# Need advice about chicken gizzards



## DanielleK (Aug 9, 2015)

I am a new fur mommy and recently started putting boiled chicken breasts in her dry food but last night found chicken gizzards and decided to try that. I get worried really easily and didn't do extensive research before doing this only knowing its good for dogs. I can't find any info on how many is okay for them to have. Today she got like 3 cut up mixed in with breakfast and 3 cut up mixed in with dinner. Did I just mess my baby up? And should I just stick with the boiled chicken?


----------



## Shell (Oct 19, 2009)

Gizzards are basically just meat. An ounce of raw chicken gizzard has about 26 calories- 21 from protein and 5 from fat. 3 mg of calcium and 41 of phosphorus so I suppose if you have a large breed puppy then you'd want to figure that in if youre' feeding a lot but you'd be wanting to figure in chicken breast too or any other additive like sardines etc.

For comparison, an ounce of raw chicken breast with no skin is about 31 calories - 3 from fat and 28 from protein. 3 mg of calcium and 55 of phosphorus.

I figure that around 20-25% of total calories from real meat and fish and other whole foods when feeding kibble is fine to stay roughly in balance for nutrients. 

I like gizzards for the dogs, they are cheaper than boneless breasts or thighs and easy to find not enhanced with sodium


----------



## DanielleK (Aug 9, 2015)

@Shell...I was more worried about portion size and if I gave her too much not nutritional value and how it would affect her digestive system. I know she's getting enough nutrition during the day! Thank you for the response!!


----------



## Shell (Oct 19, 2009)

DanielleK said:


> @Shell...I was more worried about portion size and if I gave her too much not nutritional value and how it would affect her digestive system. I know she's getting enough nutrition during the day! Thank you for the response!!


Oh, well, no one can say if it will upset your dog or not really. I mean, I don't know how big your dog is, age of the dog, what she normally eats etc.
Some dogs are fine with mixing stuff in with their kibble, some get upset stomachs from even a few extra calories.

My dogs eat 1 pound of raw gizzards each when they get them as a meal. Big dogs, used to a variety of food.

One problem of adding chicken to every meal is the risk of creating a picky dog that won't eat dry food without the additions. Some people prefer to give the chicken at more random meals instead to not create expectations.


----------



## DanielleK (Aug 9, 2015)

@Shell She's 2.7 yrs and 29 lbs and I'm probably just worrying over nothing because she has been eating 1/2 chicken breast with each meal for about a month now and no problems. In fact she has been more energetic and her coat is more lustrous! The gizzards are just cheaper!! It was only 3 with breakfast and 3 with dinner. I just heard too any could cause a blockage of some sort and I started freaking out. Also something about a vitamin a over load something like that


----------



## Kathyy (Jun 15, 2008)

Vitamin A is from liver not gizzards and you would probably have to feed half the diet as liver for months before excess vitamin A might be a problem, unless you are feeding liver from arctic animals. Look up gizzards on a nutrition website, they are much more nutritious than chicken breast and not even fatty. I am being conservative when I write you can substitute 25% of kibble calories for fresh food calories without harming the basic nutrient balance of the diet.


----------



## DanielleK (Aug 9, 2015)

Thank you Kathyy!! Sometimes the worry of how I am taking care of her gets the better of me sometimes. I have had some pretty major loses happen to me recently and I don't know what would happen if something were to happen to Calli. So thank you for the peace of mind!


----------

