# Best liver to feed and how often?



## Gsd34me (Mar 31, 2010)

What's the best liver to feed beef, chicken etc. And how often can it be fed?


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## spookychick13 (Jan 26, 2010)

Honestly I hate dealing with liver, so I buy it ground in a tube and put it in ice cube trays. Then I just pop a cube out for Flip every few days. Jack only needs about 1/4 of a cube, so I slice it with a knife and put it in a ziplock.


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## spookychick13 (Jan 26, 2010)

P.S. if you're just starting, GO SLOW, it can give them tummy troubles.


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## DaneMama (Jun 27, 2008)

How long have you been feeding raw? I wouldn't add it in til 2-3 months in at a very gradual rate.

I recommend pork liver just because of the size. It's a large organ but not nearly as large as a cow's liver. Chicken livers are disgusting, they are just all goo which makes them hard to handle. If you can get a hold of turkey livers you could see how those are, but I can imagine that they would be ok to deal with.


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## RawFedDogs (Jun 16, 2008)

Gsd34me said:


> What's the best liver to feed beef, chicken etc. And how often can it be fed?


I feed beef liver simply because except for heart, liver is the only thing I feed from a cow. Since I don't feed a lot of liver, I just buy it at the store once a week at regular retail price. I buy a 1lb package and feed it once a week. Any liver is fine to feed. I don't know if there is any difference nutritionally. 

Natalie is correct. If you haven't been feeding raw for 2 or 3 months, I would not feed any organs until then. When you do begin, begin slow. Organs can cause digestive upset until the dog adjusts to them.


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## harrkim120 (Feb 2, 2010)

spookychick13 said:


> Jack only needs about 1/4 of a cube, so I slice it with a knife and put it in a ziplock.


How much does Jack weigh?


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## spookychick13 (Jan 26, 2010)

harrkim120 said:


> How much does Jack weigh?


He is 13lbs. 
And we refer to him as the Garbage Disposal.
He can eat anything, anytime and have no ill effects.

He took to raw like a duck to water. 
NOTHING has bothered him at all so far.


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## whiteleo (Sep 7, 2008)

I feed every kind of liver out there, well that I can find at my good ol community co-op. 
lamb, chicken, beef, liver and also lamb kidney, and heart those are the items I can get regularly at the co-op that are all grainfed hormone free animals. Yummy


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## mike487 (Mar 30, 2010)

The best liver might be from the youngest or most organically raised animals you can get. Liver can accumulate toxins so the younger the animal the less exposure it has had presumably. Example: calf's liver.
WHFoods: Calf's liver


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## whiteleo (Sep 7, 2008)

This is why I absolutely insist on getting my organs from my local community co-op as I know that I'm getting grainfed hormone free items, I believe especially organs like liver you really should be careful what is in it.


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## bean (Apr 27, 2010)

oh man... now i feel like an idiot... i got beef liver for my dane today, because it was on sale... came in a container kind of like a cottage cheese plastic container... i pulled out what looked to be a whole liver.. i think there were 2 in there... i gave it to my guy to see if he would even eat it, and he pretty much swallowed the thing whole!!!! he has only been on raw for about 3 weeks... are there any signs i should be looking for? his poops seemed normal tonight..

beau


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## CorgiPaws (Mar 31, 2009)

bean said:


> oh man... now i feel like an idiot... i got beef liver for my dane today, because it was on sale... came in a container kind of like a cottage cheese plastic container... i pulled out what looked to be a whole liver.. i think there were 2 in there... i gave it to my guy to see if he would even eat it, and he pretty much swallowed the thing whole!!!! he has only been on raw for about 3 weeks... are there any signs i should be looking for? his poops seemed normal tonight..
> 
> beau


It's not going to hurt him by any means, he just might have softer stools in the next day or so. Nothing to worry about too much. If you see softer stools, just feed a few meals with more bone. The reason we recommend waiting for a month or two with organs is because they're very rich, and we like to give the digestive system more time to adjust to a raw diet before giving the very rich items. Much like we tend to recommend acclimating to chicken and turkey (blander meats) before introducing beef and lamb, which are more rich. 


That being said, despite the popular opinion here on them, I actually like to feed chicken livers more than anything. I feed a little bit of organ meat daily, rather than in whole meals, and the size of them is perfect for this way of feeding organs. I give my Corgi and my Cocker Spaniel one glob of it per day, and my Boxer two or three. The setup works great for us and the style with which we feed liver. I have some beef liver in the freezer, I just haven't cared to actually handle it yet.


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## Ania's Mommy (Feb 8, 2009)

bean said:


> his poops seemed normal tonight..


Bet they won't tomorrow. 

I don't think that there will be any catastrophic results from this. Just some (very) loose poos and maybe an upset tummy. But nothing long term. :wink:


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