Raw Meaty Bones? Where do you get them? What kind?

[mbc1963]

I live in a fairly urban area north of Boston, Massachusetts. I want to try giving my dog some raw meaty bones as a supplement to her diet. The best I've been able to find in my local grocer is turkey necks - only at the holidays - and they were much too big for my tiny, 20-lb dog. (Heart of a lion, but my neighbor's cat weighs more than she does!). I can't find chicken necks or backs in any local store.

 

I'm reading now that chicken legs, thighs, and wings are OK? What's you're opinion on those? Doesn't that one really sharp, pointy piece in the wing pose a choking hazard to a dog? Do any of you regularly use these pieces as part of your dog's diet?

 

I'm not ready to go entirely BARF at this point - so don't need to worry too much about the balance with organ meat, etc., and cost isn't as much of an object since I'll only be doing this several times a week.

 

And does anyone in the eastern MA area have a good source of chicken necks?

[Maralynn]

First I'd ask the grocery store if they can order a certain type. Chicken wings would also be a good RMB for that size dog - I would remove most of the skin to start with though!

 

If you can't get them local, an internet search turned up this. If you buy by the case (and have freezer storage) looks like shipping would be free for you http://reelraw.com/

 

I've fed both chicken and turkey wings without issue. The raw bone is soft enough that they digest it just fine.

[GentleLake]

My then 12 week old puppy managed to gulp down most of a chicken week whole, and he's done the same thing with chicken necks. Fortunately, he didn't have a problem with either one, but both can be choking hazards so I wouldn't recommend them for any but the very tiniest dogs unless you're sure she'll actually chew them and not just swallow them whole.

 

Chicken legs and thighs are larger and have more meat on them, so in that sense they're fine. But going with something that big you're really feeding a raw or at least partially raw meal, and as I've said here before, I don't think that's a good idea if you're doing that on a regular basis and not balancing the nutrients with some organs (plural, not just liver). That's just my opinion though.

 

If you go that rout, be sure they're not "enhanced" with added salty broth. Sodium content shouldn't be more than 75-80 [whatever unit] per serving. If they're enhanced it'll be in the hundreds of units and must be labeled in a nutritional panel and it will also say something on the pkg. (usually in very small print) abut there being added broth or "solution".

 

I'd look for things like veal, pork or lamb necks. Ask the managers at the supermarket meat counters or better yet smaller meat markets if they can order them for you. Check the Yellow Pages for meat wholesalers. Chances are in both cases you'll have to buy full cases, though, which are usually 30 or 40 pounds.

[Gideon's girl]

I use lamb, goat, pork, and calf ribs and neck bones.

[waffles]

To me, chicken wings alone (not attached to the rest of the bird) for a dog over 10 lbs is too small- two chomps and they will just swallow it which defeats the teeth cleaning purpose. Same for chicken necks, they're so tiny typically.

 

I feed raw as a main diet and use chicken quarters and split breasts for most of their bone content. Venison ribs together are nice too and necks. I sometimes can get turkey legs and turkey wings.

 

To me if you are just feeding it once a week or so you would be fine to give a partially frozen (even more gnawing opportunity) chicken split breast or chicken quarter. Depending on where you buy them they can be large (1-+lb) or smaller. A larger chicken drumstick could be an option too. You can just go to a regular grocery store or butcher for chicken. Just check the sodium as Gentlelake mentioned.

[diane allen]

Talk to the meat department at your regular grocery store about getting "odd" things like what's been recommended.

If that doesn't work, try an Asian grocery. You'd be amazed at what they have sometimes!

And of course, if you have an actual butcher shop, that would be my first stop.

 

diane

[rushdoggie]

My local Safeway sells beef rib bones meant for soup with quite a lot of meat on them fairly cheaply...we don't do chicken much (one is severely allergic) so these work well and they are hard enough to get worked on for a while but not so hard I worry about teeth breaking. Once all teh meat and the ends are chewed down I pitch them.

[gcv-border]

When you feed rib bones, are they still attached to the spine? Just one rib per 'feeding' or 2+ ribs if they are attached to the spine? Usually is there a lot of, or a little, meat attached?

 

Sorry for the newbie questions.

[waffles]

I only feed deer ribs and I feed them with three attached together still. They're thinner and pretty fragile compared to cow ribs so I feed them still attached to each other. I have never had them still attached to the spine. To me, rib slabs really don't have a lot of meat on them, but I know others consider them to be meaty.

[rushdoggie]

When you feed rib bones, are they still attached to the spine? Just one rib per 'feeding' or 2+ ribs if they are attached to the spine? Usually is there a lot of, or a little, meat attached?

 

Sorry for the newbie questions.

 

The ones I get are not, they come attached to each other so the meat is what is naturally there, I give my them to my dogs supplemental-y, so the small dogs get a small one the big dog gets 2 bigger ones.

[Gideon's girl]

If it's for a bone to chew, as a dental or behavioral benefit, I would feed just a whole beef rib, but as a meal, I feed a few lamb or goat ribs with spine attached and those have a good chunk of meat with them. For pork or beef rib meals, I add boneless meat.

[GentleLake]

Back to chicken necks, I should have added that feeding them frozen can prevent the gulping factor for a lot of dogs. I've started feeding them frozen to Wink and he's no longer gulping them whole. Plus it makes them have to chew a little longer and harder so they enjoy the chewing aspect.

 

Another thing you can do is to freeze them nested so to speak, nesting 2 or 3 (or more if needed), so that they freeze together into a larger piece and thus make it harder to gulp whole.

 

So far this is working for Wink, who's still a little smaller than Cricket (good thing; I bought a 40# case!), but it might work for her too.

[D'Elle]

I have started giving a chicken drumstick raw once a week to my 20 lb terrier. I worried at first that he might gulp it too much, as he tends to eat as fast as possible, but it took him a while to chew it up. then I worried about the bone and how it would digest, but he seemed to do fine with it. And he is very enthusiastic about it, as well! I had not thought about giving it to him partially or entirely frozen. In the summer when it is hot here that might be a great idea.

[Gideon's girl]

I cut the bony end off a drumstick for my 12lbs terrier. She need a lower bone content. It's a great size for her.

[D'Elle]

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that I skin the drumstick first and remove any fat or loose small pieces of bone.

Next, I am going to try one out on my coton. I imagine he will like it quite a bit, too.

I am not giving any raw bones to the border collies, because Jester cannot have them; they have always given him terrible diarrhea. I make sure the border collies are outside so they don't know that Digger is getting something they don't get. :-)

[GentleLake]

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that I skin the drumstick first and remove any fat or loose small pieces of bone.

 

I don't see the need to remove any loose pieces of bone.

 

First of all, even for a small dog the piece is going to be small enough for them to digest easily. Dogs' stomach acids are much stronger than humans' and can readily digest even pretty large pieces of bone without problems. Even when they chew their bony foods, it's really only to break it into somewhat smaller pieces so they don't choke on it, not really for purposes of digestion.

 

Secondly, any loose bits of bone are almost always going to be from the joint end of the bone, which has the very important cartilage attached. Cartilage is important for a dog's joint health as it contains naturally occurring glucosamine and/or chondroitin (sorry, I can't remember exactly which ATM).

 

Removing skin is a matter of whether the dog does OK with the extra fat and/or can handle the extra fat in their diets. An active dog like Cricket may benefit from the fat as long as it isn't giving her dire rears.

[mbc1963]

Thanks all for the advice!

 

A couple times I've given turkey or chicken meat, and noticed diarrhea the next day. So now I'm wondering if this is a chicken sensitivity. I've transitioned back to the chicken-free food I had been using in the fall, and she seems to be OK. Time will tell! Would love the drumstick solution, because they're easy to come by, but will avoid them for now while I try chicken-free.

[juliepoudrier]

Do you have any ethnic markets near you? Often you can find things there that you won't find in the regular grocery store.

 

If I'm shopping for the dogs at a regular grocery store (and I don't feed raw; they just occasionally get raw meaty bones or other treats), I get ribs (I just separate them with a knife--no spine attached), pork neck bones, sometimes turkey necks. If I'm traveling and know I'm going past a particular specialty pet store that carries things like organic duck necks, I'll plan to stop and make a purchase.

 

And then of course whenever I have any sheep butchered, I always have the butcher save the organs and bones for the dogs.

 

J.

[GentleLake]

A couple times I've given turkey or chicken meat, and noticed diarrhea the next day.

 

It could be a sensitivity or it could just be that she isn't used to it and hr digestive system needs to adjust to the novel foods.

 

How much chicken or turkey have you give her at a time? Was it by itself or mixed with her kibble?

 

If you want to add these foods as an adjunct on a regular basis, I'd start out with a very small piece added to her kibble. Bony might be better than just meat. It's usually pretty easy to cut off one or 2 segments from a chicken neck (I do it with kitchen shears, but you can also use a knife), and even if she doesn't chew them they're small enough that she shouldn't have a choking problem with them. Just supervise while she's eating them. Skinless necks would be best when you're trying this.