# Nervous About Turkey Necks



## Mandy (Aug 30, 2012)

I have a 1 year old male boxer (Logan) who's probably in the 60-65lb range and a five month old (Abby) who is just under 35lb. Logan has been eating raw for a few months now. The puppy just started this week. I'm really torn on turkey necks. I'd like to try them with my dogs (the puppy is still transitioning so it won't be another 2 weeks or so before she gets her next protien), but they make nervous. 

As it is right now, Logan's primary bone source is whole chicken legs. For meats he gets chicken (both with and w/out bone), boneless turkey, boneless beef, and I've been adding boneless pork into the rotation for about a week now as well. So he's already at the point of eating turkey, it's just boneless.

My question is, with dogs this size would turkey necks pose a hazard? Who here feeds them and what breed/size are your dogs? Did you ever have a problem with them?

I should add that both of my mine seem to be pretty thorough chewers.


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## Tracy (Aug 11, 2012)

I feed turkey necks to all 3 of mine. 
Rhodesian Ridgeback
Bullmastiff
Border Collie

Turkey necks are very big (I was surprised by the size of them). 
I've had no problems at all with them and the dogs love them. One of their favourites and an excellent toothbrush.


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## kathylcsw (Jul 31, 2011)

I have fed turkey necks to both my dogs since they were puppies and never have had any issues. As a matter of fact Buster had turkey neck for dinner last night. Both of my dogs weigh 9lbs so as puppies they were like 4lbs when I started giving them turkey necks. I am pretty confident that your dogs will do fine!


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## naturalfeddogs (Jan 6, 2011)

I have three Australian Shepherds and a hound mix. I buy them full size, uncut turkey necks and they all have done great on them. As far as turkey goes, the necks are the easiest bones to eat. They don't have the density of the rest of turkey bones. Although mine all do fine with those as well.


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## GoingPostal (Sep 5, 2011)

All of my dogs are 45-55 pounds and they can handle turkey necks fine, however they are too bony for my male, he gets the smaller half of one at most and my older girl sucks at chewing, she usually regurges hers a couple times but that happens with any large chunk I give her. I feed them along with an egg and organs 1 or 2 times a week.


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## Sprocket (Oct 4, 2011)

Never had a problem with any turkey neck. I know there is a yahoo group that will tear you a new one if you even mention feeding turkey necks. They say you MUST feed it still attached to the turkey! Because you know...we all have turkey farms in our backyards...:wink:

If you are nervous, smash it a little


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## shellbell (Sep 24, 2011)

Get the adult tom ones if you are worried, they weigh about 1lb each. The young female ones, by comparison, weight about 8-10oz. Mine can eat both sizes just fine though, they are labs.


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## doggoblin (Jun 6, 2011)

Our dogs start at around 44lbs up to around 88lbs. All eat complete turkey necks now without a problem. I say now because when we first started Daisy on them who looks structurally like a boxer face wise she did have some difficulty eating them. The main problem was the sinews/ligaments whatever which she couldn't shear through. As a result she tended to regurgitate them, chew them some more and try again which looked horrible as it was accompanied by a white froth. We started to actually slice the necks horizontally along the neck. Now though we do not have to. She has learned how to eat them, we don't slice them and she has no problems eating a whole one.

This is Daisy:


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## wolfsnaps88 (Jan 2, 2012)

I can only find turkey necks when hunting or in a grocery store and they are cut up into 4-6 inch sections. My lab eats these for the bone content because our main bone content is chicken and he is allergic to chicken. He is 120 lbs. and he munches them just fine. It is very much a "know your dog" situation. When feeding anything new, carefully supervise. My mastiff (200 lbs.) also eats turkey necks on occasion and he handles them well too. My dogs are not gulpers, they are all pretty meticulous. I once counted how much my mastiff chews/bites down on his meals and he chews a lot!

I have seen some dogs try to swallow everything as fast as possible. So, basically, turkey necks (or any animal part really) are fine as long as your dog knows how to chew them. The only way to know is to watch your dog do it.


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## xchairity_casex (Oct 8, 2011)

i love feeding necks! i wouldnt worry about them, they are soft enough that i can easily break them up with my hands.
i would go ahead and feed them to either dog


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## Kat (Jul 12, 2011)

I feed them when I can get them, to my 17 pound pug. The puppy has not tried them yet. Ruby does find on them, never had an issue. Great toothbrush too


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## Ivy (Mar 16, 2011)

Turkey necks are great! The ones I get are pretty big. All do fantastic, 2 are about 105lbs and the other is 180lbs with no issues what so ever.


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## Mandy (Aug 30, 2012)

Thanks everyone! I'm going to give it a try. I made a couple of calls tonight to try to find some, but I called to late and had to leave messages. I'm getting a new freezer next week just for dog food so it's time to start buying in bulk!


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## CorgiPaws (Mar 31, 2009)

Turkey necks are a staple here and make up most of the poultry portion for my pack, and most of Annie's bone content. 
I've gotten them in grocery stores pretty small- like the size that is in a Thanksgiving turkey. The ones I order in bulk though are pretty huge. All our dogs eat them and do just fine. My dogs range from 18-130 lbs. One is a 55lb Boxer.


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