# Dog ate a WHOLE chicken neck



## doginthedesert (Jun 18, 2010)

So I have already talked to the vet, they do not seem overly concerned. They told me that chicken necks are probably one of the easier large things to pass that they have heard of a dog eating, the main concern would be on him choking on it on the way down. They said there is always a risk when they eat something that large. I am on the lookout for a possible blockage and will get him in at the first sign. But hopefully all will pass well.

My question is with all of the raw feeders on here, how do you prevent this from happening? My dog usually does not gulp food, in fact he is a dainty eater. Today was the first time I gave him a chicken neck, I held it for him while he first chewed it, then he took it from me and started ripping from one end. At first he was not really into it, but after a few minutes I felt like he had the idea of what to do with it and I got up. Not 5 minutes later he just swallowed what was left whole. It was like him swallowing a whole sausage, I could not believe it. And it happened so fast, he was ripping at it, then suddenly the whole thing was in his mouth and he gulped it down. He only weighs 22lbs, so it really looked too big for him to swallow.

I doubt I will be feeding a chicken neck for a while, but I do want to offer raw bones, and now I am worried that he needs some sort of "training" to eat them. Besides the risk of bowel issues they do no good to his teeth if he swallows them whole. Even though the vet said not to worry too much, they also said it was a bad idea to feed him anything he will gulp whole like that. Any advise?

We could also use some good vibes sent our way to help this pass quickly and without incident.


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## RedyreRottweilers (Dec 17, 2006)

What are you talking about? A chicken neck is about the size of my thumb. No issue for ANY dog, even a Chihuahua. It is normal for dogs to swallow pieces that are a manageable size for them whole.

The solution, however, is to feed larger pieces so that the dog cannot bolt them.


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## no.guru (Apr 9, 2010)

I understand your concern, but my 40 pound GS-Husky mix ate a bone that weighed at least 5 pounds. In about 30 minutes. I left her alone with it in the garage at a family reunion. When I returned later to see how she was, it was gone. Enclosed car port, nowhere she could have buried or hid it and no other creature took it from her.

I won't do it again because I now know how risky it is, but I wouldn't believe my story unless I had been there. Your dog should be fine.


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## doginthedesert (Jun 18, 2010)

RedyreRottweilers said:


> What are you talking about? A chicken neck is about the size of my thumb. No issue for ANY dog, even a Chihuahua. It is normal for dogs to swallow pieces that are a manageable size for them whole.
> 
> The solution, however, is to feed larger pieces so that the dog cannot bolt them.


Maybe we have freakishly large chickens? I just looked at them again and they are 5-6 inches long and go from under 1/2" at the tip to over 1" at the base. Did the butcher give us some strange cut of meat that is not a chicken neck?

Thanks for the advise though, I will stick with bigger bones from now on.


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## infiniti (Mar 19, 2010)

doginthedesert said:


> Maybe we have freakishly large chickens? I just looked at them again and they are 5-6 inches long and go from under 1/2" at the tip to over 1" at the base. Did the butcher give us some strange cut of meat that is not a chicken neck?
> 
> Thanks for the advise though, I will stick with bigger bones from now on.


No, I think you have a standard chicken neck. When I buy a whole chicken, and the neck and gizzards are included, the neck is about what you describe.

Your dog will probably be fine. Just keep an eye out for the first 24 hours if you're concerned. If he has regular BMs then everything should all work out in the end ....


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## Nallah06 (Nov 26, 2008)

We had the same occurance this winter with Morgan. She passed it just fine.

Biggest lesson learned is to feed BIGGER so this doesn't happen. No more chicken necks, we only do turkey necks now. They are easily twice the size in length and diameter.


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## DJEtzel (Dec 28, 2009)

RedyreRottweilers said:


> What are you talking about? A chicken neck is about the size of my thumb. No issue for ANY dog, even a Chihuahua. It is normal for dogs to swallow pieces that are a manageable size for them whole.
> 
> The solution, however, is to feed larger pieces so that the dog cannot bolt them.


What are YOU talking about? I don't know, but maybe you should have your facts straight before posting. (hmm, where have I heard that before? )

Chicken necks are a LOT larger than any human's thumb should be. Either you're feeding baby chickens, or some other small game bird, because we feed chicken necks and like others said, they're 6ish inches long and pretty thick. 

...unless you're the hulk or something.


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## Bart (Jul 15, 2010)

My dog eats whole chicken necks, whole turkey necks. He gulps whole drumsticks in one swallow -- though he usually cracks them in his molars first. Dogs don't need to chew their food. If it's small enough to swallow, it goes down whole. Their teeth are for tearing flesh (the incissors) for breaking bones (the molars) and ripping meat off a carcass (the premolars and canines).

Necks and wings are about the easiest thing. I'd be a little concerned about a whole turkey drumstick -- you know from one of those 50 pound turkeys they grow these days, but my dog is going to break it up before it goes down.


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## doginthedesert (Jun 18, 2010)

The neck in question passed just fine, like everone including the vet said it would. I guess I am just a little paranoid.

I will be looking for bigger stuff but in the meanwhile I held onto a neck while he chewed on it, he had a great time and i just tossed it once it got small. It worked prety well and kept it off the floor, but it was a little gross.


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## DJEtzel (Dec 28, 2009)

Bart said:


> Necks and wings are about the easiest thing. I'd be a little concerned about a whole turkey drumstick -- you know from one of those 50 pound turkeys they grow these days, but my dog is going to break it up before it goes down.


From what I have heard and read, you shouldn't be giving turkey drumsticks to dogs. They're considered weight bearing bones and can splinter as if they were cooked.


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## Northern_Inuit_Luv (Aug 26, 2009)

My dog swallows her chicken necks whole most of the time, or she'll give them one crunch to soften it up before going down. I'm not in the least bit worried about them because of how soft they are (even if you try to break/cut them, they don't get any sharp edges). I tend to get really large chicken necks from my supplier...they are much larger than the necks you would get if you purchased a whole chicken.

But a big no to giving turkey legs...I thought that turkey wings would be fine, but when I tried to give those, the bone breaks into sharp edges and my dogs end up hacking them back up. So right now the only turkey they get is boneless stuff and necks (which they chew into bite size peices).


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## Bart (Jul 15, 2010)

DJEtzel said:


> From what I have heard and read, you shouldn't be giving turkey drumsticks to dogs. They're considered weight bearing bones and can splinter as if they were cooked.


That's not a bad rule of thumb and I wouldn't argue that turkey drumsticks shouldn't be the most sought after part of a raw diet, but I'm not convinced that weight bearing bones are always bad. If they're small and soft because the bird was young when slaughtered, I don't see a problem. Most commercial poultry is only a few months old when they're slaughtered. If it was an ancient Tom that's been petrifying in the barnyard for ages, then I could see more concern -- or maybe more importantly if the bones have dried out on a leftover or decomposed carcass or were cooked. But exactly how much weight does a broiler chicken bear? It's slaughtered at full weight after 6 to 8 weeks of standing at the feeder after hatching.


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## RedyreRottweilers (Dec 17, 2006)

I know someone who lost a promising young bitch to an intestinal perforation from a turkey wing. I have been a raw feeder for close to 20 years, and I do not feed these pieces to my dogs. You shoot a wild turkey? You bet. These hippos they grow in the barnyard? Nope. Not for my dogs, anyway.


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## nikkiluvsu15 (Jun 18, 2009)

I agree that its not really anything to be super worried about. Harleigh does just fine with smaller bones, isn't a very big gulper either, but since the Chicken Necks are on the smaller side she only crunches it like 2-3 times and then swallows. I think your dog will be just fine, just keep a close eye and then feed bigger bones 

FYI--This is what the Chicken Necks I buy look like.


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## heidiann (Feb 3, 2008)

doginthedesert said:


> Maybe we have freakishly large chickens? I just looked at them again and they are 5-6 inches long and go from under 1/2" at the tip to over 1" at the base. Did the butcher give us some strange cut of meat that is not a chicken neck?


We buy chicken necks by the case and they vary in size from the above to much smaller. My dogs tend to eat them faster out of a bowl than they do when I hand feed them, so we either hand feed them or feed them partially frozen (which also slows them down). 

They have swallowed them whole and we haven't had any problems at all. I find that if they chew them up and swallow too big of a piece they will cough them up and rechew or whatever is needed.


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## LazyGRanch713 (Jul 22, 2009)

infiniti said:


> No, I think you have a standard chicken neck. When I buy a whole chicken, and the neck and gizzards are included, the neck is about what you describe.
> 
> Your dog will probably be fine. Just keep an eye out for the first 24 hours if you're concerned. *If he has regular BMs then everything should all work out in the end* ....


Groan, lol! (I'm so childish)
I've never fed chicken necks. I'm a wimp. My dogs are gulpers, Dude especially. He's choked on several foodstuffs before (raw AND kibble) and I just won't take the risk. (FTR, he almost passed out when he was choking on raw, my mom managed to fingersweep and get what was causing the problem...a small piece of chicken. It scared me so bad any and all raw Dude eats is shoved through the food processor twice. Still get recreational bones that are his size so he can't swallow them whole.) 
I used to feed turkey necks occasionally when I tried raw to see if it would benefit Auz. He ate it, barfed it up. I gave him another a few days later and ate it, barfed it up. No more turkey necks for that boy...



Bart said:


> That's not a bad rule of thumb and I wouldn't argue that turkey drumsticks shouldn't be the most sought after part of a raw diet, but I'm not convinced that weight bearing bones are always bad. If they're small and soft because the bird was young when slaughtered, I don't see a problem. Most commercial poultry is only a few months old when they're slaughtered. If it was an ancient Tom that's been petrifying in the barnyard for ages, then I could see more concern -- or maybe more importantly if the bones have dried out on a leftover or decomposed carcass or were cooked. But exactly how much weight does a broiler chicken bear? It's slaughtered at full weight after 6 to 8 weeks of standing at the feeder after hatching.


I've heard drumsticks are a no-no for inexperienced raw fed dogs, because the shape can be a choking hazard (in giants...in large and medium I've heard chicken legs). I fed leg-thigh quarters instead, no problems.



Bart said:


> My dog eats whole chicken necks, whole turkey necks. He gulps whole drumsticks in one swallow -- though he usually cracks them in his molars first. Dogs don't need to chew their food. *If it's small enough to swallow, it goes down whole. Their teeth are for tearing flesh (the incissors) for breaking bones (the molars) and ripping meat off a carcass (the premolars and canines).*
> 
> Necks and wings are about the easiest thing. I'd be a little concerned about a whole turkey drumstick -- you know from one of those 50 pound turkeys they grow these days, but my dog is going to break it up before it goes down.


It always amazes me watching dogs eat raw. Maybe that's because there's nothing good on TV anymore


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