Spent Hens as Dog Food?

[fulla03]

We are trying to maximize the use of of flock start to finish. I was really hopeful that our older hens would make it to our table but there is only so much stock and soup I can make/eat. I was thinking about processing the spent hens, grinding the meat and making it into fresh dog food - think Farmer’s Dog Food style (including other nutrients, packaging it and freezing it for our use. I can’t find much info online for doing this. Is this OK? Not OK? Not worth it?

 

[saysfaa]

Yes, but no need to grind it. I rawfed my dog for a couple of years, mostly chicken. I did prey model which is 10 per cent bones, 10 percent organs, 80 per cent meat (meat being anything not bones or organs) - percentages over time. it just happens to be approximentally what a chicken consists of. Chicken bones are safe to feed if they are raw and wrapped in meat. My dog did well on it. I was part of a yahoo group that had many people who had done it for decades and/or with many dogs as well as newbies.

If you want to grind it, I think it would still work well.

 

[raingarden]

Our dog likes them raw, unplucked, running and screaming. But, he almost always gets kibble instead.

 

[Isadora]

We are trying to maximize the use of of flock start to finish. I was really hopeful that our older hens would make it to our table but there is only so much stock and soup I can make/eat. I was thinking about processing the spent hens, grinding the meat and making it into fresh dog food - think Farmer’s Dog Food style (including other nutrients, packaging it and freezing it for our use. I can’t find much info online for doing this. Is this OK? Not OK? Not worth it?

I think that's a great idea. Grinding it isn't necessary unless you're ur doh won't eat it otherwise. It would save you a lot of time to skip that step.