# chicken leg quarters too much bone content?



## boomer11

if i feed my dog a chicken leg quarter should i also give him some more ground chicken/beef? i know its suppose to be 80/10/10 in terms of ratio. so if i feed a one pound leg quarter then is that approximately 70 mm/20 rmb?? that isnt too bad right? i get a really good deal on leg quarters and would like to make it a staple of his diet but i dont want an imbalanced diet. thanks!


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## JackandMattie

Check out Lauri's web page: Raw Meaty Bones


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## Lauri & The Gang

I prefer to use this rule of thumb:

45% RMBs
50% MM
5% OM

If the RMBs I use are on the 'boney' side - like chicken backs, necks or turkey necks - then I might give the dogs a little less of those and more of the Muscle Meat that day.

I find it easier to determine how much RMBs my guys are getting than figuring out the actual bone content of everything.

Been doing it this way for over 15 years with no problems.


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## MilesNY

I use a lot of leg quarts for my dogs. My male shepherd gets 1-2 a day depending on his weight and activity and then 1/2 lb of ground with the supplements mixed in. The premade ground I get is a easy way for me to get variety in his diet. Goat, lamb, pork, duck, beef, fish, rabbit, etc. 

I am always on the look out for cheap deals on other meat. I have gotten freezer burnt rabbit at a great price, and goose too. 

I have had no issue using chicken quarters as a base for any of my dogs.


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## mharrisonjr26

I used to feed 2 chicken quarters a day. They also get what ever else I can find for the best price. All kinds of game animals, fish(all types), beef, pork, turkey, and even whole rabbit. I also give organs every few days. Liver, kidneys, and Green tripe is the best stuff. Just mix it up and try not to over feed. My adults get 1-2% body weight a day.


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## David Taggart

All depends what type of chicken you get. If that is a very young broiler - everything is very much chewable and would be solved in the stomach, but if it is older - the bonal tissue stiffens, cannot be digested easily and the middle of the corticale bone breaks under your dog's teeth into dangerous fragments which can cause perforation of the gut. Normally, I also remove the bones of the wings, chicken clavicles which have V shape and shoulder blades.


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## boomer11

where do you guys get ground meat? its so expensive! i tried to feed him some gizzard/hearts and he didnt like them.

also my pup is 9 weeks old. i've fed him nothing but chicken leg quarters and wings for an entire week and his poop is still very runny/mushy. what am i doing wrong?


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## Lauri & The Gang

boomer11 said:


> where do you guys get ground meat? its so expensive! i tried to feed him some gizzard/hearts and he didnt like them.


I buy my supplies from a couple local bulk processors. I get beef, turkey and pork hearts as well as chicken parts and more.



> also my pup is 9 weeks old. i've fed him nothing but chicken leg quarters and wings for an entire week and his poop is still very runny/mushy. what am i doing wrong?


How much - in WEIGHT - are you feeding the pup each day? How much does the pup weigh now?


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## Lauri & The Gang

David Taggart said:


> All depends what type of chicken you get. If that is a very young broiler - everything is very much chewable and would be solved in the stomach, but if it is older - the bonal tissue stiffens, cannot be digested easily and the middle of the corticale bone breaks under your dog's teeth into dangerous fragments which can cause perforation of the gut. Normally, I also remove the bones of the wings, chicken clavicles which have V shape and shoulder blades.


Older hens are sold under the name 'Stewing' chickens (or hens). It's actually difficult to find them at most local grocery stores. Because they are tough they are mainly sold to rendering plants for processing into things like dog food or chicken broth.


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## Lauri & The Gang

mharrisonjr26 said:


> I used to feed 2 chicken quarters a day.


One thing I always stress with those new to feeding a raw diet is that you cannot feed NUMBERS of things - you HAVE to feed by WEIGHT.

The processor that I order from has two different brands of chicken leg quarters. For one brand the average weight of a leg quarter is around 16 ounces - sometimes more! The other brand - those average around 7-8 ounces.

That is a HUGE difference in weight. If I was feeding 2 of the little quarters my GSD would not be getting enough food. If I was feeding two of the big ones - he's be fat!!

Once you are good with the weight of the foods you need to feed you can estimate by sight or numbers.


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## boomer11

hes 18 pounds as of today. im basically feeding him one pound a day. i chop the chicken quarter up into thigh for lunch and drum stick for dinner. should i add pumpkin? the poop is runny and yellow


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## volcano

try a bonier portion like a back or necks and see if the poop firms up. Runny and yellow sounds like some real diarrhea vs just loose stooland may be more than diet?


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## MilesNY

When I started my little girl on raw(the breeder feeding kibble) I used premade ground with bone and not chicken. I added in pumpkin and goats milk as well. After about three weeks I added chicken thighs and she handled it fine. It was a clean break not gradual, she handled it well but I think her body needed time to adjust before she could digest the whole bone properly. My male was fed raw at the breeder so he handled chicken from the first day. Leg quarts are a weight bearing chicken bone so harder than say the necks and backs, you may want to try those first and work up.


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## MilesNY

Oh and I order my ground from a distributer, I am part of a few raw feeding email lists and that's where I get a lot of my sources. Depending on the type of ground 1.70 a lb for say beef to like 2.75 a lb for goat. It has organ meat, some has bone and some doesn't. It's a little expensive but it's easy to add variety and at only .5 lbs per dog per day, is still cheaper than if I fed a high quality kibble.


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## mharrisonjr26

Chickens are very small animals even the largest chicken probably wont have bones to dense for a puppy just my experience. If you see bones in the stool or its difficult to for her to go I would go another route or slow down on the RMB.

If you think about it wolves and dogs have the same digestive system. Wolves dont eat the weight bearing bones of large animals. Hpwever! They will consume every part of the small animals. Raw feeding is the natural way for them to eat. Its really not that hard IMHO as long as you switch things up you dont need supplements veggies, fruit ect.I feed they Prey Model style of raw feeding.


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## MilesNY

I agree puppies can digest the bone, but if you take a puppy who has never been feed raw and doesn't have the digestive history, you may want to start out with lighter bones. Number one they need to learn to chew it properly, and their bodies need to be able to digest it properly. I know a great many adult dogs who have trouble with chicken quarters. None of mine do, but I have seen it often enough with raw fed adult dogs to know they can be an issue.


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## mharrisonjr26

MilesNY said:


> I agree puppies can digest the bone, but if you take a puppy who has never been feed raw and doesn't have the digestive history, you may want to start out with lighter bones. Number one they need to learn to chew it properly, and their bodies need to be able to digest it properly. I know a great many adult dogs who have trouble with chicken quarters. None of mine do, but I have seen it often enough with raw fed adult dogs to know they can be an issue.
> 
> 
> Sent from Petguide.com Free App


Really? Ive read it but never heard this.


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