Duck necks

Hello

I've been raw feeding my 2 labs for a couple of months now. Their mince has 10% bone included but I did want to give them some bones to eat as well. I tried them with some duck necks and they were gone in 2 gulps - absolutely no chewing involved at all! I was a bit worried, but they appeared to suffer no ill effects.

My question really is - is that OK or would you avoid that sort of think if they are not going to chew it? I've got a couple of pigs trotters in the freezer to try next but not sure what to do with the 6 duck necks I have left...is it alright for them to eat them in 2 gulps?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

wormole

I stopped feeding chicken necks so often because Kiki would do a similar thing. If they get them now (sometimes the carcasses I buy come with the necks in still), I will hold one end so she has to crunch them up. She did get the hang of it when I was doing this regularly and could be trusted to crunch them properly without me holding them in the end, but as she doesn't have them regularly she tends to forget to chew them.
Just mind your fingers if you do the above, I never had any problems but I heard of someone who had their finger bitten off when trying to grab half a chicken wing out of their dog's mouth!

Yes I have had problems with chicken necks causing colitis on different occasions so I had to stop giving them.Others give them and don't seem to have any problems so it has got to be how the individual dog deals with them.I'm not sure whether Ruby being a boxer and wide jawed has anything to do with swallowing large pieces without chewing properly or she just doesn't digest them adequately.She has reguritated chipped pieces of harder bone a few times so I know I can't just give her anything and expect her to digest it.If your dog seems to eat and digest it without problems then it should be ok but if it can't you will get the reactions I have mentioned.

Perfectly normal, remember dogs do not chew! In order to chew a dog would need a jaw that moves from side to side like sheep, horses, cows etc and flat molars; they are designed to rip, shred, tear, gulp, gnaw.

If things like this hit the floor when I throw them at my dogs, I know they must be ill!

Even chicken leg/thighs i have to hold for Harvey as he would just swallow it whole - hes never learned! As hes crunching i tell him hes good & to be "gentle" & he is. Only bones i give him to himself are large marrow or shin bones.

I thing you need to look up the word chew and I think you will find it is a collective word to discribe a range of eating methods that also covers masticating the chewing action of a cow. I don't think manufacturers would be selling dog chews if dogs couldn't chew.

Thanks for your advice everyone - I'll try holding one end - carefully!

wormole

Good luck!