Meat birds for me and my dogs :)

[lolita117]

Hello everybody,

So I’m going to change my dog diet from regular store bought kibble, to a wholesome and natural Raw meat diet. I’m already doing all my necessary research about what I need to feed and such. My question is about meat birds

I currently have laying hens –duh, lol, but was considering on raising meat birds for my dogs raw diet. I figured it would the (hoping) cheapest way to get the needed chicken in the diet. But also because I would be raising the birds myself I would know 100% what the birds have consumed and such. Also, not only am I doing this for my dogs, but I can benefit from delicious farmstead meat.

So just wanted some questions on maybe what breeds I should get, cost of raising the meat birds. The bigger the birds the better, since I’m not looking to tenderness for my dogs. Tougher meat… more chewing action… better stimulation for both body and mind… and more chewing better teeth cleaning action. So meat for myself would be 2nd when considering what breed/breeds I need to choose.

Cost is really important. I will not be calculating housing. Just cost of feed. I hope to be able to do batches of 20+ at a time. And hope to raise at least 3 batches. I want to keep as low as possible and I know free ranging or a movable tractor will help. But just looking for some numbers. This won’t be something that could get accomplished until next year. Thanks so much in advance for any advice and input.

 

[Hummingbird Hollow]

I'm coming to the end of my first batch of Freedom Rangers, and calculate that taking into consideration only the initial cost of the birds (including shipping) and the cost of the feed, they are going to cost me somewhere between $2.40 and $2.50 per dressed pound. Now I weighed them after removing necks and all organ meats, and I've already ground up the cooked necks along with hearts, gizzard and kidneys, along with the carrots I used in making stock, for my dogs (kept the livers for pate) so I guess that cost is a little less per pound if you factor those weights back in.

There is a considerable initial investment in brooding supplies, feeders, waterers and the coop/run//tractor itself but once that investment is made, the next

I know that the Jumbo Cornish crosses are cheaper to purchase and are quicker to mature, so the feed cost is lower too. I can purchase chicken at the grocery store for less than $2.50 a pound, but the cost for organic, pastured chicken is more like $4.00 pound around here.

 

[what did I do]

Your signature says you have 8 bigger dogs. Are all these dogs going to be on this diet?

I agree the jumbo Cornish would work. I'd even feed the birds that kick the bucket to the dogs.

One thing I'd watch is that your dogs don't have contact with any of your chickens. Once the dogs learn to eat chickens they will eat any chicken.

 

[poularde]

I use my extra roos for food for me and my dogs and cats. I just am able to supplement their diet so far. It will take a lot of chickens to feed everyone. I have not raised meatis yet. I think I am going to try bigger birds to feed my animals. Ducks, turkeys or maybe geese. Good for you to take responsibility for feeding your dogs.

Oh and my dogs eat chicken and have no problem being around my birds. Well, one of them is great.

 

[Oregon Blues]

If cost is a factor, the cheapest chicken can be found at Safeway when they put it on sale.

Cornish Cross is the most efficient bird to raise for meat. Most efficient for both time and money invested.

At my house the dogs get the legs, giblets, and necks. The people eat the rest of the bird. The dogs also get the front legs and giblets from the rabbits.

If you don't mind tough meat, you can usually get a lot of free adult roosters. Those make good dog food for the cost of the gasoline to go and pick them up.

 

[mstricer]

This is a good thread and after I read it I started to do some goggling, I've learned that cooking the internal organs, depletes the nutritional values. Also I learned you CAN give chicken bones to your dogs, as long as they are not cooked or your dog doesn't wolf down their food, in that case you should use a cleaver to cut into smaller pieces, they actually need it in their diet, if raw feeding. The balance should be 2 to 3 % their body weight, 80% muscle, 10% bone, 10 % raw internal organs. I wonder if it won't be more cost effective to use extra cockerels, grow them out, slaughter and freeze. They would take longer but, they also free range and would eat less feed. I know I hatch out a lot of boys and just give them away, BF not on board of feeding his humanized dogs raw meat, (not even the livers cooks everything) Does anyone else use their extras for this? How do you switch your dogs over to raw from dry dog food?

 

[lolita117]

Okay I have a lot to reply. Here goes:

Innards will definitely go into account when harvesting the birds. Livers, heart, gizzard, and also the necks. I’m not worried about Organic when purchasing from a grocery store but rather price. Feeding a raw diet can end up costing less than even a cheap kibble, if you plan ahead and take advantage of everything.

I don’t have 8 bigger dogs, but 6 German Shepherds and 2 Beagles. The GSDs are bigger dogs, but the Beagles are 25 and 15 – I don’t refer to them as being big but really small. I won’t be feeding the chickens whole or feathered, but just what they need for their meal that particular day. If I do an all chicken meal for all 8 dogs, I will use about 15 pounds of chickens that day (each dog varying in the amount they need). Some people can feed whole feathered birds, but I will never do this and I will always hack up the birds into quarters, breasts, back, and so forth. My dogs have unfortunately killed and consumed a few of my chickens, but they know they aren’t supposed to. So I'm not going to encourage the behavior. 4 of the GSDs I can’t trust with the free ranging birds, unless I’m supervising.

As far as using my roos, that could work, but right now all the roos I have, I want. If anybody gets “cocky” lol, I won’t hesitate to make a meal for the dogs out of him.

I don’t have a Safeway anywhere near me. I actually don’t have a clue where one would be. My local grocery stores include Wal-Mart, IGA, and Save-a-lot. I already plan on getting the “trash” of Save-a-lot and hopefully IGA, if they offer that. Free roosters will be great, but there aren’t that many chicken people around me. But will definitely keep an eye out.

Last but not least:
All my “dog food” will be fed Raw. Nothing what-so-ever will ever be cooked. I know people say you aren’t supposed to give any cooked bones especially chicken bones to dogs, but I ALWAYS have. And when I mean always, I’ve had a dog/dogs in my life since I was around 5 – so right at 10 in my parent’s house, plus the 8 I have now and they’ve all received cooked chicken bones. But beyond that I already knew all that about the Raw diet. I wouldn’t even be tempting to start without knowing everything possible. Technically, I haven’t started yet. When you make the switch, you just start. My dogs have always received meat in their diet. During deer season, they practically founder on deer meat and they also eat scraps daily and old meat from our frig/freezer. Some dogs that have never consumed anything but kibble can have a hard time adjusting and actually experience a detox from being taken off of kibble and vomit and may not even consume the raw meat because they don't recognize it as food. I know mine are going to think they are getting spoiled for every meal, because they know what meat is and LOVE IT.

 

[lolita117]

Oh I also wanted to ask: How much square footage do I need to have in open air tractor for the meaties? Square footage/bird?

Something like this is what I will be considering when it comes to housing

 

[Hummingbird Hollow]

Regarding cooked and raw chicken bones. I know a folks who have their dogs on all raw diets and the bones are fine until they are cooked, when they become brittle. This can happen with beef and pork bones too, resulting in bones that can form sharp splinters when chewed on by a dog's powerful jaws. I supplement and treat my dogs with real meat often scraps from the table that are too tough for the family. However, when it comes to the organs, necks etc. that I mentioned above, the dogs are getting them AFTER I've used them in the stock pot. Sorry dogs, my kids come first. If you toss the contents of the stock pot into a food processor, it takes care of the problem of bone splinters by grinding everything into tiny pieces that won't damage the dog's digestive tracts. I realize this doesn't have the same nutritional value as raw.

It satisfies the thrifty and eco-friendly part of me to know that all the scraps from my garden as well as parings and leftovers from fruits & grains are fed to the chickens, who in turn provide me with eggs, manure for my garden and meat for the table. The meat scraps from the table and chicken butchering go to to the dogs, who don't really produce anything for the table, although they do guard the chickens while they are out free-ranging and chase off predators at other times (one Anatolian Shepherd and one mixed breed) so I guess they also contribute to the table in an indirect way.

 

[lolita117]

Regarding cooked and raw chicken bones. I know a folks who have their dogs on all raw diets and the bones are fine until they are cooked, when they become brittle. This can happen with beef and pork bones too, resulting in bones that can form sharp splinters when chewed on by a dog's powerful jaws. I supplement and treat my dogs with real meat often scraps from the table that are too tough for the family. However, when it comes to the organs, necks etc. that I mentioned above, the dogs are getting them AFTER I've used them in the stock pot. Sorry dogs, my kids come first. If you toss the contents of the stock pot into a food processor, it takes care of the problem of bone splinters by grinding everything into tiny pieces that won't damage the dog's digestive tracts. I realize this doesn't have the same nutritional value as raw.

It satisfies the thrifty and eco-friendly part of me to know that all the scraps from my garden as well as parings and leftovers from fruits & grains are fed to the chickens, who in turn provide me with eggs, manure for my garden and meat for the table. The meat scraps from the table and chicken butchering go to to the dogs, who don't really produce anything for the table, although they do guard the chickens while they are out free-ranging and chase off predators at other times (one Anatolian Shepherd and one mixed breed) so I guess they also contribute to the table in an indirect way.

I don't disagree with you, and wouldn't recommend feeding cooked bones to other people; it just has been my experience for my entire life that cooked chicken bones have been never had adverse effects on my dogs and I will continue to feed them, all the same.
I’m not looking to raise chickens for myself but rather for my dogs. Those scraps and extras have always been part of their diet; I feel that I can do better to provide them with higher quality food, superior to any kibble. My dogs may not produce anything for the table but we do breed them and they do provide a small amount of money to pretty much take care of themselves: vet bills, food, and so forth. If the raw meat doesn't cost me anymore than what the kibble does, I owe it to them to buy/produce/gather it for them. I alot of their diet will be free deer meat, freezer trash, and grocery store trash (usually meat that is 1 or 2 days past expiration date that will be picked up ASAP).
I also do not have kids, but if I did wouldn’t be feeding them what will be the majority of my dogs’ diet.
My dogs will still get scraps and any extra that we don’t consume, but that will be only in additional to the wholesome natural diet they will be consuming, part of which I hope to grow and produce myself.