What is an absolute minimum processing for raw dog feeding?

[CanadaEh]

I will have about 60 birds to process in near future. They will be 3-week old cockerels and 2.5 year old hens - all leghorns and their crosses . Last time I have processed 20 for human food it took too many hours for the meat collected, and even when skinning not plucking. We buy chicken drumsticks for dog and she have also eaten feathered wings (with flight feathers plucked), heads, legs before from previous butcherings. So I am now thinking I rather eat more human (i.e. antibiotic-laden) drumsticks and let the dog eat more natural (feathers/organs) whole chickens rather put so much work into processing as last time.

Thus the question: what is an absolute minimum processing required to use for raw dog feeding?

Another words what chicken parts absolutely need to be removed because they could be detrimental for dog's health or will be always left out on the lawn?

I am planning to freeze for 7 days as I do with fish to avoid possible parasites. I am not worried to feeding something that would closely resembled live chickens as they are all behind good fence.

Let me know

 

[JacinLarkwell]

I've always been told to avoid bones because they break differently that nonhollow bones and can injure dogs when they're eaten.

 

[NatJ]

Thus the question: what is an absolute minimum processing required to use for raw dog feeding?

Kill the chicken.

Another words what chicken parts absolutely need to be removed because they could be detrimental for dog's health or will be always left out on the lawn?

My easiest-so-far method is to remove & discard the last two joints of each wing, and at least most of the skin & feathers.

That is based on not wanting feathers all over the lawn. Ripping off the skin is easy on young birds, which makes it far faster than plucking, and with the feathers still attached to the skin, they are not blowing all over. Removing the skin on older birds is not quite as easy, but I still find it easier than plucking in most cases, and again I like that it keeps the feathers contained.

I'm sure it would depend on the dog, but I've owned at least one dog that would eat everything else-- the meat, the bones, the innards & their contents, any unlaid eggs, the feet, etc.

Here's a quote from someone in another thread, who apparently does even less processing than I do:

Mine eat the feathers although they tend to reject the flight feathers of wings and tail.

Personally, I find it very convenient when one meal is a whole chicken, or some multiple of whole chickens, but that only works for certain sizes of chickens & dogs

I am planning to freeze for 7 days as I do with fish to avoid possible parasites.

I have not bothered with freezing. Fish and chickens tend to have different parasites, so it's just a matter of which ones are likely to be dangerous to dogs. Last time I read about the matter, I decided I didn't need to worry about chicken, but it's been some years since I thought about it much (when something works, I tend to just keep doing it.)

 

[CanadaEh]

I've always been told to avoid bones because they break differently that nonhollow bones and can injure dogs when they're eaten.

Only if they are cooked. Uncooked ones are great for dogs and wolfs/coyotes don't have problem with them either.

 

[CanadaEh]

My easiest-so-far method is to remove & discard the last two joints of each wing, and at least most of the skin & feathers.

so do you leave crop, gizzard, intestines in the chicken when you give it to your dog? I have slight concern about grains and dirt in the crop and rocks in the gizzard.

 

[NatJ]

so do you leave crop, gizzard, intestines in the chicken when you give it to your dog? I have slight concern about grains and dirt in the crop and rocks in the gizzard.

I haven't noticed any problems

I've never had a dog that was 100% raw fed, just ones that ate purchased dog food a lot of the time, with various amounts of table scraps and raw chicken according to what was available. So I knew the dog had no trouble with foods that contained grain.

For most sizes of chickens, and most sizes of dog, I would expect the rocks in the gizzard to be small enough to go right through with no trouble. The amount of rocks in one gizzard is pretty small when compared with the rest of the chicken.

When I can watch a dog go outside and chew on sticks, eat bits of grass, snuffle around in the dirt and eat something, snitch a bit of chicken food, and eat chicken droppings: I really do NOT worry about that dog eating everything inside the chicken!

 

[CanadaEh]

snuffle around in the dirt and eat something, snitch a bit of chicken food, and eat chicken droppings: I really do NOT worry about that dog eating everything inside the chicken!

mine too, but I am still trying to teach her to "leave it"

 

[Molpet]

They will be 3-week old cockerels and 2.5 year old hens -

Not much on 3wk olds. But I guessing you don't want to feed them out.
Older birds make great stock and pulled/shredded meat in the pressure cooker.

I didn't feed the gallbladder, threw away the intestines and opened the gizzard removing the grit.
That said I had a pet coyote that caught song birds and ate them whole.

My dog didn't like it hot, he looked at me like I was tricking him. I had to let it cool.

 

[Coops Dad]

My dog hangs out at the butcher station when I process chickens because she knows she's getting the lungs, butt nugget/oil gland, head, feet and whatever other trimmings. I also give her the keel if I breast out one.

OTOH, she used to view stray chickens as "self serve" now and then before training, and she didn't leave much. About the only way to tell was the debris field of feathers. She'd do a decent job avoiding the wings and tail, and she'd scatter body feathers everywhere.

 

[MaggieMoo21]

It would depend on what size you wanted. I have done raw fed whole prey. For me, it would be most convenient to grow the chicken to a meal size so that one chicken equals one meal. I had a 9 pound and 12 pound dog when I fed whole prey so I raised quail to around 4 to 6 ounces before butchering. They ate everything but the flight and tail feathers.