Dog Food storage Question's

[RobertJ]

How much extra Dog food dose everyone store? My shepard goes through 22 plus pounds of dry every 12 days or so, hes 1 year old. He also go through about 2 1/2 cans of canned food a week.

I have his food stored in 5 gal buckets for his every day food. Should I use Mylar for the stored stuff? with O2 absorbers? I also plan on putting up several cases of canned and just rotate.

I have not thought much into this area of preping and would Like some insite from those of you that have BTDT, thanks:cool:

[1Admin]

Waste to use mylar and absorbers for this because of the high fat and oil content you need to just rotate it every 2-3 years.

The top couple inches will likely be WHITE after a couple years. Pitch that out if your finicky or the dog is finicky. Ours eat it but not a whole lot when you divide it among 3-4 dogs.

[1Admin]

Also a great way to rotate your bulk oil is to pour it on dry dog food. After a couple years it goes rancid and is nasty to use with cooking. You could use it for lighting, fires, lubrication, etc. or pour it on the dry dog food.

Great in the wintertime for their coat and helps them bulk up- just like fried food makes people fat- lots of calories in oils.

[eeyore]

So the rancid cooking oil does not effect the dog? But the rancid oil in the dog food makes it uneatable?

This would be a great tip thanks

[1Admin]

LOL. Neither the old oil or the "white" top layer of the dry dog food effect my dogs in any way I can tell. They are outside dogs so I don't get to look at every stool. They also get a lot of armadillos they catch- watched the oldest Shepherd kill one by closing jaws around it and slowly but repeatedly closing her jar around it. She's learned not to let it out of her mouth till it's surely dead.

They try to catch squirrels, not sure if they have. They get some offal from our butchering, etc.

As to the oil on the dog food, it's probably 2-4 ounces poured over a 5 gallon bucket that's half full. So it's not like their food is really drowned in it or anything.

I can see the difference in their winter coats and they usually bulk up a bit when it gets to this time of year. They are outside year round so they need it IMO.

[goatlady]

Doesn't matter how much dog kibble you store it WILL run out. Better to start now finding and using alternatives like road kill and making 22 gal pots of dog food using your people long-term preps. LOTS of sites with lots of recipes out there including recipes for crunchy biscuits made with whole grains which "can" be broken into kibble feed.

[Grinnan Barrett]

We use BRUTE Barrels and rotate the products like we do our own food supply. Keep it in bags inside the barrels as added barrier against vermin and insects.

[eeyore]

Got this from the original SF site in 2006 (posted by 230gr)

Post EOTWAWKI Dog Food
Dry dog foods will go rancid because of it fat content. If you would place them in metal foil Mylar bags with oxygen absorbers, they should be good for 5 years or longer at 70F but eventually your supply will run out. In a post EOTWAWKI situation, where meat will be scarce and table scraps, possibly, scarcer, you may need to make your own fog food based on Vegetarian dog foods recipes.

Remember that dogs have a shorter digestive tract than humans, and may not cope so well with large quantities of fibrous foods. However, they do need their share of roughage (vegetables, bran, whole grain cereals, raw fruit). Cooking fibrous vegetables (such as carrot, cauliflower, cabbage and cauliflower) (15 minutes at boiling) breaks down the fibers, reducing the roughage value and making them more digestible but too much cooking destroys some vitamins, especially thiamine. Crude fiber fills the gut to reduce feelings of hunger, and stimulates defecation, so some grated or chopped raw vegetables are useful in the diet. Boiling soybean meal, ground corn, rice, wheat meal, potatoes and peas also makes them more readily digestible for dogs. Note: No onions should b fed to dogs.

Protein
Best sources: soy beans, pulses (lentils, beans, split peas), whole grain cereals, sunflower seeds, nuts (except chestnuts). A good balance of amino acids can be achieved by feeding pulses and cereals together at one meal.
Fats and Oils
Oily Seed and Nuts, especially sunflower seed, corn , linseed, & soy beans.
Carbohydrates
Cereals, chestnuts, pulses, pears, dried fruit (not raisins), potatoes (The starch in potatoes can cause diarrhoea in some dogs). Carbohydrates are unlikely to be in short supply in the average varied diet.
Vitamins
Vitamin A: (as the precursor carotene) - carrots and green vegetables (In dogs, carotene has about half the nutritional value of actual vitamin A).
Vitamin D: (As its precursor, which is converted by sunlight on the animal's skin to vitamin D) - green leafy vegetables, cereal germ, yeast.
Vitamin E: green leafy vegetables eg cabbage, spinach, curly kale, lettuce.
Vitamin K: Green leafy vegetables.
B-complex vitamins: Yeast, whole cereals, various vegetables, nuts. Easily destroyed by cooking.
Vitamin C: Fresh sprouts, curly kale, blackcurrants, rose hip, cauliflower, broccoli, cabbage,
Note: Vitamin C is not normally essential for dogs as they synthesize their own. However, some researchers suggest that vitamin C synthesis in dogs may be inadequate on a low protein diet.
Minerals
Calcium: Good source: powered egg shells. Fair: cucumbers, beans, kale, lettuce, cauliflower, endive,
Phytic acid in wheat may also reduce calcium absorption. Soaking grains overnight is believed to activate enzymes which break down the phytic acid. Vitamin D is essential for calcium absorption.
Iron: spinach, various fruits, vegetables, nuts, whole cereals.
Iodine: whole grain rye and wheat, lettuce.

Animal offal should be added to the foods diet when available. To increase digestibility and protect from diseases, intestines, fish & bird heads, and even raw skins can be boiled until the small bones soften and tendons mush before feeding it to your animals. Use it to flavor you usual cereal and vegetable rations. If you have more used cooking grease than you need for soap, add that too in small amounts.
Since your dog has been brought up on a high meat diet, the changeover to a vegetarian diet should be done as gradually as possible.

[Klayton]

Less we forget, dogs are carnivores, we force them to eat "dog food" because well, we are lazy. :)
SHTF your dog will be better fed by throwing him some real meat everyday. :)

Even better feed him the parts we dont like because we have become "too civilized": heart, liver, etc of our latest hunting kill... :)

[RobertJ]

Thanks everyone. Lots to gleen here :cool:
Silver is a good forager... lizards,snakes,moles,etc. I think a cat once (was not one of ours) and sticks and leaves, havent figured that one out. Not enough for him to survive on but he dose a good job "hunting". Its interisting watching him do this.Still a lot of puppy in him.
I especially like the uses for rotated oils. I used to give to the local food banks before experation dates but now have some other options, Thanks again.

[RobertJ]

eeyore,
I appriciate you saving and sharing that old post. Printed and put into the just now being made Dog binder.

[Matt In Oklahoma]

Shelf Reliance sells vacum packed dog food now. It's good for 5yrs. Dunno if that helps or not. I got some for the storm shelter.

[eeyore]

Thanks Matt, it definitely fits into that gap between when it Badtimes happen and when we revert back to a simpler way of life or goes back to normal. While not a lot, i can see how it could be useful, as a stop gap

http://www.shelfreliance.com/dog-food.html

[RobertJ]

Thanks Matt... dose not hurt to have some of that stashed away either. As Shreck said... "Layers" Like an onion.

[Matt In Oklahoma]

As Shreck said... "Layers" Like an onion.

hahahahha oh man, shreck, oh i needed a good laugh, been a depressing day, may post on it later but thats good using shreck here of all places