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But you are aware that the food that goes into dog kibble is mostly food that is graded as not suitable to go into the human food chain.
Discolored grain, too many insect parts, too many mouse hairs, parts of the meat animal that humans generally do not eat, 3D meat, peanut shells, ground up fish guts, what's left over after screening grain, dried chicken poop, things that won't get approved to feed to humans.
Occasionally (very rarely) a batch of dog food made with discolored grain kills a bunch of dogs because the discoloration is ergot or something toxic. Although dogs basically can digest most of the stuff put into dog food. Maybe people could eat it too, but it isn't considered suitable for humans.
Nobody really believes that dog kibble at 50 cents a pound contains good beef that costs $4.00 a pound. If the kibble costs 50 cents a pound, whatever has gone into it is really cheap, much less than 50 cents a pound because the price of a bag of kibble includes the packaging, shipping, profit for the manufacturer, and mark-up for the store that sells it.
Kibble at $.50 a pound???? Where do you find kibble like that?? Well, on second thought, probably the grocery store or the super cheap feed at an old-fashioned feed store.
Around where I live now, I don't see kibble in any feed store at less than 3-4 $ per pound, and very often more. However, grocery store kibble is less. But when I lived in the mid-south, I used to see kibble at feed stores, much cheaper. I'm pretty sure the primary ingredient was corn by-product.
What you say about all the by-products that can be used is exactly right, in my experience. It all contains nutrition, but we people would never eat it, short of starvation conditions, and even then some people would refuse it as food.
Kibble at $.50 a pound???? Where do you find kibble like that?? Well, on second thought, probably the grocery store or the super cheap feed at an old-fashioned feed store.
Around where I live now, I don't see kibble in any feed store at less than 3-4 $ per pound, and very often more. However, grocery store kibble is less. But when I lived in the mid-south, I used to see kibble at feed stores, much cheaper. I'm pretty sure the primary ingredient was corn by-product.
What you say about all the by-products that can be used is exactly right, in my experience. It all contains nutrition, but we people would never eat it, short of starvation conditions, and even then some people would refuse it as food.
Here Purina Dog Chow is $1/pound. Even dollar store crap isn't .50/pound.
......I don't see kibble in any feed store at less than 3-4 $ per pound......
50 pounds of Old Roy is $24.52. It would be a very rare kibble that costs $160 for a 40 pound bag ($4 a pound). Many of the good kibbles are running $2 a pound, which still does not pay for good clean muscle meat of anything but chicken, and the breast of chicken from a nice fryer is not what dog food is made out of, and you sure as heck are not buying nice duck or bison for $2 a pound.
50 pounds of Old Roy is $24.52. It would be a very rare kibble that costs $160 for a 40 pound bag ($4 a pound). Many of the good kibbles are running $2 a pound, which still does not pay for good clean muscle meat of anything but chicken, and the breast of chicken from a nice fryer is not what dog food is made out of, and you sure as heck are not buying nice duck or bison for $2 a pound.
IDK why anyone who buys that is saving money, even. The amount of 'food' the dog needs is so much higher. 6 cups for my dog as opposed to 2 of Canidae.
50 pounds of Old Roy is $24.52. It would be a very rare kibble that costs $160 for a 40 pound bag ($4 a pound). Many of the good kibbles are running $2 a pound, which still does not pay for good clean muscle meat of anything but chicken, and the breast of chicken from a nice fryer is not what dog food is made out of, and you sure as heck are not buying nice duck or bison for $2 a pound.
Ok, so I overstated the case some! And you are very right about not getting nice duck or bison for $2.00 a lb.
I know the expensiveness of some dog foods shocked me. But I've not exaggerated a whole lot, I think. And, I would never buy "Ol' Roy" or a brand like it. I would be feeding my dog kitchen scraps before I came to that. Actually, I DO feed my dogs kitchen scraps! And this is because, in my opinion, either the dog food is very expensive, especially for what you get, or the quality is so questionable, because the manufacturer has dug deep into the bin of by-products to keep the food cheap.
But I looked up some prices online. Merrick, Blue Buffalo - two common examples of "moderate" high priced kibbles - list price is $3 a pound in a 11-14 lb bag. Canidae, a well known "moderate" name - will be over $2.00 a lb for their grain-free kibble. Their "All Life Stages", with grain, is closer to $1.25 a lb, online pricing. The feed stores will have it for more.
For high end prices: Zignature - $99.99 for 27 lb. Purina Pro Veterinary, $99.00 for 25 lb. Addiction Grain-free - $99.99 for 44 lb. Those are just the first listings on the page. Here's one: Now Fresh Grain-Free, 25 lb bag - $121.53 list price (online price is still $89.99).
So you are right, in a way, only two listings on that search page are > $4 a lb.
I found "Ol' Roy Kibbles, Chunks & Chews" online from Walmart. If that is the brand you are talking about. The bag does not list ingredients, which is a sure bet that means the dog food is mostly CORN by-products, fortified with other by-products. I used to see such kibbles at the feed store when I lived in another state, but not around here. Different buying patterns, I guess.
I have a limit on by-products I will buy. I don't like processed foods for me, or for my dogs. When the "by-products" get more than one or two steps away from the original - I just can't see how there isn't something nutritional missing that we don't know about.
I'll keep your comment in mind, tho. I think I do forget that people do buy such products as "Ol' Roy".
What you say about all the by-products that can be used is exactly right, in my experience. It all contains nutrition, but we people would never eat it, short of starvation conditions, and even then some people would refuse it as food.
You know, I have to correct myself - possibly. Some waste foods are not considered fit for human consumption for good reasons. I once found a raw beef supplier (as dog food) with very cheap prices per pound of beef. He was buying the beef from an abattoir that slaughtered and cut up only cattle that could not be passed as suitable for human consumption. That means diseased cows, dead cows that died before slaughter, old dairy cattle that are pumped full of antibiotics to keep them alive and productive, etc.
I have no idea where that meat went to otherwise - and I have to wonder if it didn't become "beef-by-products" for dog food.
A farmer I know, who raises cattle, would not feed such meat to his children in starvation emergency conditions - so I wouldn't buy it for my dogs. But people do. And maybe it goes into dog food. I simply don't know - but the possibility occurred to me.
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