Disappointing butchers

well i finally went to a butchers for the first time ever. have a bit of a phobia about going places ive not been before, bit strange i know. Anyway explained i raw fed my dogs and usually bought from the supermarket but thought i would try the butchers as thought the meat would be better quality and cheeper hopefully (didn't mention the cheeper bit). He didn't really seem to have a lot of meat but asked anyway for a chicken £5.20 (£3 at tesco), i then asked him if he had any heart and he didn't. Thought as i had bought some chicken i could ask him if he had any bones for my dogs. He said he keeps asking for bones from his supplier but they hardly ever give him any. well that was a waste of time and gave some of the chicken to my dogs for their tea and they seemed to find it very chewy.

Try a Halal butchers - they're generally better. My butcher doesn't have any carcasses in either - they get took away before - otherwise he has to pay for them.

Have you tried a raw meat supplier?

hi, thanks don't know any halal butchers near me. did try one raw food supplier, the problem is i'm never in on their delivery dates and don't have anywhere they could leave it, as soon as my day off coincides with their delivery date i will probably order again. wasn't very impressed with the quality of the meat though (slimey chicken carcasses,smelly etc),

I'm exactly like you and i'm not very assertive so would find it virtually impossible to walk into a butchers and ask for cheap items or freebies!
Fortunately, the butcher I use was a big friend of my (at the time) boyfriend so he sorted it all out for me. I'm no longer with my boyfriend but still use the butcher and get everything for free. I'm not a massive meat eater myself but do try and buy the odd bit of fillet steak when he has it in, or pies.

I think this Xmas i'll be buying them a big pack of lager to say thanks cos they have been marvellous. It makes a big difference if your butcher is decent.

Leanne , you are so lucky. This butcher i went to today was lovely and told me lots of meat stories but he just genuinely didn't have much at all. anyway if nothing else i can be proud of myself for going in.

Meat stories???? What the Hell are those?

oh he was telling me about school kids buying hearts for their lesson as they were cutting them up, thats why he had no hearts . A teacher asking him for a pigs head so he could boil it to remove all the meat and then he would use the skull for some lesson. stories about dissecting eyes etc, lovely.

I would've fainted in his shop if he told me those!

Which supplier did you use?

i used durham animal feeds, but lots of people have good experiences with them so will probably try them once more but order different meat to last time. i wont buy chicken or beef chunks from them. just need to be in when they deliver. yes his stories were quite gruesome as he really went into detail , don't think he realised though.

Oh that's such a shame. I have 3 butchers near me. The first I went in to told me I shouldn't be feeding my dog bones and such and tried to sell me very expensive minces!! The second gave me loads of bones and a big bag of offal for £4 (lasted well over a month and just been back for more which he gave me for free this time ) and the third gives me absolutely loads of meat offcuts, chunks etc for free as long as I buy something from the shop (usually pork chops for hubbys tea ). Don't be afraid to ask around at other butchers, the worst they can say is no