EddieWalker
Epic Contributor
As of right now, I have 6 Akitas. The smallest girl is 92 pounds and growing. The puppy is 45 pounds and just turned 4 months old. Both boys are 120 plus. The other two girls are pretty close to 100 pounds. They eat twice a day, and I've accidentally eaten their food. It's really good!!! They also get several eggs each time they eat for extra protein. It's borderline ridiculous, but we've had dogs ranked in the Top 20 with AKC for 5 years in a row now. Our biggest boy was number 5 Akita in AKC until recently when he scared a judge real bad and was disqualified. I think he's retired now. We should not scare judges like that!!! LOL and our smallest girl is ranked number 11 right now. The other two girls are not in the same league, so they are just pets. We believe that nutrition has a huge impact in how they develop.So, how much meat are we talking here? Assuming it is a whole hog at a time, I would definitely go for a commercial or semicommercial unit. I have only used KitchenAid (home) and Hobart (commercial). Do the math on pounds per hour and see where you need to be.
I would look around for restaurant auctions, or a commercial supplier that might be able to get you a used commercial unit at a reasonable price. If you are buying new, look for NSF or ETL certification; those units will be higher quality and easier to keep clean.
FWIW: We just coarsely chop the meat for our dogs, and freeze a portion for a day or two worth, but they are larger (70lbs).
All the best,
Peter
Our goal is to use more wild hogs for feed. Last year, during the Covid lockdown, a buddy hunted my land at night with a thermal and shot 107 hogs. So far this year, he's only shot about 40. He made a dent in their numbers, but my neighbor started doing the same thing on his land this year after hearing about what was happening on my place, so he's getting quite a few too. There is an unlimited free supply of wild hogs here, I just need to start processing some of them.