Semi Raw

[x.l.r.8]

OK I should have thought earlier but I didn't, Looking at the raw diets it mentions the cages of chickens as a good thing, it this wise to give to a kibble fed dog, reason I asked is because I just had 55 of my birds cleaned and dressed and maybe I should have kept some of the cages?. I will have more later but never thought untill it was to late, we keep chickens as they are all organic fed from day one as I am kind of trying to do things the natural way, I will be having less next year as in Ontario you cannot sell them despite them being certified, you need a liscense on top of that, (at $3.50 a bird for preperation I'll be doing it myself next year if I can bring myself to do it). So could I keep the cages and feed them to my boy? or should that be part of the whole raw thing for balance.

[Scott_B]

Id say theyd be fine, however youd want to give some meat with the cages as youd be just giving bone and the balence wouldnt be correct.

[technodoll]

you can certainly give raw chicken frames to your kibble-fed dogs, just not at the same meal and as the frames (cages) are mostly stripped of meat, they can constipate your dogs unless you balance the meal out with a bit of boneless meat (or some organ meat). some raw is better than none at all! and it will give great chewing pleasure to your dogs as well as tooth-cleaning and health benefits of live enzymes, blood-rich marrow, connective tissues, etc.

[x.l.r.8]

I should have thought earlier, they come back ready to just put in the oven so I can easily remove the breasts and wings and legs and leave some meat on (I'm not that good at carving anyhow). Oh well, next year! as I have already frozen this lot.

[erykah1310]

WOW, do i ever feel stupid...
Dont ask why I am sharing this publically, prolly just cause I am laffing my @ss off at myself right now, and perhaps others need some comic relief.

When you were talking about "cages" I thought you were talking about "cages" ( you know... that the bird may have stayed in )

I cant believe my stupidity.... I was wondering why others were alright with you feeding metal cages to your dog.

[technodoll]

erykay i am LMAO!!! thanks for the giggle!

[phoenix]

Originally Posted by x.l.r.8

Oh well, next year! as I have already frozen this lot.

maybe I'm missing something... can you not thaw them and then give them to your dogs?

[x.l.r.8]

Only in the way we eat, there's only 2 of us so 1 chicken usually gets made into 3 meals, there is only the bare bones left, we give a lot away for thanksgiving and we jsut give a lot away for thanks, a lot of people around here are just about keeping themselves above water and they take time out of there day to make sure were alright, if we need anything they will help, someone gave me a snowblower last year and when I'm away over the weekend they all make sure my drive is clear for my wife. Next year I'll have them cut into portions and give them away instead and keep the cages and wings and freeze them in suitable portion sizes. If he had to wait untill we finished a whole bird he's be waiting a long time untill his next meal. but if I have the cages seperate along with the wings I can use them. I'm sure my friends won't mind getting chicken breasts rather then a whole chicken (they are roughly 20 lb birds dressed and ready for the oven). I'm looking to get 100 chicks next spring so come this time next year it may be time to take the plunge into raw, but for the moment I'll stick with what I know.

[x.l.r.8]

My neighbour just returned my tractor and we got to exchanging veg and manure! and he mentioned he had 8 cattle-beast (cows to me) going in next week, we got to talking about the chickens and he asked if I wanted the bones from the cattle (he usually leaves them as it's not worth the bother unless he's dooing stock), i'm assuming there will be the livers and hearts as well, don't know how much I'm going to end up with or how this stuff is going to come as I've never asked before. I know the marrow will be to rich but will the smaller bones work for him, I know the bigger bones will just be a chew toy and what ever meat is on them. I just finished cutting and cooking the last of the cubed stuff we got from him for mini treats, he noticed what I was doing and couldn't believe I was giving him raw meat. I only cooked it because of storage and handling (oh! and I often have a nibble when were out if I get hungry , not recomended with kibble as it realy does taste bad ). But Riley loved both raw and cooked and it's cut up small enough (about a 1/3 of the size of a liver treat) to go a long way. He's off home to cook up a batch for his girl. So I also wondered if someone could do a quick list with animal, and next to it the boned meat that is a good choice to START with, I know as time goes on I will have a better idea but for all the animals around here that the organs/bones go to waste on I could easily aquire a garage full of frozen meat in a short period of time, i may even start off a trend with the other 16 residents of Singhampton

[technodoll]

check this out: http://www.rawfeddogs.net/Recipes

click on each "recipe" and most often you will find info on how to feed, what is edible, etc. it's an extreme way of feeding though, as a city folk with no access to a back-yard and farms for the specialty items, i can't feed most of this. but it should give you a good idea.

as a rule: anything bigger than a small goat and the bones become for chewing pleasure only, not edible per se. poultry, rabbit, fish, etc have 100% edible bones but going to pork, goat, etc only the smaller, non weight-bearing bones are ok, then the large ungulates have mostly too thick and hard bones to be consumed as part of a meal.

[x.l.r.8]

Just got three cattlebeast back, appart from the excellent steak I jsut had they also got me the toungue's the livers and the leg bones cut a little to small for my liking, I scraped the marrow out for Riley but I'm reading it's OK to let him have that too? he had one for 45 minutes untill he started breaking the bone into pieces and I took it away before he started swallowing bits of raw bone (I know it's not cooked but I'm still a scaredy pants when it comes to this kind of thing) I'll be looking at what to do with toungue as I don't think I could bring myself to eat one, I can still see the poor calf now and I remember it's toungue , real nice steak though
So are the raw leg bones alright to be eaten or only untill they start to fracture?