins, fats and calories. Unlike our four legged friends, we all eat a variety of meat, potatoes, vegetables, breads and beverages to satisfy our appetite and meet out nutritional needs. In days gone by, many of our hounds depended on table scraps for their day’s rations. We now live in a day when formulated dog foods are available and designed to meet the needs of our hounds.
There are many articles on the
internet that provide a wealth of information all about dog nutrition.
You can run a search and pick from a long list. I found most articles
contain much of the same information. One article is found on the
RHO site. http://rabbithuntingonline.com/magazine/beaglehealth/nutrition.htm
This article is packed full
of good basic information and is a good example of the information found
on the internet.
My plan:
No Scraps: I never feed my hounds scraps. There is no way to keep up with what and how much each dog is getting.
Fresh Water: I always keep fresh clean water in front of my hounds. I try to keep the water buckets out of the sun. This reduces the amount of algae growth in the buckets. I wash buckets then fill them with a strong bleach solution. I pour the bleach solution into the next bucket to be washed and do not rinse the bleach residue from the bucket. I fill the clean bucket with fresh water. During the hot summer time water buckets will need to be cleaned often.
Quality Foods:
I have used Tops Dog Food for
a number of years. It is a regional brand that is manufactured by
Specialty Feeds, Inc. in Memphis, Tn.
During the off season I always
use Tops 21.
It
is 21 % Protein and 8 % Fat.
When the hounds are active and
hunting several times each week, I then use Tops 26 or Rex Dog Food.
The Tops 26 has 26 % Protein and the Rex has 25 % Protein.
Like many other companies, SFI
offers a Kennel Program that provides loyal customers with cash rebates
or other rewards. Check it out:
http://www.specialty-feeds.com/id13.html
Amount to Feed:
I feed my grown hounds once each day. I feed them 8 oz. during the
summer time. And will increase it a little when they are more active
during hunting season. I normally keep my hounds in individual kennels.
This helps me to regulate the amount they eat and to check their appearance
for weight gain or loss. If I see them start to plumb up, I will
try to increase activity and reduce the amount of feed. If they are showing
some ribs and lots of flank then I will increase their feeding.
My PUPPY plan:
NEW PUPS: Pups are born with lunch ready and available. With a little luck, you will have a good mama dog that will take care of her pups for the first weeks of their life. She will need to produce lots of quality milk to take care of a large litter of pups.
Take Care of Mama: Weeks before the pups are whelped mama will require a change in diet. A quality puppy food will provide the nutrition needed for the growth and development of the pups. The amount of food is increased and may be up to about double the normal volume the week before the pups are due.
Four or five days before the pups are due, I start giving the mama hound a product called Milk-Aid, made by Happy Jack. I follow the instructions on the container and give her Milk-Aid twice a day. I continue this until the pups are 10 days old, then decrease dosage gradually until pups are weaned. Milk-Aid helps with milk production and keeps the acid content low. I have used this product with great success for a number of years. The mama hound shown above raised 11 fine pups and I think Milk-Aid helped her to produce the large volume of milk needed.
Until the pups are weaned, the volume and quality of food provided must remain high. When the pups are three to four weeks old they are growing at a rapid rate and are putting lots of pressure on the mama. She needs lots of food and water and it is time to start the pups feeding from a pan.
Before moving on to pan feeding the pups, I want to share the steps to follow to help the mama hound dry up after the pups are weaned.
Drying
Up Mama:
As the pups get older they will
be eating more and more from the pan and will not need to nurse as much.
The last few days the pups are with the mama, they may be down to nursing
just once or twice a day. As the pressure comes off the amount of
feed offered to the mama dog can be reduced back to a normal level.
1: The first day the pups are gone, the mama hound will have a hard time. Her bag will be full of milk. To start her drying up, this day she will get no food or water. She will cry all day but she will live.
2: On the second day, she gets the water back and 1/4 her normal feed.
3: On day three, she gets 1/2 her feed.
4: On day four, she gets 3/4 her feed.
5: On day five, she gets her full feed ration.
At the end of five days her bag
will be down and in a few more days she will be dry.
pan feeding pups:
WE
LOVE TO EAT, SLEEP & POOP
When a litter of pups are three weeks old, they are ready to start eating from a pan. I always start them on a thin gruel. As they grow both in size and appetite, the volume and consistency of this gruel is increased.
GRUEL:
This gruel is a mixture of:
Powdered milk replacement for
calves
Soaked puppy kibble
Canned puppy food
Cottage cheese
Baby cereal
I get the powdered milk from my local feed store. I always mix it with hot water. This helps to dissolve the powder. When the pups are young, I keep the strength of the milk weak. As the pups mature the milk is mixed a little richer. I put all the above ingredients in a blender and make a puppy delight. I normally make enough for two or more days. I separate the gruel into containers for each feeding and then refrigerate.
When I am ready to feed, I heat the gruel in a microwave. When the pups are young, I feed only the gruel. Not too hot, not too cold, but just right. As the pups get older, the volume and consistence is increased and served over canned puppy food. I have been using canned Puppy Pedigree.
By the end of the fourth week the pups should be ready to sink their sharp little teeth into some puppy kibble. I normally provide Dry PMI Puppy Kibble along with the gruel served over canned puppy food. I prefer PMI but any quality puppy kibble is good.
Puppies should be weaned off the mama hound during their fifth week. They should start week six eating some gruel and more kibble. By the end of week eight, they should be off the gruel and eating some canned puppy food and more kibble. They should now be down to eating two or three 15 minute feeding each day. Pups should not be over fed at this point. If they are allowed to eat all the time, they tend to get a little fat and will develop a surplus of fat cells that will stay with them throughout life.
I feed pups a quality puppy kibble up until they are nine months old. Most young hounds will have attained their full growth and be ready to eat with the big dogs.
I AM A GROWING PUP. I NEED TO EAT, SLEEP, POOP AND THEN FIND TIME FOR SOME EXERCISE.