# How Darwin's raw diet arrives, freezer storage, etc. (photos)



## Deacon Blues (Nov 22, 2013)

There has been a recent thread on raw diets and my Darwin's shipment came today so I thought I'd share what it looks like and what the storage requirements are, etc. I have no affiliation and this is not an ad; it's offered for informational purposes.

When I initially signed up I was concerned if I had enough freezer space and would have found this useful. Darwin's ships from facilities on both the West and East Coast. Your packaging may vary depending on your location. This is the styrofoam package Rory's food arrives in.



















Coffee mug included for scale. This is 10 weeks worth (20 lbs.) for my 7.5 lb. Havanese. This will actually last her more than that so every so often I have to call Darwin's and skip a shipment.










This is how much room it takes up in my freezer. During the original menu consult they told me the food would take up about the same amount of room as two one-gallon water jugs would, and that's accurate. (I have a frozen pizza and a frozen spaghetti dinner in my freezer . . . my dog eats a healthier diet than I do, apparently.)










She is fed 100% raw. Her baseline amount per meal is 1.8 ounces. You don't need a digital scale, and Rory may get more or less depending on her weight and activity level. Having a scale helps me reduce waste and feed her a consistent amount, which helps me adjust for treats, etc.










At this amount it costs 39¢ per meal, or 78¢ per day. As I said it takes Rory more than 10 weeks to go through 20 lbs. so this is what my freezer looks like today.










This is what works for my Hav. There are others much more learned here on Havanese nutrition.

This photo is not related, but I came across when doing this post 










Darwin's Natural Pet Products website. If you're interested they have a $14.95 trial offer with free shipping.


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## RitaandRiley (Feb 27, 2012)

This is a really good idea to post this. I use Darwin's, too. I live in NY and it always arrives frozen solid. I rotate it with canned and freeze dried and with your calculations, the Darwin's is cheaper than high quality canned. How much does Rory weigh that she eats that amount? Darwin's introductory offer is an awesome deal.


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## 31818 (Oct 29, 2014)

Deacon Blues said:


> This is 10 weeks worth (20 lbs.) for my 7.5 lb. Havanese.
> 
> At this amount it costs 39¢ per meal, or 78¢ per day. As I said it takes Rory more than 10 weeks to go through 20 lbs.


Arf, that answers my question from the other thread. I weigh 13 pounds and selected Darwin's most expensive free range option for costing information. Darwin says it will cost $2.50 a day to feed me - not complaining just clarifying. My Popi is considering going 50/50 with Honest Kitchen Preference and Darwin's. :whoo:

besos, Ricky Ricardo


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## davetgabby (Dec 29, 2007)

Cool ,,,, looks good on him and you mom.


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## davetgabby (Dec 29, 2007)

just a word of caution to anyone feeding true raw in the frozen state. This is from Primal .... It is important to only serve Primal raw foods when completely thawed. Frozen foods can be difficult for animals to digest. Never microwave any pet food. Microwaves cause the fat molecules to radically change, making fats less digestible, and ultimately they can become harmful to your pet's long-term health


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## Deacon Blues (Nov 22, 2013)

Rita, Rory weighs about 7-1/2 lbs. Dave makes an excellent point about microwaving pet food. Darwin's does provide a container, pictured below, in which to thaw their product.


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## SJ1998 (Feb 4, 2013)

Great thread. I will look into the Darwins. 

My holistic vet suggested that I take the food out of the refrigerator and let it sit for a bit also before feeding. She thinks it is better for them if a little warmer than straight out of the refrigerator. 

I feed a combo of raw (I mix up brands, mostly Primal, Orange County Raw Dog and Stella and Chewys) and Honest Kitchen Preference. What works well for me is to get out the raw from the refrigerator and let it sit while the Honest Kitchen hydrates. 

My dogs seem to do the best on the Honest Kitchen and raw combination. I used to feed raw only. I use more raw than Honest Kitchen. 

I also add raw goat milk or kefir. I alternate between the two.


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## Deacon Blues (Nov 22, 2013)

Ricky, I'm answering your question from the other raw feeding thread so not to hijack that one.



Ricky Ricardo said:


> I'm confused! The Darwin website says to figure about $2.50 per day. How do you do it for $.85 per day?


Here is the calculation for Rory at 7 lbs.

Weight 7 lbs. = 112 ounces (7 x 16)

Daily recommended feeding is 3% of body weight or 3.36 ounces. (112 x .03)

3.36 ounces divided by two feedings = 1.68 ounces in the morning, 1.68 ounces in the evening.

Price per lb. of $3.50. Each Zoologics (human-grade meats and vegetables) kind ; beef, chicken, duck, turkey are priced differently, from $2.95-$4.10 lb., but they average $3.50 on my order.

$3.50 per lb. = 22¢ per ounce (3.50/16)

1.68 ounces per feeding = 37¢ each feeding, or 74¢ per day.

74¢ per day x 7 days = $5.18 per week

74¢ per day x 30.4 days per month = $22.50 per month.

Rory is now 7.5 lbs. so is fed slightly more.

*If you are 13 lbs. based on feeding 3% of body weight your costs would look like this:*

6.24 ounces per day / $1.37 per day

3.12 ounces per meal / 69¢ per meal

$9.59 per week / $41.65 per month

*As an exercise I compared that cost to feeding Canidae Grain Free, a well-regarded dry food available at Petco and elsewhere.*

The 24 lb. bag costs $59.99 and contains 384 ounces (or 48 cups) of kibble. The recommended amount for a 13 lb. dog is one 8-ounce cup.

$59.99 divided by 48 cups is $1.25 per cup.

Canidae kibble cost per day $1.25 / cost per meal 63¢

$8.75 per week / $38.00 per month

Difference for 13 lb. dog is about $3 per month.


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## 31818 (Oct 29, 2014)

Muchas, muchas gracias Tio Gary. You are a good peoples.

su amigo, Ricky Ricardo


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## harmony (Jan 18, 2015)

Does that breakdown include shipping costs? We used to feed Luna raw until we had children. We decided to switch to other foods until the kids are old enough to not go licking the dog's food bowl , but we did intend to switch back to raw eventually.


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## Deacon Blues (Nov 22, 2013)

It does to my location. Your may vary. You can call toll-free 877-738-6325 during business hours and they can give you an exact cost to your doorstep.


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## gelbergirl (Jun 9, 2007)

Nice food pics, thanks!
Cute Rory !!!


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## boomana (Jul 9, 2015)

Thread bump since I was doing a search on Darwin's. My neighbor's mother is a vet who swears by Darwin's and told me about it a couple weeks ago. 

Situation: I have a super picky two-year-old Coton/Cavalier mix (thrown out or donated at least a couple hundred dollars of high quality food including Origen's, every flavor of Primal, Honest Kitchen, etc. etc.), and the only thing he'll eat, other than a couple-times-a-week chicken neck is Stella and Chewy's Beef, which he loves. My new Havanese pup eats it up also, though I'm pretty she'll eat anything and everything. I also have a 10-year-old-ish overweight cat I took in a few years ago after he was wandering around my job, clearly starving. He's very food obsessed and I've given in, though I've been considering changing from canned to raw to help with weight loss and general health. I wasn't thinking about freezer space, but I don't know if mine can handle food for three. I'd also been researching online and have seen more than a few negative comments about customer service as well as leaking packages. I'm still thinking of trying their sample deal. I think I'm just looking for opinions and if any more folks here can add their experience. Thanks in advance.


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## Karen Collins (Mar 21, 2013)

I use Darwins off and on and its the food that mine all do the best on. Ive dealt often with customer service and they've always been great! The packages do leak. But using the container they send solves that problem. Not a deal breaker for me.

My only complaint with raw is timing the thawing process. Too thawed its gross to handle. And too frozen its not good for the dogs. There's a tiny window that it's just right, but I usually miss it. I have been known to throw it in a pot and slightly cook it, but where's the logic in that? 

It's astonishing to me, that I never spent a fraction of the time and energy on feeding my family, that I do on feeding my dogs!


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## boomana (Jul 9, 2015)

Karen Collins said:


> I use Darwins off and on and its the food that mine all do the best on. Ive dealt often with customer service and they've always been great! The packages do leak. But using the container they send solves that problem. Not a deal breaker for me.
> 
> My only complaint with raw is timing the thawing process. Too thawed its gross to handle. And too frozen its not good for the dogs. There's a tiny window that it's just right, but I usually miss it. I have been known to throw it in a pot and slightly cook it, but where's the logic in that?


Thanks.



> It's astonishing to me, that I never spent a fraction of the time and energy on feeding my family, that I do on feeding my dogs!


How funny and true, at least for me.


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## Paulinep (Apr 23, 2015)

I just started feeding Pepper the Darwin's Natural Selections along with her re-hydrated food. She loves the raw food.


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