# Turkey necks



## wolfy dog (Aug 1, 2012)

Are turkey necks considered MB and MM all in one or do you feed MM along with turkey necks? It seems like there is plenty of meat attached to the bones.


----------



## amburger16 (May 22, 2015)

I'm not sure what they are considered, but the first time I gave them without adding a little meat I watched his poop, it was fine but he struggled a bit, so I just added a little meat the next time and all was well.


----------



## llombardo (Dec 11, 2011)

I got a list of percentage of bone in different cuts(necks, quarters, backs, etc) and use that percentage to determine how much would equal 10% bone. I take the remainder which would be counted towards the meat part. So for example I have one that gets about 2.55 pounds daily, he gets a 1 pound leg quarter, or 1 pound of necks in the morning. In the evening that dog gets about 1.5 pounds of meat(no bone) plus organs(1.7 ounces of liver and 1.7 ounces of kidney, spleen, pancreas). I don't have the exact measurements with me, they are home, but that is the general idea. I measure everything.


----------



## Jax08 (Feb 13, 2009)

It's a RMB. Anything with bone in it is a RMB regardless of the amount of meat on it. Adjust the amount of MM you give accordingly.


----------



## llombardo (Dec 11, 2011)

Turkey necks are 42% bone.


----------



## Jax08 (Feb 13, 2009)

llombardo said:


> Turkey necks are 42% bone.


Where did you get this information? You have it for other parts as well?


----------



## amburger16 (May 22, 2015)

Not sure where I found this, copied it from wherever and keep it handy.

Chicken back - 44% bone 
Chicken neck with skin- 36% bone 
Chicken neck without skin - 75% bone 
Chicken breast - 20% bone 
Chicken wing - 46% bone 
Chicken leg - 27% bone 
Chicken thigh - 21% bone 
Whole chicken - 32% bone 

Turkey Back - 41% bone (with skin removed 51%) 
Turkey neck - 42% bone 
Turkey breast - 10% bone 
Turkey wing - 33% bone 
Turkey leg - 17% bone 
Whole turkey - 21% bone 

Cornish hen - 39% bone


----------



## llombardo (Dec 11, 2011)

amburger16 said:


> Not sure where I found this, copied it from wherever and keep it handy.
> 
> Chicken back - 44% bone
> Chicken neck with skin- 36% bone
> ...



Yep, this is what I use as a guideline. 
http://www.dogsnaturallymagazine.com/bone-food-values-for-raw-feeding-dogs/


----------



## Jax08 (Feb 13, 2009)

What are they considering bone? Only the actual bone material? Or the weight of the marrow within the bone as well?


----------



## llombardo (Dec 11, 2011)

Jax08 said:


> What are they considering bone? Only the actual bone material? Or the weight of the marrow within the bone as well?


I think everything is included. I have a sheet that broke down the calculations of the whole bone versus the meat on the cuts. It averaged out for all of mine to a 1 pound piece(or pieces) per dog per day. I try not to give things that are ove 40% on back to back days. I generally throw leg quarters in between higher bone items like necks and backs.


----------



## llombardo (Dec 11, 2011)

The formula I used to get bone amt daily is


The weight of whole piece in ounces x Bone percentage= Amt of Bone

The rest is meat.


----------



## Jax08 (Feb 13, 2009)

llombardo said:


> I think everything is included.


Then the actual bone content is significantly less than the percentage noted. Just keep that in mind.


----------



## wolfy dog (Aug 1, 2012)

amburger16 said:


> Not sure where I found this, copied it from wherever and keep it handy.
> 
> Chicken back - 44% bone
> Chicken neck with skin- 36% bone
> ...


Thanks!


----------



## llombardo (Dec 11, 2011)

Jax08 said:


> Then the actual bone content is significantly less than the percentage noted. Just keep that in mind.


Yes. I spent hours figuring out everything in ounces and pounds to get as close as possible. So far it's working great and poop is the best and least it's ever been


----------



## MythicMut (May 22, 2015)

If I get too much bone in my mixture the stool gets a bit dry, chalky looking.


----------



## Galathiel (Nov 30, 2012)

That's a handy list. All hypothetical but. ..if a turkey neck is 8 oz then 3.36 oz is bone. If your dog get 2 lbs a day, then that turkey neck would be all the bone they would need for the day correct .. if you go on the 80/10/10 model?


----------



## llombardo (Dec 11, 2011)

Galathiel said:


> That's a handy list. All hypothetical but. ..if a turkey neck is 8 oz then 3.36 oz is bone. If your dog get 2 lbs a day, then that turkey neck would be all the bone they would need for the day correct .. if you go on the 80/10/10 model?


Well that would depend if your feeding 2 or 2.5% of body weight.


----------



## wolfy dog (Aug 1, 2012)

llombardo said:


> Well that would depend if your feeding 2 or 2.5% of body weight.


OMG, never knew wolves were these mathematicians to stay healthy.


----------



## llombardo (Dec 11, 2011)

wolfy dog said:


> OMG, never knew wolves were these mathematicians to stay healthy.


I tell you, I'm addicted to this. It has to be the right proportions or I just feel like it isn't being beneficial


----------



## MythicMut (May 22, 2015)

wolfy dog said:


> omg, never knew wolves were these mathematicians to stay healthy.


lol!


----------



## Moriah (May 20, 2014)

llombardo said:


> Yep, this is what I use as a guideline.
> Bone And Food Values For Raw Feeding Dogs - Dogs Naturally Magazine


Thanks for the link.


----------



## Jax08 (Feb 13, 2009)

llombardo said:


> Yes. I spent hours figuring out everything in ounces and pounds to get as close as possible. So far it's working great and poop is the best and least it's ever been


lol I just used a spreadsheet from Lauri. I've been feeding for years and all BW is great, dogs look great. I've tweaked over the years based on type of bone, added veges. But apparently not nearly as much as you did!


----------



## llombardo (Dec 11, 2011)

Jax08 said:


> lol I just used a spreadsheet from Lauri. I've been feeding for years and all BW is great, dogs look great. I've tweaked over the years based on type of bone, added veges. But apparently not nearly as much as you did!


I get so excited when the dogs get excited to eat. I love how they dance and talk to me. My 11 yr old who never got excited about food is right there with them. I love trying new things with them and I've found a couple good suppliers through here


----------



## llombardo (Dec 11, 2011)

Apollo now gets his bowl and patiently waits for his food...


----------



## Galathiel (Nov 30, 2012)

Such a cute pic. and what I meant in my post was would that be the correct proportions IF your dog through the magic of mathematics ('grin') gets 2 lbs a day... I was just asking proportionally... geez. I don't feed raw, I just give raw treats so it's all hypothetical.


----------



## llombardo (Dec 11, 2011)

Galathiel said:


> Such a cute pic. and what I meant in my post was would that be the correct proportions IF your dog through the magic of mathematics ('grin') gets 2 lbs a day... I was just asking proportionally... geez. I don't feed raw, I just give raw treats so it's all hypothetical.


I know...I'll never hear the end of it, so obviously I have to now teach my pups math


----------



## wolfy dog (Aug 1, 2012)

So if I understand the info correctly then turkey necks and chicken backs are pretty much complete amounts in addition to organ meat? No additional MM needed?


----------



## Galathiel (Nov 30, 2012)

Not really. if you were feeding RMB/MM method then it's 50% - RMB 
45% - MM 5% - organ. That means half their meal could be turkey necks/chicken backs, but the other half would need to be MM and organ, assuming "I" understand correctly .. no promises on that one!


----------



## llombardo (Dec 11, 2011)

wolfy dog said:


> So if I understand the info correctly then turkey necks and chicken backs are pretty much complete amounts in addition to organ meat? No additional MM needed?


I give turkey neck, a back, a quarter in the morning(1 pound worth). Some of it counts toward muscle meat. In the evening they get the remainder muscle meat and organs.


----------



## llombardo (Dec 11, 2011)

You have to remember that the bone content is pretty high with necks, so the more necks you add ups the bone. You also have to figure what the bone content is for the meal. I'm closer to 15 % some days, the next day they get no bone or something that has less bone. With those huge turkey necks I didn't give bone until two evenings later. I think on average an 80 pound dog needs between 2.5 and 3 ounces of bone.


----------



## Galathiel (Nov 30, 2012)

Hey I can do math . honest.. that was a typo *cough* .. yeah ..


----------



## llombardo (Dec 11, 2011)

Here is a sample meal(this is Tannors (golden)dinner)

He is at 2 pounds(sometimes slightly more) a day, which is 32 oz.(he gets 25.6 oz muscle meat, 1.6 oz liver, 1.6 oz other organs and 3.20 oz of bone. (Morning meal is a pound(give or take of meaty bone-3.5-4.5 oz of that is bone and the remainder is muscle meat(16-18 oz minus the bone which is the ounces of meaty bone piece multiplied by % of bone that is estimated to be in there-it gets really close to where we need to be and is working!)

He gets 13.1 ounces of meat(tonite it was ground chicken, turkey and chicken gizzards, beef strips) and 1.6 ounces of pork liver/1.6 ounces of beef kidney/lamb spleen.


----------



## Jax08 (Feb 13, 2009)

Galathiel said:


> Not really. if you were feeding RMB/MM method then it's 50% - RMB
> 45% - MM 5% - organ. That means half their meal could be turkey necks/chicken backs, but the other half would need to be MM and organ, assuming "I" understand correctly .. no promises on that one!


that's not correct. the 50/45/5 percentages are a starting point. If the RMB has a lot of bone as a poultry neck or back does, then it should be adjusted to have more MM. if it's a quarter with more meat then adjust the other way.


----------



## Galathiel (Nov 30, 2012)

Right, but his question was a starting point as well. I was just responding that turkey necks aren't a complete meal of themselves ... I'm sure everyone will figure out that the percentages will be individual to the dog.


----------



## Jax08 (Feb 13, 2009)

I understood the original question and responding to the percentages. The original question itself implies that the OP did not understand RMB's and adjusting percentages or it wouldn't have been asked.

OP - for a turkey neck, I kick the percentage back to 35-40 percent. I don't feed turkey necks a lot because they are a pain to cut up into portion size. I typically feed duck necks and wings and put those in at 40%. It's not an exact science but after 7 years of feeding raw, all their Chem17 BW results make my vets very happy.


----------



## llombardo (Dec 11, 2011)

Jax08 said:


> I understood the original question and responding to the percentages. The original question itself implies that the OP did not understand RMB's and adjusting percentages or it wouldn't have been asked.
> 
> OP - for a turkey neck, I kick the percentage back to 35-40 percent. I don't feed turkey necks a lot because they are a pain to cut up into portion size. I typically feed duck necks and wings and put those in at 40%. It's not an exact science but after 7 years of feeding raw, all their Chem17 BW results make my vets very happy.


I agree with not feeding turkey necks often. I tried cutting them up and that didn't work well at all. I feed once a week and no bone for a couple days. I had to buy special scissors to cut up chicken because my senior princess will not eat bone pieces whole, they have to be cut up.


----------



## mspiker03 (Dec 7, 2006)

llombardo said:


> I agree with not feeding turkey necks often. I tried cutting them up and that didn't work well at all. I feed once a week and no bone for a couple days. I had to buy special scissors to cut up chicken because my senior princess will not eat bone pieces whole, they have to be cut up.



You don't use a cleaver? My older female likes smaller pieces too and I just hack away.

And +1 to Jax about wings/necks being 35-40% of the meal. I used the poop science to figure that out


----------



## Jax08 (Feb 13, 2009)

llombardo said:


> I agree with not feeding turkey necks often. I tried cutting them up and that didn't work well at all. I feed once a week and no bone for a couple days. I had to buy special scissors to cut up chicken because my senior princess will not eat bone pieces whole, they have to be cut up.


Cleaver!

One of my dogs didn't chew well enough and choked on a portion sized chunk. I just stick to the smaller duck and chicken pieces. I do have turkey wings. They are HUGE! But Seger does well with them. I won't buy them again though. I can't control the portion size like I can with smaller poultry.


----------



## llombardo (Dec 11, 2011)

I never thought of using a cleaver...duh:crazy:


----------



## mspiker03 (Dec 7, 2006)

llombardo said:


> I never thought of using a cleaver...duh:crazy:



Well I guess we know what you will be doing today - getting a cleaver!


----------



## wolfy dog (Aug 1, 2012)

Why wouldn't you feed turkey necks too often? Deja eats them on a regular bases and cuts off one vertebrae at a time without any problem. Just curious why you wouldn't give them more often?


----------



## Jax08 (Feb 13, 2009)

The only reason I don't is I can't control the portion size as easily as a smaller bird. And Jax choked on a portion sized piece. 

However, a friend feels just the opposite and won't feed chicken necks or wings of any kind because she's had issues.

It is 100% a personal preference.


----------



## wolfy dog (Aug 1, 2012)

OK, I see.


----------

