Making Dog Food From Offal

Baymule

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We sent 4 lambs to slaughter and I got the liver, heart and kidneys from all four. Today I canned dog food from them. I cooked and diced the meat. I also had a bag of chicken necks in the freezer so I tossed them in too. It made a rich broth.

I put a half cup of cooked rice in each jar, along with cubed end of the season squash. I put 1 cup of the meat, each jar got a chicken neck and filled with broth.

I processed at 10 pounds of pressure for 90 minutes. I just finished 7 quarts and put 5 more quarts in the canner.

Since I was in the kitchen, I made zucchini bread and fried some pan sausage. Zucchini bread is smelling good!

We will mix this with the dogs food on those times when they go off their feed. Talk about an appetite stimulator! LOL
 
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Sara Ranch

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I hope your dogs appreciate the hard work you put into their healthy future meals!

When I start harvesting my chickens & turkeys, I may save the offal and use it for dog food too...

MMMmmmm - zucchini bread! I think I am hungry!

I didn't come close to what you did today in the kitchen. My best effort was beef bone broth turned into soup. :)
 

AClark

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Just a question and not being a jerk, but you put chicken necks in your canned dog food? I know raw chicken necks are nothing to worry about, but doesn't that cook the bones and make them prone to splinter?
I've fed raw food before, I like it, but until we're doing some butchering ourselves it's not cost efficient for me. I do give my dogs the left over cuts and such though as goodies.
 

Baymule

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After being pressure cooked at 10 pounds pressure for 1 hour, 30 minutes, those chicken necks are mush. I also can the back bony pieces of chicken the same way and the bones are soft. My dogs love it. I understand your concern @AClark but after being pressure cooked to death, the chicken bones are not a problem. You can ask me a question any time, I don't get offended by someone questioning my practices, so ask all you want!

If I don't ask for the offal, it gets thrown away. We don't like liver, heart or kidneys, but a little effort it makes great dog food and they love it. When we butcher chicken, I save the back pieces and neck and can them with rice and vegetables for the dogs. There has not been a problem with the bones for my dogs. That's not to say that the bones would or wouldn't be a problem for your dogs, this is what works for me.

@Sara Ranch if ya'll don't eat the chicken gizzards or livers, can them for your dogs. Cut the gizzard open, wash the gunk out and peel the yellow lining off.
 

Southern by choice

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Very cool Bay!
I know you don't do this a lot but just a reminder to everyone to be careful with how much and how often you feed chicken necks.
The thyroid of the chicken is in the neck and this can cause issues for dogs.
 

dejavoodoo114

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@Southern by choice , how often would too often be when considering feeding chicken necks? I never thought about the thyroid being there and being a problem for the dogs. If I know how much time to leave between feedings, I can freeze the necks when I do large batches of chickens.
 

AClark

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Thanks Bay. I knew cooking bones was verboten, (not going to lie I give my dogs cooked beef bones) I do a lot of canning but my meat never has bones in it, I didn't know they turned to mush. So that's really nice, a calcium mush in your dog food!
 

Sara Ranch

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Yeah, I am not a fan of the innards like gizzards. I will definitely share with the doggies. :)

Lost nine birds (chickens/turkeys) today due to high winds/them getting out of safety areas. :barnie:he:rant I am NOT happy about that. Will know shortly if the count is actually higher when I close up and do head count in the next few hours.

It translates to a financial loss as well as a freezer loss. I won't be harvesting as many birds next month for food. :mad::(

Looking forward to the response about the thyroid time line.
 

Baymule

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I put one neck per quart jar. So that probably isn't a problem. I know lots of us raise our own meat, there are always parts we don't like. Some people love liver, we're not in that crowd. If we don't ask for it at the slaughter house, they just throw it away. It's mine. I raised it, why would I let it be thrown away? The squirrel DNA in me just can't let that happen. Just because I don't like it.........the dogs sure love me for it.

@AClark the larger chicken bones like the leg bones don't turn to mush, just the smaller ones and the flat ones like in the back pieces.

@Sara Ranch so sorry about the losses!
 
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