# Frozen chicken wings?



## ZoeandMoe (Dec 6, 2013)

Was wondering if frozen chicken wings would be OK for the dogs? We just came across 40 lbs of them and thought they would be OK? We have two 1 yr old GSD's and a 13 week old GSD. If so, Frozen and right out of the bag OK to feed. We don't feed raw yet but want to. The bones wont hurt them? Thanks for any help !


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## Oisin's Aoire (Jun 17, 2013)

I usually put out what I am going to feed the next day the night before. I thaw on the counter in a big bowl. It is usually still pretty cold when I feed it to them , they do not mind. The bones will not hurt them as long as you defrost safely as in not in the microwave or in extremely hot water ( it can start to cook the bone - not good- dangerous that way) 

Give them wings for a few days then slowly start adding in some organ meat and muscle meat ( live chicken livers and ground chicken meat) . Do the adding in slowly . Try new sources slowly too. Too much too soon can cause the runs. It is also easier to isolate and allergies or sensitivities if you add different sources one at a time and slowly. 

Good luck!


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## Oisin's Aoire (Jun 17, 2013)

That should read " like chicken liver " not " live chicken liver" lol


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## ZoeandMoe (Dec 6, 2013)

OK Thank you !!


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## David Taggart (Nov 25, 2012)

Just be aware of a perforation of the stomach or even the gut. Remove the largest tubular bone just in case, its sharp fragments can cause internal bleeding. It all depends what the age of the chickens was, if they were young - the hydrochloric acid of the stomach will desolve them completely, but if they were old hens - tubular bones become dangerous.


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## lhczth (Apr 5, 2000)

I personally would be hesitant to feed wings frozen just because of their size especially to the 1 year old. I have fed other things frozen, but they are large enough to require chewing.


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## Oisin's Aoire (Jun 17, 2013)

David Taggart said:


> Just be aware of a perforation of the stomach or even the gut. Remove the largest tubular bone just in case, its sharp fragments can cause internal bleeding. It all depends what the age of the chickens was, if they were young - the hydrochloric acid of the stomach will desolve them completely, but if they were old hens - tubular bones become dangerous.


Do you mean if they are frozen? Or fresh/thawed too? I thought wings , back , necks , etc were fine as long as they were raw?

My 70 pound 10 month old chews the wings nicely. My 130 pound Mastiff , not so much . I do not give her wings because she will swallow them whole. She only gets a grind for that reason. The other 2 pulverize everything , even the small stuff.


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## David Taggart (Nov 25, 2012)

> Do you mean if they are frozen? Or fresh/thawed too? I thought wings , back , necks , etc were fine as long as they were raw?


You should never feed your dog anything cold - not only bad for stomach, but it cools the body from inside. "Home" temperature, or slightly warm. I have meant *tubular bones only* - of legs and arms (wings) better to remove. All chordate creatures including us humans have the same skeleton structure, there is no principle difference between a human and a lizard. Back lims (lower limbs) and front limbs consist of three parts: feet or hands, middle part of two bones, and the part which connects it to the body. The last two - are the tubular bones, called like that because they are like tubes, hollow inside. Never feed cooked bones, calcium changes its formular and the bones couldn't be digested becoming rigid.


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## Oisin's Aoire (Jun 17, 2013)

Interesting..I have never heard of having to do anything with any chicken bones safety wise. I read several books and follow Laurie's raw ranch and I have never seen precautions about wings besides the usual - defrost properly not in microwave , and do not feed whole to dogs who will swallow them without chewing. 

I have read not to feed weight bearing bones of larger animals like goats and such because they are too hard and can break teeth.

Not disputing what you are saying about tubular bones in wings..I have just never seen any warning like that in any Raw education material. In fact have never seen any warning about any poultry bones except that necks often do not have enough meat on them so watch out for constipation.If that is the case would like to see others weigh in since wings are a staple of my one dog's diet and I would not want to make a mistake in that way.

I may cross post in the main BARF section to get some other opinions. Like I said , no offense , it is just that you are the first person I have ever seen give advice about removing certain bones from wings.


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## lhczth (Apr 5, 2000)

Just ignore.


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## Oisin's Aoire (Jun 17, 2013)

Roger.


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## David Taggart (Nov 25, 2012)

> can break teeth.


Ha! My dogs gnawed big beef bones all their lives, and had white healthy teath all their lives! It is very important to provide your puppy with raw beef bones from times he loses his milky teeth. First of all - they clean their teeth by working on a big bone, secondly - a chewed bone mass workes as a brush in their guts removing excess mucus. Tubular chicken bones are especially dangerous, because may split into parts with sharp edges.


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## Saphire (Apr 1, 2005)

David Taggart said:


> Tubular chicken bones are especially dangerous, because may split into parts with sharp edges.


Wikipedia?


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## lhczth (Apr 5, 2000)

Large weight bearing bones like the leg bones from cattle can result in broken teeth. I will give them and let the dogs remove the meat and marrow and then I take them away. The knuckle bones (the joint ends usually called "soup" bones) are softer, but you have to watch because there is usually one or two small pieces left over that the dogs can't chew. I prefer veal soup and neck bones as they are totally edible and much softer. I also won't feed shank bones from deer, pork or lamb/mutton because they tend to break into shards.


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## Simon Wheeler (Feb 11, 2021)

I have a 2 year old GSD/Belgian, from what I am told frozen wings are fine, cooked wings would be a no no dues to splintering of the bones. Always, when you start the process make sure you are available to watch your dog as they consume and stop if your dog looks like it is about to swallow the wing whole, would be my view.


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