# different foods for guard dogs



## motdaugrnds (Jul 3, 2002)

I've been experimenting this past year with a variety of foods for my two large guard dogs, i.e. a labradore and a karakachan. (They continue to get one cup of TOTW each evening; however, their morning meals alternate between raw and cooked.)

I'm slaughtering 26 Jumbo Cornish X-Rocks for the freezer. I'm putting up the organs of each for the dogs. (I boil these like I do beef liver, then chop up in tiny pieces while cooking "steam-rolled barley" in their juice. When the barley is cooked and swollen, I add the chopped pieces, stir well and let it all cool. Both dogs love this mixture; and barley is healthy and only $17 per 50 lbs.) 

In years past I've composted the heads and feet of these chickens; however, now I'm thinking of taking off the nails & slicing the feet into 3-4 lengthy pieces, then s-l-o-w drying the feet in the oven for treats. I'm thinking maybe feeding the heads raw.

I know many of you dog owners feed raw chicken; and I'm wondering about feeding the heads and feet of chickens. What do you all think about this idea? Good? Not good? I can take constructive criticisms and would appreciate some about this new idea.


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## bluefish (Jan 27, 2006)

I feed heads and feet right off the bird to my dogs every time I butcher. They are especially fond of the heads. Never any problems so far.


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## Guest (Dec 22, 2014)

For my dogs, frozen (then thawed) chicken feet are great treats and stool solidifiers if ever needed. No need remove claws and I would not oven dry them. Straight into a bag in the freezer. I composted the heads. They would eat them but inside dogs do not need to stuff one in their cheeks and hide it in the house for later:yuck:


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## CAjerseychick (Aug 11, 2013)

Yes this something I can attest to!

I go buy bulk feet and necks (with heads intact) of ducks (pretty similar) raw - 59cents / lb and they get some for breakfast in the am, I like raw best, I feel like cooking the feet makes the bones brittle and drying might too...
I think of the brain as another organ meat for them, healthy and the necks have a nice combo of bone cartilage and fat too...

(I also fed raw chicken necks for years, but duck is what I can get cheapest these days)-- I have 4 drakes that need butchering but am putting this off for now...although I have to say having roast duck for Xmas dinner is a pretty appealing thought...


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## Maura (Jun 6, 2004)

There is really no reason to cook anything. I cut the beef liver up into portions before freezing to make it easier on me. Chicken livers are small enough to simply separate enough to make thawing easier. Dogs do not need additional carbohydrates such as barley. Oats has the highest percentage of protein, but again it&#8217;s not something they need unless you think your dogs need a filler or they like it as a treat. I add carrots to the pot when I roast meat and my dogs get carrot treats from it. That is really all they would need.


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## secuono (Sep 28, 2011)

Yup, feet, heads, organs of birds and rabbits fed raw. Sometimes I save some for later if there's too many for one dinner.


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## motdaugrnds (Jul 3, 2002)

Thank you all very much. Freezing the feet without cooking them first certainly will be easier.  I will start giving them the heads too.


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## citxmech (Dec 26, 2011)

Our dog gets a raw chicken back or some other tasty BARF treat every day. As a rule, we never give her cooked bones because of the risk of splintering.

We tried chicken heads and feet, but she didn't really seem to like them - go figure. She sure loves the backs though - just crushes all the bones by chewing them for a bit then swallows the darn things whole!


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## motdaugrnds (Jul 3, 2002)

I slaughtered 6 more chickens today (Jumbo Cornish X-Rocks); and gave each of my 2 dogs 3 raw heads. They both chomped once or twice and swallowed wanting more.

I also washed the feet from these 6 chickens, cut off the nails and fed each dog 2 of these. Cujo ate his immediately while Valentina took hers all the way around the house and ate hers while sitting on top of the knoll overlooking the pasture. Both dogs enjoyed these. (I washed, cut off nails and froze the rest of the legs for their treats at a later date.) I still have 9 more of these chickens to prepare for the freezer; so these dogs will have a nice supply of these legs; and for the next few days will get to enjoy the raw heads.


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## Skandi (Oct 21, 2014)

My two only get raw, so they get whole chickens (cut up!) rabbit, fish pretty much anything I can get my hands on cheap, they also eat a lot of insides. (liver, lungs heart etc) we do have to cut it up for the pug, and she has an issue with heart, she eats it fine, but it ALWAYS comes back up, so we cook that for her and that way it stays down. They do get occasional table scraps, but we don't feed any grains/veg as a normal part of the diet.


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