JulesXX

I haven't given Lilly many bones in the past - she is sick on the rawhide bones that we get from the petshop and I tend to give her a raw bone in the summer when she can chew it in the garden.

What bones are the best? Marrowbones. I saw on an earlier thread Tarrismore recommended chicken carcases. If I was to go my local butcher, what bone is the best?

Thankyou. xx

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Julesxx and Lilly

Odismum

We get Odi's bones from our local butcher and we have rib bones, she loves them

Tarimoor_Art

Hi Jules,

Chicken carcasses/wings are great and form a large part of the raw food I give my girls, because they are the right proportion meat/bone/fat etc, and contain a higher level of essential fatty acids than either lamb or beef. But if you're giving a treat, and want to give bones a couple of times a week, I'd suggest lamb mainly, with the occasional beef marrow bone (better if you can ascertain whether it was from a younger animal with softer bones), as lamb bones aren't as dense as beef marrow bones, so won't wear their teeth down as quickly. Having said that, mine are through lamb bones nearly as quickly as chicken bones they're so used to them!!

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two-dogs

Now I'm confused ... I know that chicken contains omega 6, but not omega 3 or 9. And I'm not aware that lamb or beef contain any EFA's.

Lizi, Tilly & Beau

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Lizi x

Tarimoor_Art

Hi Lizi, just quickly posting, you're right, chicken contains good levels of omega-6 essential fatty acids, as well as being b complex vitamins.

One of the best websites I found to look at is this one, that gives you a breakdown of all the nutritional content of all the components of the raw diet:

http://www.lowchensaustralia.com/health/chicken.htm

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two-dogs

Thanks for the link, I'm already familiar with this website.

But there is no mention of EFA levels on any of the 'Nutritional Values of ...' pages, so I'm still none the wiser :?

Lizi, Tilly & Beau

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Lizi x

Tarimoor_Art

If you google 'efa levels raw chicken', or similar, it comes up with a number of websites Lizi, I don't know if any of them will be any help?

Apols for the confusion re the 'essential fatty acids', it's just the way it's written as plural but refers to Omega 6 in the literature I had to hand, it's just one of those things that can be worded either way I think??

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drurye

excuse my ignorence......wont the dogs choke on chicken bones. I've always thought only marrow bones are safe

mog

same here :? i was told by the vet for my last dog that dogs shouldnt have bones because thay cant digest them and if thay eat sharp bits thay can do damage

Tarimoor_Art

Cooked bones shouldn't be fed to dogs, raw bones are fine. A dog's digestive system is very efficient at dealing with bones, so as long as you introduce them to it in the right way, let their system get used to the occasional chicken wing, they cope with them absolutely fine. And if you wanted to introduce other bones, lamb and beef, once they're used to chicken they usually cope absolutely fine with these too.

Next time your vet tells you such a lot of nonsense, just ask him what he thinks they dogs have actually evolved to eat? By the time they've developed an opposable thumb to use a tin opener, they'd be extinct :wink: :lol: :lol: :lol:

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