# Raw Turkey Bones



## Nargle (Oct 1, 2007)

For those of you in the US, Thanksgiving is coming up! And I'm guessing for many of you raw feeders, turkey is on the menu for your dogs this holiday. Personally, every time I prepare raw birds or fish, I like to give the "leftover" parts raw to Basil. I butterfly my turkeys and chickens, so there is usually neck, organs, back meat and the breast bone left over. However, I am a little concerned feeding raw turkey bones to my dog.

Chicken bones are relatively soft when raw, and typically I cut the bones into small pieces and make kind of a chicken mush for him so that he doesn't swallow a large chunk of bone. But cutting up turkey bones, seeings as they're bigger and harder, is proving to be difficult. Would it be okay to give them to him whole? I know that weight baring bones (legs and pelvis?) are apparently too hard to chew and may harm the teeth. From my understanding, rib bones and vertebrae are relatively easy to chew, though. What about the breast bone and the pelvic area of the back?

Also, I've noticed that when I cut or break a raw turkey bone, it tends to feel rather sharp. Is this safe? Is Basil at risk of swallowing sharp chunks of bone if I give them to him raw? Will they damage his digestive tract?

If he is unable to eat these bones, would it be an okay idea to put the turkey back/neck/breast bone/organs all in a crock pot and cook them on a low heat for several hours until the bones are very soft? I've overcooked a chicken in the crock pot before so that the bones were barely distinguishable from the meat, so I know they wouldn't be dangerous. But how much of the nutrients are being destroyed if I cook it? Is it defeating the purpose of feeding raw? Is it even worth it? I wouldn't be removing any drippings or anything, so the same basic components would still all be there, just that they would be cooked. 

Finally, if I were to give him, say, a raw breast bone as a recreational bone to chew on, would that be safe? Is there any way I could insure that he wouldn't try to break a tooth on it?

Any input is welcome, thank you! And happy Thanksgiving all! :biggrin1:


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## Elisabeth (Jan 26, 2010)

Turkey bones are quite a bit denser (because they are aged longer most generally) and do appear to splinter when broken. If you have a larger dog who can chomp those big pieces down a bit they should be fine. I know a few smaller dogs have trouble with turkeys as they are too hard for them to crunch through. Turkey is a staple in this house but I have a larger dog and he has no issues breaking them down (I feed drumsticks, quarters, necks and wings).

It really depends on the dog, if you are unsure if he can digest/chew them properly I would skip it or watch him closely.


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## katielou (Apr 29, 2010)

He'll be just fine with raw turkey bones. our 6lb chi gets a quarter of a large turkey whole at TG. The bigger 2 get one split to share.


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## Nargle (Oct 1, 2007)

Basil is 18 lbs. I'm not sure if it matters, but he had several of his incisors and canines bonded and sealed last July because he had chipped them on his crate door. Would this prevent him from properly crunching the bones? He has eaten whole raw chicken bones before no problem, but a scary incident last November has made me a little paranoid. Last Thanksgiving I fed him a raw turkey gizzard, and he got a piece of it stuck in his lower esophagus (he could still breathe) and I thought he was bloating. He was perfectly fine afterwards, but it scared the heck out of me, so I've been extra careful. 

Katielou, could you clarify what you mean when you say you give your 6lb chi a quarter of a large turkey? Are you saying you give him like 4 lbs of food, lol? Is this spread out over days or one meal? Can he chew through leg bones and breast bones?


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## Kathyy (Jun 15, 2008)

If you aren't comfortable don't give the bones or try the slow cooking. Even if the bones don't soften up the meat will fall off the bone. No, long cooking isn't good for delicate amino acids and water soluable vitamins but this isn't your feeding plan for the rest of his life and it will be fine. 

The rib bones are much easier to crunch. Max's first raw fed Thanksgiving I gave him the wings, back and rib cage in bits over a few weeks, he was fine. Dogs chomp bones up with the premolars not the incisors and canines so that should be just fine. This summer, Max has been on raw for 2 years, he got drumsticks and wings and did great. He mostly ate the knobby softer ends and left the scary looking shards of the bone shaft.

Max is 38 pounds and the drumstick was gone in one meal but I do offer up big stuff sometimes and feed small meals after so he doesn't get chunky. He eats the easy stuff off first, not crunching the whole thing like it is a chicken wing. If Basil isn't raw fed I don't know if offering up an extra large meal is a good idea.

I listen to the chomping up. If it sounds like he is breaking whole hard candies I am not happy and trade for the bone which is probably bare. If it sounds more like the thin mostly gone hard candy then I don't worry. If Basil is stripping the meat rather than chomping up the whole bit I bet the bone is harder than he is comfortable with. As in I offer up beef ribs - Max strips meat and nibbles the end. Pork ribs generally get chomped up like peanut brittle. So I don't leave Max with beef ribs after the meat is gone. That is what I do, you must use your best judgement for your dog. 

Those gizzards are something else. I gave Max a cooked turkey gizzard and it gave him a tummy ache and was rejected whole after several days. DAYS.


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## Nargle (Oct 1, 2007)

Thanks for all of the input! I do feed Basil raw on a regular basis, but his main diet is still kibble. He probably gets raw a couple of times a week, though on occasion he'll get raw meals for like a whole week if I have enough for him. When I feed raw, it's usually chicken, fish, ground turkey or the occasional piece of trimmed off lamb/beef/bison fat. Also, when I feed raw I don't feed very big meals. I don't weigh it because I don't have a scale, but the volume of the meal is about the same as the volume of his kibble meals, split into two meals for that day.

I decided to give it a shot and let Basil chew on a raw turkey breast bone tonight. He started on the edges and chewed off mostly meat, cartilage and some pieces of bone. The crunching wasn't particularly dramatic and I watched him to make sure he was crunching through quickly rather than struggling or crunching really hard. When he got down to the hard part of the bone I saw him break off a piece and move it around his mouth (not chewing) and then just go ahead and swallow it whole, so I traded him for a turkey tail and took the bone away from him. I'm not sure how big the piece was that he swallowed, but I figured that it would be best if he quit while he was ahead.

I would assume that the bones in the back aren't as hard as the breast bone, correct? If so, I suppose that he probably won't have a problem with them if he handled the breast bone okay, right? I still may try slow cooking the pelvic bone area of the back but not all of it just to experiment and see how it goes. 

Kathyy, just curious, but when you said that cooking isn't good for the amino acids and water soluble vitamins, were you referring to the nutrients in the bones? From what I understand, dogs need bones for the calcium and the marrow, right? Would cooking destroy those things? I would some day like to transition fully to raw, and I wonder if it's an okay option to feed raw meat and organs, but slow cook the bones to soften them? Or would it just be best to either use bone meal or small whole bones?

Also, that's interesting that Max had a hard time with the gizzard. Very curious. The gizzard's primary function is to grind up and break down food, correct? Perhaps it's just a really tough organ? Usually when I give Basil gizzards nowadays I chop it up into tiny pieces and he does okay with it.


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## MagicRe (Jan 8, 2010)

katielou said:


> He'll be just fine with raw turkey bones. our 6lb chi gets a quarter of a large turkey whole at TG. The bigger 2 get one split to share.


i wanna see a picture of that....i can just imagine this tiny wee chi going after a quarter of a turkey LOL...bet she thinks she's ferocious....

to the OP....please never give cooked bones. they get brittle and whatever nutrients were there, won't be.

you've fed raw....if your dog choked on a piece of gizzard which is considered a rich meat, not an organ.....it was purely by accident....

if you're going to feed raw, raw bone is soft and porous.....and whilst turkey legs are denser, as are the legs of larger proteins....they can be recreational, even if your dog can't chew through them.....

my 18 pound pug does fine on turkey breast...although i've never given him a turkey leg....well, not yet...we're waiting for after thanksgiving to buy some turkeys cheap...and then he'll have turkey leg...


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## Kathyy (Jun 15, 2008)

That is a lot of work, cooking bone until it softens up. I wouldn't go to the bother unless it was really special bone somehow, I would just offer bone I was comfortable giving the dog. The calcium and phosphorus is just fine cooked but stuff like vitamin Bs, C and taurine would be completely and utterly gone if there is any in mostly bone anyway. Most of the amino acids would be okay I think but you are cooking bare bone just so it doesn't go to waste and that protein isn't important, right? 

I think the pelvic bone is thinner than the breast bone, give it a feel to see what you think. I thought back bones were harder than ribs and softer than wing bones, don't remember how the breast bone was, perhaps I tossed it out, been a couple years.

Good job on the chomp watch! No reason to let him swallow more bits like that.

Gizzards are tough meat, some dogs don't respect them. Max just doesn't digest any cooked cartilage well, exact same thing happened with chicken cartilage. Some mighty kitchen wolf he is! Raw gizzards have been fine so far but he hasn't had a raw turkey gizzard yet.

Teeny dog with big meat. How adorable that must be! A quarter of turkey would be a week's worth of meals for Max, must be nearly a month for a teeny dog!


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## RedyreRottweilers (Dec 17, 2006)

No wing or leg turkey bones for my dogs. I generally use only necks from the turkey.


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## grab (Sep 26, 2009)

We don't do turkey on Thanksgiving, but raw wise, we've only fed turkey necks. My Yorkie thinks they are fantastic and devours one in about 20 minutes


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## mitzi (Aug 3, 2010)

I offered Bosley half of the turkey neck raw on Thanksgiving and he turned his head away and refused it 3 times. But he does eat the raw prepared Nature's Variety Instinct and Stella and Chewys with no problem, I guess I should be thankful for that.


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## Entwine (Jan 14, 2009)

Misty went to town on a raw turkey neck on Thanksgiving.


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## Kathyy (Jun 15, 2008)

Max ended up with the giblets. First turkey neck ever and it was a doozy. 12 ouncer that took 5 minutes to eat and he loved every chomp! It was much harder bone than the large chicken necks and heads he has been getting but easy enough and it wasn't too bony for him. Whole chicken is too bony and turkey neck isn't? Maybe it was the 2 day sized chunk of turkey liver he got along with it?


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## Northern_Inuit_Luv (Aug 26, 2009)

RedyreRottweilers said:


> No wing or leg turkey bones for my dogs. I generally use only necks from the turkey.


I've always heard no legs, but why not wings? Just curious. I've only given them wings once, but didn't have a problem.


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## katielou (Apr 29, 2010)

Nargle said:


> Katielou, could you clarify what you mean when you say you give your 6lb chi a quarter of a large turkey? Are you saying you give him like 4 lbs of food, lol? Is this spread out over days or one meal? Can he chew through leg bones and breast bones?


 Haha i didn't mean to say large turkey but yes he gets thighs and legs and chews through them just fine.


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