cornish game hens

My Dog Bishop · 10-03-2009, 12:18 PM

I was at the butcher the other day, and I picked up two frozen cornish game hens with the idea that I was going to feed them to my 2 year old Aussie mix.

I usually give him one cup of kibble in the morning, and another cup at night. Less if I give him treats, or a little more if he'd been really active that day. How much of the cornish game hen should I give him? Do I give him the giblets, too?

I am new to this raw thing. I'm not switching him to a totally raw diet, but I like to vary it a little. Or is varying his meals a bad thing?

Kathyy · 10-03-2009, 01:03 PM

Raw fed dogs get started at 2% body weight for a full feed. If you were using this for half a day's food you would feed 1% of the weight of the dog. A 50 pound dog would get 1 pound of meat/bone a day full feed and 8 ounces for a half a day's feed. So 1/2 the CGH might be the right amount for one meal IF it isn't too small. Ideally the piece fed should be at least the size of the dog's skull so the food gets chomped up quite a bit before swallowing. Feed the giblets minus the neck which would be swallowed whole by any dog interested in eating it.

I have always given smaller raw treats and the dogs were fine with that, turkey wing tips, liver, raw beef ribs. Never so much as 1/2 the day's food. Many people do 1/2 raw and large raw treats without problems though.

My Dog Bishop · 10-03-2009, 01:28 PM

I've started to give him raw beef bones with the marrow still in them as a treat twice a week. It's been the only thing that takes away his bad breath. LOL

I think I will start with giving him less than half the hen; I'll probably quarter it and re-freeze it. Thanks for the advice!

Hallie · 10-03-2009, 01:44 PM

Make sure you leave meat on the bones! Hallie gets raw whenever I have it or I feel like she could use some, her diet wildly varies..It's never the same!

dogtra1n1ngl0ve · 10-03-2009, 02:35 PM

What are the pros and cons to feeding a dog raw meat like this?

Kathyy · 10-03-2009, 08:39 PM

My concern is the dog may swallow the whole thing in one gulp if it is too small.

The real thing does a good job cleaning the teeth, doesn't it? I tried so many artificial bones and she just broke them and swallowed chunks whole. Yuck. I think beef ribs IF you get the bone away before the dog starts gnawing hard on it does a better job than chicken pieces as chicken goes down so fast. Look for pig feet and raw uncured pork hocks for good chewing too.

My Dog Bishop · 10-03-2009, 11:02 PM

Hallie, I'm glad to hear that other people vary the diet! The beef bones have a little bit of meat, but not much. I left all the meat on the cornish game hen, though. I gave him about a quarter of it. He gobbled it up.

Your Beagle is gorgeous, by the way!

Kathyy, I agree, the beef bones do such a good job with cleaning teeth, and his breath only smells like raw meat afterwards. Better than bacteria! I will keep an eye out for the pig feet and pork hocks. Thanks for the tip.