we still have "butchers" here in Australia. these are usually local shops, that sell meat. After they have cut up the large sides of beef, they are left with some bones. The bones you are after are the breast bone, which is usually discarded as waste, but is good for dogs. Get them to cut the bone (which is about 1 metre (about 1 yard) long), into the size that is good (mine are cut into chunks about 7.5cm (about 3 inches)) or whatever size you want. The cutting is done on a bandsaw so no effort on their behalf. The advantage is that there is no debris left for the motor mower to fling at your windows, or for insects to settle on. Even at the supermarkets there are some to be had, but find out from the meat section when they get deliveries. You will pay more at the supermarkets, but you should not pay more than necessary.
Raw bones
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I the marrow bones are from the beefs legs, they are clean white bones with the marrow still in them. The bones themselves are like kongs, they just hold the marrow…my 2 have never tried to eat the bones...they go for the soft marrow. The bones are not chewed.
Just to explain why I do this for them. -
Do you give them cut up chicken parts like Maya?
I sure do..Moses gets the biggest parts, like drumsticks, the backs or thighs, the smaller dogs gets cut in half thighs or an occasional bach, the necks etc. Otis got a little of everything, but the drumsticks made me nervous so he didn't get those..I rarely feed breast,
I usually get 10 lbs bags of legquartes for $3.90, which is a bargain, if not I order huge 30 lbs boxes of chicken backs from the poultry factory, at about $5..so even cheaper but I have more work for me with those..all that cutting. The backs are good because some the organmeat is still attached, more bang for the buck. -
This is the manufacturer I use for his raw food:
http://www.primalpetfoods.com/
They are actually quite local for you since you're in Northern CA. My local pet store carries this stuff and Kananga absolutely loves it. It was about $16-17 for a 4lbs bag of 1oz nuggets (chicken based). 1 bag lasts me about 15-16 days when I feed him raw 1 meal per day (4oz per meal), so it's not terrible expensive.
Ooh, thanks for the recommendation, Kananga. I just swung through the pet store today – the one I usually go to has the 4 pound bags at $22-$24. I can probably get it a couple bucks cheaper elsewhere. The quail, pheasant, turkey & sardine formulas look especially intriguing.
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I the marrow bones are from the beefs legs, they are clean white bones with the marrow still in them. The bones themselves are like kongs, they just hold the marrow…my 2 have never tried to eat the bones...they go for the soft marrow. The bones are not chewed.
Just to explain why I do this for them.just a small warning here for the people who give marrow bones: make sure that the hole in the bone is BIG so they can not get stuck with their jaw in it!
trust me it happens and you do not want that to happen
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Thanks for the info Marianne, she has such lovely teeth, i don't want her to break them
While we are talking about bones and raw food, i have read that you should freeze things like chicken wings first to kill any bacteria instead of just feeding them fresh ?
We have not switched to a totaly raw diet yet, just giving some chicken wings a few times a week which she loves. I hold onto them to prevent her choking.
Nerdy i'm sorry i've diversified a bit from the original topic, hope you don't mind but it sort of ties in.it is a good thing to hold on to them if they are too greedy, my ibizan pups got their first chicken wings when they were 5-6 weeks and they were so greedy that they did not even chew!!
in that case best thing is to crush the bones somewhat with a hammer before feeding them.By the way I never leave them alone with their food to be sure they do not fight over it or when they get greedy that they do not choke on their food.
When I buy the food I buy a lot in once, most food is allready portion frozen when I get it so I put it directly in the freezer, when I get it fresh like chicken carcasses I give them a meal of that right away and from the rest I make portions and freeze it. I never heard of freezing chicken before giving it, I have heard it from fresh salmon though, it is better to freeze that before giving it because of certain bacterias.
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oh and a general hint for feeding raw: make sure that over the week they eat a "complete animal" so in that case you know the right proportion of meat /bones / organs. The amount of organs ( liver, heart ,
Fresh tripe can be given 3 times a week as a complete meal.
Some people like to give veggies along with the mixes but personally I do not think it is necessary. -
Did I understand it correctly - it is okay to give raw chicken and duck bones(frozen or unfrozen) ?
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i believe the proportions are 80% muscle meat 10% bone 10% organs and you do not have to feed them that everyday, as long as it evens out over the week.
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Wizard, yes, raw poultry bones are fine and is not dangerous as the cooked ones are, I still don't let them eat in hiding, I like to see how the bones are coming along…if that makes sense, that way I can intervene if I feel it needed.
My dogs eat both chicken, duck and turkey, Otis had the luck of going with my husband to bird hunt and he would get the doves and quails if my husband had some left over, or at least all the necks and such a human might not want to eat..he loved it.Starrlamia, you are correct, you don't need a balance meal for them every day, but an overall weeks worth of meals should be balanced like 80/10/10 or so.
I very rarely give organs extra as mine gets plenty of the chicken or turkey backs, the bones they consume are also poultry type bones, the lambbones, sometimes fishbones, I give them canned mackerel, seems to be the only fish type thing they like, not raw, but OK on occasion.
I give mine pork and beef muscle meat, but never bones as they more then likely have been cut by a butchers machine and therefor sharp shards of bones are left..that can tear them up inside as well as get stuck.
They do get beef marrows and knucklebones, more like a recreational bone, once the marrow is "sucked" out or licked off, they chew on these types of bones for days/weeks, until I feel they are getting so thin and pose a potential threat to break apart in shards, I then throw them out and new bones are given out..oh happy day! -
Gizmo is loving his raw bone from the butchers experience. He has had 2 so far. The rib bone goes down nicely, and I have not seen it break into any sharp shards at all.
But I still take it away once it is down to a small enough size so that he has the whole thing in his mouth and is chewing at it with is head up high. I don't want him to get too over excited and try to swallow it.
Today I was going to mix it up by giving him a rawhide bone instead…he just sniffed it and looked at me as if saying "Where is the good stuff!?!"
