Chicken Wings & Necks

[cavmad]

I'm really confused about the giving of chicken wings and necks. One vet told me that I shouldnt give them as sometimes bird bones can carry parasites and that the dog can choke and the bones can cause blockages. Others have told me to give them. I am not really religiously sticking to the BARF diet but my dog usually have a meal of fresh human grade beef mince, chicken breast, fish and fruit and vegetables every night (alternatively). I also add a small amount of Hills dry food to this as well as a teaspoon of sharks cartledge (one dog has a pin in her leg, the other has had his luxated patella operated on). I give them a capsule of flaxseed oil once a week as well. I have tried everything I can to entice them into having a few teaspoons of natural yoghurt in the morning for breakfast but neither appear keen, prefering instead the dental biscuits. They appear really healthy, great teeth/breath, shiny coats, really regular solid stools etc. Whilst on holidays I was reading a book about dog diets and realised that they probably aren't getting enough calcium. The book suggested chicken bones. Well, o.k...they get beef bones and lamb shanks to munch on (supervised!) but I thought maybe I should try them on the chicken wings and necks as soooooooo many people I speak to use them. I should point out that my OH is dead against using chicken bones. Having come from a family that bred rotties and labs, they were always given those huge dinosaur bones. Problem is, our little guys really can't get their teeth into those. We both hate the idea of having to reef a small chicken bone out of our dogs throat or worse, them having to have an operation to remove a blockage but last night we tried it. I bought some chicken necks (cant bring myelf to do the wings yet) and I hammered the hell out of them and then fed them to the dogs. They seemed to really enjoy them and they were gone in no time. We are just not sure if we should be giving them or not. We feel quite safe with the beef bones and lamb shanks as they are bigger, take longer and are easier for us to supervise, but not so sure about the chicken wings and necks. There are so many conflicting points of view. I would really appreciate some advice.

[poodlefan]

Unfortunately there is no "right" answer to this one cavmad.

I feed them. I've never had a problem. Remember of course that a chicken neck or wing (or drumstick or frame) is unlikely to be inhaled by a CKCS like it would be by a Lab.

You could give it a go. You could continue to smash them up. You could buy "pet" chicken mince that contains bone but runs no risk of choking.

I've never heard the one about parasites in chicken that would impact on a dog - that's a newie.

If you are not feeding your dogs digestible bone then you have missed feeding the foundation of a BARF diet.

Dogs have choked to death on kibble too.

[kamuzz]

Tell me about it!

My vet says NO chicken bones under any circumstances so we don't feed them. Feel that if I am going to trust him to treat my animals then I owe him the courtesy of taking his advice.

Maybe chicken bones are suitable for small dogs, but not bigger dogs?

[Rascalmyshadow]

My two mini's and two rescue dogs get chicken necks at least every second day without a problem, any time the chicken shop runs out of necks they are given wings, again without a problem.

My standards are given carcasses and sometimes necks just as often with no problems.

I work in a large vet clinic and only one vet advises against raw bones (all bones) after talking to numerous vets at work and also where I take my own dogs I have been told it is actually extreemly rare for a dog to end up with problems unless the bones are cooked.

[lea]

I dont feed wings or necks, my dogs get a whole chicken frame.

have been feeding them for 15 yrs with no problems.

[Ons]

my mum's cavalier "inhaled" a chicken wing, lucky we were there to pull it out as it was stuck down her throat. But she just vacuums her food up rather than eats it, greedy little cavalier!

I give my chicken bones - raw - carcasses if I go to Woolies and get them. mine don't get chicken necks coz I can't stand the sight of them but chicken wings are fine. I do feed my chicken drumsticks but have been told that's a no no. I cant leave mine with the bigger meat bones because my boy goes ballistic and all the hard work we have done together to solve his dominance problems goes out the window. as I like them to get some bones that they can eat immediately I get chicken.

I think if you are going to give chicken bones always be there and keep an eye out if there are problems, don't leave them with a nice chicken bone and go out for the day.

Edited January 20, 2007 by Onslowsmum

[cavmad]

my mum's cavalier "inhaled" a chicken wing, lucky we were there to pull it out as it was stuck down her throat. But she just vacuums her food up rather than eats it, greedy little cavalier!

I give my chicken bones - raw - carcasses if I go to Woolies and get them.

I think if you are going to give chicken bones always be there and keep an eye out if there are problems, don't leave them with a nice chicken bone and go out for the day.

Chr**t...that's enough to scare the hell outta me! Stella absolutely inhales her food as though it's her last meal so we really have to watch her. She is so food obsessed!!! I'm thinking I might be able to cope with the mashed up necks but not the wings.

[MTD]

Maggie gets chicken wings each morning and they are ones you buy for humans so I hope they don't have parasites!

The best thing to do is watch and make sure your dog just doesn't woof it down but chews it. It takes Maggie 2 seconds with necks so I think that's useless but it takes her a while with the wings and she uses her back teeth to chew it so I hope she is getting benefit out of them ( ie cleaning her teeth)

[Ons]

sorry but thought you should know. never seen anything like it in a dog. I think Kyra may have an under shot jaw though. My own Cavalier, Poppy, RIP, was fine with chicken wings but she would chew them.

mashed up chicken necks may be the way to go then - but I think you are very brave mashing them up Certainly giving them bones is the right thing to do, Kyra has hardly any teeth left coz mum was too scared to give her any bones of any sort.

[tramissa]

Minnie (Lowchen) gets 2 chicken necks a day as part of her diet. I can't really give her bigger bones because she can't eat them.

[Gretel]

Oh yes I have known many Cavs who vacuum up necks! Ingrid barely chews hers and if the necks are thickish I make sure that I attack them a bit with the meat cleaver before feeding. Lacey chews hers quite well. Bree chews smallish ones but I make sure to smash hers too if they are bigger. Mine have them most days. The only problem (apart from choking) that I've known about with necks is that some dogs can get a bit constipated on them and do better on wings.

[Ashka]

My 4 year old Cavalier boy has been given a couple of Raw chicken necks for breakfast since he was 8 weeks old. I do freeze them for at least a week to kill off some of the bacteria the same as I freeze all raw meat fed.

Hang on to one end of the neck till they get the idea of crunching it up. I wouldn't risk feeding them if other dogs are around loose as they could gulp them down. Even so the dog's stomach acid is strong enough to digest bones. Dogs can't chew, their jaws only go up & down not sideways ;-)

His breeder feeds raw necks at odd times to all her cavs.

My main reasons for feeding them is that they keep his teeth clean and his anal glands empty with the added advantage that they are good for him.

I've not found a cavalier pup yet who didn't crunch up a chicken neck immediately and then look around for more.

Feeding whole chicken frames is an option but rather messy with a long coated dog, snoods only cover ears

Safe food handling practice goes without saying.

Best

Edited January 20, 2007 by Ashka

[ShesaLikeableBiBear]

We feed chicken wings, I would hope no parasites, after all they come from the butcher and there are many people who use chicken wings as nibbles on barbies.

[pebbles]

I feed chicken necks to 2 of mine but I have to hold them while they chew peices off. They swallow them whole if I don't hold them and scares the heck out of me to see them trying to get them down and the bulge in their neck as it goes down!

[Malamum]

My dogs get pretty much most parts of the chook. They have wings, necks, back, drumsticks, thigh pieces, half a chicken and they've even had carcasses which are mostly bone.

When it comes to wings they give it one or two big crunches and then tend to swallow the whole thing - they are big dogs though.

[Bokezu]

I 've been feeding chicken wings and necks to my dogs for six years haven't had any problems. I would just make sure you were there to watch them eat, and smash the larger wings.

[eclecticgirl]

My vet also says no raw chicken. He said that because they are RAW there is more of a danger of picking up bugs etc, and of course no cooked chicken bones...

[kaywoman68]

Even for us, there's the possibility for us to catch bugs etc from eating cooked food. I dont think anyone is safe from anything.

I feed Orson and Oi chicken wings all the time. My mum's dogs get chicken wings and chicken tips etc all the time.

For all the owners who have been advised to feed no raw chicken, is it only raw chicken or raw meat in general?????

[eclecticgirl]

My vet said raw meat was fine, it is raw chicken that is the problem. Apparently chicken is the one that can harbour the most bugs, and has potential for the most problems.......

In NZ, not sure about nowadays, it was actually illegal to feed your dog raw lamb. Lamb carried the Hydatid tape worm, and that is potentially lethal to humans. (i guess all the others can be too)

Each year every dog in town had to go down to a certain area to be given a hydatids drench, it was green and yucky, and could really upset the dogs stomach. They wernt allowed to leave until they had done a poo and it had been checked by the vet that was in charge...But this doesnt happen now, so not sure if there is no hydatids or they have changed there way of thinking.....was a while ago.

But like everything, you do what you think is the best......cant wrap ourselves in cotton wool and worry about everything you hear. Obviously some vets have their own opinion on the chicken issue.

[Dog_Horse_Girl]

Any bones fed to a dog must be RAW. I think vets panic and assume we're all silly enough to feed our dogs cooked bones. Which I know some people do but really? Most of us are aware that bones are great for our dogs but they must be fed RAW. As for parasites...what a stupid thing to say. If you're buying from a reputable source, and if you're buying HUMAN GRADE foods, then it should be just fine. ;)

The scare tactics some vets still seem to use are just ridiculous.