Dogfish Posted July 4, 2007 Share Posted July 4, 2007 Just want to know if they are ok to fed to our nearly 5 month old Airedale. We give her chicken necks and she loves them but I am a bit concerned about the long bone in the leg. What is the verdict? Dogfish Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cavNrott Posted July 4, 2007 Share Posted July 4, 2007 Many years ago when I first started feeding BARF I posed this question to Dr Billinghurst. He suggested frames, wings and necks but no weight bearing bones as they are more likely to splinter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dogfish Posted July 4, 2007 Author Share Posted July 4, 2007 Thanks for the quick response cavNrott. Makes sense. Suppose we will have to eat the legs ourselves. Dogfish Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poodle wrangler Posted July 4, 2007 Share Posted July 4, 2007 I reckon you got an expert answer. I have fed chicken thighs before without incident, but why risk it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
espinay2 Posted July 4, 2007 Share Posted July 4, 2007 I frequently feed legs, or in fact whole/half chickens. Those chickens are only about 10 to 15 weeks old and comparatively speaking even the leg bones are not that hard. Weight bearing bones of animals like sheep and cattle are a lot lot harder and I agree they should generally be avoided. The bone in a chicken leg though is going to be a lot softer than a lamb neck for example. You may want to start off with wings and frames if you haven't fed them before, but any part of the chicken is fine IMO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
busiboy Posted July 5, 2007 Share Posted July 5, 2007 I regluarly feed my ones a varity of bones, the larger weight bearing bones of cattle etc, but these i get split down the middle by the butcher, once the marrow and the cartlidge is gone the dogs seem to be done and I throw them out. whole chicken frames, wings the lot, depends on teh size of your dog too, how they eat etc. mine woof most food down but take thier time and chew well with bones. Generally I keep the legs myself anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cavNrott Posted July 5, 2007 Share Posted July 5, 2007 Large cattle weight bearing bones are unlikely to splinter because they are so hard....and big. However I was advised never to have a large bone split down the length of the bone due to the fact that the dog may be able to break small pieces off and they can get stuck in the intestines and they are basically indigestible. With large marrow bones I have them split crossways rather than lengthways. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dogfish Posted July 5, 2007 Author Share Posted July 5, 2007 Well we gave her wings for lunch today and marinated the legs and rest of the wings for our tea tonight. So everyone is happy. Dogfish Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curlyking Posted July 6, 2007 Share Posted July 6, 2007 Your 5 month old Airedale will manage chicken legs just fine but will take a bit of time to do so. They really are not much bigger than the bone in the wings Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KitKat Posted July 6, 2007 Share Posted July 6, 2007 I didn't start feeding chook legs to my GSD's till they were about 6 months old....and then turkey legs from about 9 months old Turkey legs and wings are fantastic if you can find them...tho they are huge! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curlyking Posted July 7, 2007 Share Posted July 7, 2007 (edited) I didn't start feeding chook legs to my GSD's till they were about 6 months old....and then turkey legs from about 9 months old :D Turkey legs and wings are fantastic if you can find them...tho they are huge! You are right about the size of turkey legs KK. Safeway had them lasrt week when I was shopping.Too big for all but one of my Airedales. I'm sure they would manage them but I figure they don't need two meals in one. I have had no problems with giving my Airedales chicken legs at 5 months though. Edited July 7, 2007 by curlyking Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JulesP Posted July 8, 2007 Share Posted July 8, 2007 I found the turkey wings yesterday in Safeways! Gave them this morning to the dogs, you should have seen their eyes bug out at the size of them! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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