Chicken thighs?

[jambc]

Hello all! I know these questions can tend to be cumbersome...sorry! New to the BARF thing.
Carli, my 4 yr old, has chronic colitis, and BARF is my last resort. She's run out of kibble (today) and I've been researching BARF. I don't have my book yet, but from what I've read, the 1st couple of weeks are pretty simple and straighforward....introduce one thing at a time. Expect detox, etc. I'd like to start her on BARF tomorrow.
Currently, I haven't found a supplier for backs, yet, but I'm on the right track. The store has chicken thighs and drummies on sale. Is this okay to start her out on?

Also - some people are "for grinding" the meat, but it seems to me that it defeats the purpose to grind. For all of you BARF'ers, do you at least chop the meat into smaller bits before you serve, or do you give it to your pup whole? Also - what are your recommendations for the next week while I wait for my book?

Thanks again for the help! Sorry for the bother!!!

 

[Mama_Zookeeper]

When we started feeding raw we used chicken necks & backs. I have read some threads where some pups did not do to well with the longer bones to start on. As for grinding , I have never needed to, but some pups have sensitive bellies and that is what works for them. Good Luck!

Dora

 

[Jan]

Chicken thighs and drumsticks are fine. I have sometimes fed legs to my dogs. Good luck with your switch to BARF. I hope it helps.

 

[jenn77]

I feed thighs a lot, but drumsticks don't seem to work as well for my dog. He will usually throw up the hard, round, knuckle-looking ends of the leg bones the day after eating, and the leg bones seem to take him a while to get down (lots of gagging, etc.)

So, if I buy legs with thighs connected, I just turn the leg inside out and slip out the leg bone before feeding. It's really gross, I won't lie about that, but it works!

 

[sgbtab]

my gracie had colitis real bad and that is why I started barf. it was the only thing that helped her. although she is not with me anymore I still feed my dog's raw and they are thriving on it. if you have any questions about colitis just post it and I will help. I will look for your threads. good luck.

 

[jambc]

Re: Chicken Thighs

So...since I don't have my book, I'm going to start Carli on thighs today. She's only 34 pounds (don't freak out - just the runt of a litter!). From what I've read on other sites, 3% of body weight should be fed daily? So - I get around 1 pound of meat - that hardly seems like enough....... any advice?

 

[sgbtab]

I find it is a trial and error thing. when gracie first started on raw ( shes the one with colitis) I was feeding her to much she gained alot of weight in 3 weeks so I had to cut down but she also needed the weight since it was always hard for her to keep weight on. I feed 2x a day and I do not give leggs much I like the necks and backs better the bone is softer. but I use to give gracie 2-3 backs at a meal each back weighs around 1/2 lb

 

[jambc]

We had our first BARF meal.....

Just fed Carli her first BARF meal. What a big step! She loved the chicken thighs - I gave her about 1 and 1/2 to start off with. I'm sure I could have fed her more (the thighs are small), but being unsure of this, I wanted to start off slow. Was a little weary of the bigger bones in the thighs, but she broke them up and ate them just fine. Now it's a waiting game - to see how she digests everything. Will keep you updated.