Texas

[ShadowsFIAL]

wasn't all that long ago that someone had their horse, trailer and truck stolen when they went into a TSC http://main.montgomerycountypolicereporter.com/?p=61078


bad.... just...... bad.....

we were feeding a mostly raw diet.. until the neighbor's dogs killed off my rabbits.....

You were feeding a rabbit diet? How did that work for you? I am thinking about starting DH's german shepherd on a raw diet. Last night did a last minute decision and let him have a beef bone with meat on it and he went to town, no questions asked. I was cutting the meat off the bone and DH asked about it. I have heard that it has helped many dogs skin problems, as well as keeping teeth clean. What parts of the meat would you recomend I use? I know I should feed heart and liver as well.

Did you use the Give Your Dog A Bone book by Dr. Ian Billinghurst as an example to go by? Sorry for so many questions, just trying to figure everything out.

 

[yinepu]

Quote:
we fed a mix of rabbit, duck, chicken and turkey

I would grind up the bones to add to the food.. (mainly cause these knotheads would fight over the bones and swallow without chewing)
they also got all of the organs (including lungs), fat, skin (not rabbit skin though). They got most of the rabbit meat as well.

I had a flock of birds just for dog food.. scrawny birds that weren't part of any meat project... culls.. that sort of thing

Occasionally I would steal some of the meat off the birds for us.. but for the most part... that batch was "theirs"


I have spoken to a few people who will just kill the bird then toss the dead bird, head, feet, feathers and all into the kennels and let the dogs tear into the whole carcass

personally I prefer to clean it a bit.. I don't need my idiots thinking feathers taste good .. or eating a gizzard full of grit!


i still have containers of fat, skin and ground bone sitting in the freezer!

 

[TattooedKeeper3]

how about this chasing after you?






go for it.....lol.. I guess you never read my signature!

no I haven't but now I did. I love it....LOL

 

[Cockle-Dood]

i was wondering what i was gonna do with all my innards and the culls that werent suitable to eat! bet my houds would love some of that goodness!

 

[Cockle-Dood]

Question: the old wives tale of once a dog kills a chicken, or gets a taste of their blood, the dog becomes an eternal chicken killer....is this true?

 

[ShadowsFIAL]

we fed a mix of rabbit, duck, chicken and turkey

I would grind up the bones to add to the food.. (mainly cause these knotheads would fight over the bones and swallow without chewing)
they also got all of the organs (including lungs), fat, skin (not rabbit skin though). They got most of the rabbit meat as well.

I had a flock of birds just for dog food.. scrawny birds that weren't part of any meat project... culls.. that sort of thing

Occasionally I would steal some of the meat off the birds for us.. but for the most part... that batch was "theirs"


I have spoken to a few people who will just kill the bird then toss the dead bird, head, feet, feathers and all into the kennels and let the dogs tear into the whole carcass

personally I prefer to clean it a bit.. I don't need my idiots thinking feathers taste good .. or eating a gizzard full of grit!


i still have containers of fat, skin and ground bone sitting in the freezer!

I might do that for Weiss then. The chicks I decide I don't want to keep later on grow for dog food... This will take some planning. So you pluck all the feathers, do you take the head and feet off as well? Do you take out the intestines? I imagine you leave all of the other organs aside from the gizard? This seems like a good idea to me. I might need to try and get some meat birds added to my order and talk to DH about it. Might talk to him about raising rabbits too. I could learn to tan the pelts and the dog gets to eat the meat! Flemish giants, here I come! Next time my uncle gets a deer, I am going to ask for the bones and organs.

I could even pick up free roosters couldn't I?

 

[yinepu]

Question: the old wives tale of once a dog kills a chicken, or gets a taste of their blood, the dog becomes an eternal chicken killer....is this true?

it's the thrill of the chase that hooks them.. not the taste of blood
one of my LGDs will lay with the birds all day long and never touch one.. but as soon as we butcher birds she's standing there wagging her tail looking for a piece of liver or the heart. She LOVES the meat.. but she would never think of killing her "babies"

One of the cattle dogs is another matter. She's fine so long as the birds are where they belong.. but if a bird escapes and is out and about in the yard it's game on.. she tries to herd it.. then chase it.. the prey drive is very strong with her breeding.. and if she manages to CATCH the bird.. well.. you better be faster than she is.. So long as the bird stays where it belongs she's fine and will ignore them

Quote:
yup.. free roosters.. old worn out layer hens.. free ducks.. you name it.. just make sure the free birds never ever come in contact with your flock (risk of birds spreading disease to your birds) so quarantine them if you won't be butchering them for a few days

we pluck the birds and wash them off.. I prefer to gut them because i am parting them out anyway.. other people don't bother (and my dachshund has decided that smelly guts are fun to roll in...

)

I remove the heads because I want the skulls!
I grind up the feet along with the bones.. but with one dog you shouldn't have an issue with him trying to inhale the bird before someone else does so depending on how much he will eat at a time you can cut off the feet for later or leave them on

My aunt started me on using the extra birds for dog food.. the thing she does differently is that once she kills and plucks.. she rinses them with vinegar and water or lemon juice and water.. so it doesn't smell as much like "chicken"... I never saw where that matters.. but she swears by it

 

[yinepu]

i was wondering what i was gonna do with all my innards and the culls that werent suitable to eat! bet my houds would love some of that goodness!

yup.. and pet snakes and certain lizard types love those splay legged chicks or quail culls!


I knew a guy who had falcons and owls (yes, he was licensed).. he raised chickens and rabbits just for his birds to eat

 

[Cockle-Dood]

yup.. and pet snakes and certain lizard types love those splay legged chicks or quail culls!


I knew a guy who had falcons and owls (yes, he was licensed).. he raised chickens and rabbits just for his birds to eat

good to know! so you just grind it into almost like a chum for sharks? or am i just imagining it being gooier than it really is?

Yukon Men has me picturing the slop they feed their sled dogs from their fish! lol!

 

[yinepu]

Quote:
I grind up the bones (and feet) fat, skin.. and if I feel like it I toss the meat in there too... it just makes life easier when feeding multiple dogs

with just one dog you don't even need to grind the bones.. whole raw chicken bones are fine.. the problem comes when they are cooked ... cooking will cause them to splinter. BUT you can also grind up cooked bones to make them safer..

as a note: you really don't want to add more bone to the meat then there is in the bird.. otherwise you can throw off the calcium ratio in the food.