# Turkey Necks



## Tracy (Aug 11, 2012)

Well today is the first time I've seen and handled a Turkey Neck. They're huge.
My butcher had chopped them in half though, so they were much more easy to drag around. 
Codie the fussy collie dragged one out of the box and ran off with it. It was great to see, as he's been stuggling a little with the chicken. He got stuck into the neck, and even touched it with his feet. That probably sounds silly, but he seems afraid to touch raw stuff with his feet, which is why he struggles to eat the chicken frames himself I think. My freezer's full again. We'll be sticking to turkey now for a bit to make sure everyone's ok on it. I don't expect to have any problems with it. Just wanted to share our news..:smile:


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## naturalfeddogs (Jan 6, 2011)

That's great! I don't have ours cut though. The whole thing, as is.


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## MollyWoppy (Mar 19, 2010)

Just so you know, some dogs just don't use their feet when eating at all. In nearly 4 years of feeding raw, I have only ever seen my dog use her feet once, I was so suprised I even took a photo of it. So don't worry about it at all. I'm very happy that things appear to be going so well. Great!


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## Tracy (Aug 11, 2012)

Thanks all. Now that you mention it the other 2 don't use their feet, they just chomp through it. He's definately got a preference for the necks though.:biggrin1:


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## Nana52 (Apr 28, 2012)

Neither of mine use their feet. I wish they would, so as to get some "ripping and tearing action." They just hold the whatever in the side of their mouth, crunch a bit, drop it, swallow, and repeat. Oh, well, whatever works for them I guess.


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## Little Brown Jug (Dec 7, 2010)

My guys love turkey necks, we feed them whole. Woof really gets into it, holds it down with his paws and rips at it, even digs at it as well as holding it to chew. Ranger avoids it at all costs, no meat shall touch the paws of the moose. Boone doesn't very often use his paws, sometimes but most of the time he doesn' and will try to avoid touching it. Tends to look like this...


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## Noodlesmadison (Sep 18, 2011)

My girl won't touch meat with her feet either.
She won't touch anything dirty.. at all. She's dainty lol


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## creek817 (Feb 18, 2012)

Same, dobby never uses his feet. I wish he would and give his front teeth more of a workout, but so far they're clean, so I guess it's okay


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## Tracy (Aug 11, 2012)

Good to hear mine are not the only ones not wanting to touch them. 
Demi is eating hers now in the utility room. I usually feed outside, but it's heavy rain here, so she's eating in the utility room on a towel. She's bunching up the towel and holding the neck between her paws. :biggrin: She's very smart, the boys probably won't think of that.
I've noticed she's much slower eating the necks than the chicken carcasses. She can be in a bit of a rush, but she's calmly chomping her way through the neck. The only negative thing I can say about the necks, is the way they look. At first glance (well you know).


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## Coffee (Sep 3, 2012)

I'm struggling to get turkey necks over here... asked my butcher the other day and he looked a bit alarmed and said he would see what he could do but will probably have to wait until around Christmas time!


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## Tracy (Aug 11, 2012)

Your in Coventry, we're in Cumbria. Our butcher never bats an eye when I've asked for stuff, so I'm assuming they get asked for it a lot here. Our butcher charges an extra couple of pounds to get it for me. I could get it myself, but it would cost more on fuel and time, so I just pay the little extra to get my stuff from the butcher.
I hope you can manage to source some in your area.


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## Tracy (Aug 11, 2012)

Ok, so the Turkey Necks are going down a storm for Demi and Tyler. Codie the fussy collie is now only nibbling a little of the neck and he's buried it under the towel.hwell:
I thought he seemed more keen on the necks because he ran away with one the other day and did have a go at it, but it seems he's testing to see whether I'll give in and give him something else.
I've struggled with the chicken carcasses with him, as I had been grinding them for him to begin with. He got the taste for them, so I started to rip them up and feed him that way. He did manage them, but only with my help and only when he was really hungry. 
Should I try him with a chicken again, or stick with the necks? I've got plenty of both. I really don't want to make an issue of it, but I find myself watching him and worrying that he's not eating enough. All dogs are absoloutely fine with the turkey. No upsets or anything, so I'm pleased about that.

Cheers

Tracy


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## Tracy (Aug 11, 2012)

So we had a vote and the paws went up for the chicken today. Codie ripped away at a carcasse, then I stupidly let him rip away at another one, because I thought he'd be really hungry. :frown: Of course he was sick on the new rug about an hour later. He then ate it back up and I shampooed the carpet.
Lesson learned. Little and often, (especially if he's really really hungry). I'll leave the Turkey necks for now with him. I want his weight back up before we go through the whole process of you're not getting anything else unless you eat that.


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## rawdogs (Jan 29, 2011)

My local butchers don,t supply turkey necks either,get mine delivered from TPMS sure they deliver to Coventry.


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## wolfsnaps88 (Jan 2, 2012)

I don't mean to hijack your thread but since I just fed this today:

My guy Sargeant uses his feet sometimes. He was not a fan of this turkey neck/head. He chewed on the neck for a minute, ate the beak off, then left it and stole Dozer's rabbit meal. So Dozer ended up eating this and he does not use his feet. It was just crunch crunch crunch. 










My lab gets turkey necks regularly (because he is allergic to chicken and needs a cheap bone source) and he also does not use his feet. 

Dogs.....weird...LOL


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## Tracy (Aug 11, 2012)

Ha ha. The antics of meal times.
We had a little drama on Friday night. My parents arrived early for a weekend visit, I had just given Demi her Turkey neck outside on the patio. I went to make tea, so pulled the patio door shut(or so I thought). My Mum came through to the kitchen to help with the tea and let out a scream. Demi had opened the patio door, dragged in the turkey neck and was proudly crunching and walking around the kitchen with it. She does not use her feet either. She walks around with it hanging out of her mouth until she finds the right spot to crunch away at it. None of my family really get the whole raw food thing, so I don't really try to explain what I'm feeding. :biggrin:


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## wolfsnaps88 (Jan 2, 2012)

Yep, I am used to people thinking I am a weirdo for feeding raw (and probably for other reasons too but that's a whole other thread :redface

My little guy is always trying to drag his food inside too....UNDER MY BED! That's his den I guess. 

If you ever feel alone with the whole raw feeding thing, you always have us here at DFC. LOL


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## Carlita05 (Aug 17, 2012)

I will be out of turkey necks in 2 days and my supplier can only order them from me on Tuesdays. I have had issues with diarrhea and dont want to go back to chicken backs because we are just going to start all over with the diarrhea!! Do you guys think that if I can find chicken necks until I get more turkey necks in, that that will be a good substitute? Or will it make no difference between a chicken neck and a chicken back?!


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## Tracy (Aug 11, 2012)

Would chicken necks be a bit on the small side for a dane? I would also think that if they don't do well on chicken backs, then the necks may not suit them either. I'm no expert, but that's what springs to mind.


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## Liz (Sep 27, 2010)

Chicken necks are way small - and fatty. I would not go that route. If I had to I would get some turkey drumsticks from the grocery store or turkey breasts. I am glad they are doing better. I would give them a bit more time and try rabbit or pork next added tot he turkey in teeny amounts at first. I like rabbit because it is a lean meat.


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## pogo (Aug 28, 2011)

I feed chicken necks when i can get them to my ambull, well along side other things and he eats them fine, but they are fatty which is great for his coat


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## Carlita05 (Aug 17, 2012)

Liz said:


> Chicken necks are way small - and fatty. I would not go that route. If I had to I would get some turkey drumsticks from the grocery store or turkey breasts. I am glad they are doing better. I would give them a bit more time and try rabbit or pork next added tot he turkey in teeny amounts at first. I like rabbit because it is a lean meat.


I am going to get some turkey drumsticks and hold them off on that until the necks arrive. Liz - I want to try rabbit or pork next... I am going to get a rack of baby back ribs and start introducing it slowly like you said. But how do I do that? Do I give them one rib at a time, once a day? Or do I cut a piece of the meat from the rib and give them a tiny quarter size with their necks? I dont know how to introduce anything because we've been going from one thing to the next just trying to find a protein that would give them firm stool!

If I find rabbit, what part of the rabbit? A leg? Any part? Do I just give them a quarter size as well of the meat? On an empty stomach? Lol so many questions...


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## Liz (Sep 27, 2010)

No problem -- with rabbit you can cut off a bony piece like a foot or paw and see how they do. They should do well - rabbit is lean. With ribs I would take the ribs and cut the excess meat off the outside - I don't like giving just one rib to big guys as they can be a bit stupid and try to swallow it almost whole. That you don't need.


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## Coffee (Sep 3, 2012)

Hmmmm, I didn't realise chicken necks were particularly fatty. Alfie has them pretty regularly but he seems to be filling out a little more than I would like so I've started cutting down his portions slightly and am wondering whether to do away with the chicken necks altogether once this latest batch have all gone....


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## Carlita05 (Aug 17, 2012)

Liz said:


> No problem -- with rabbit you can cut off a bony piece like a foot or paw and see how they do. They should do well - rabbit is lean. With ribs I would take the ribs and cut the excess meat off the outside - I don't like giving just one rib to big guys as they can be a bit stupid and try to swallow it almost whole. That you don't need.



Perfect, Thank you!! Yes, the stupid boy pictured below is notorious for swallowing things whole! I had to hold chicken quarters so he would chomp down on them otherwise he would just swallow it!!


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## Carlita05 (Aug 17, 2012)

Liz said:


> No problem -- with rabbit you can cut off a bony piece like a foot or paw and see how they do. They should do well - rabbit is lean. With ribs I would take the ribs and cut the excess meat off the outside - I don't like giving just one rib to big guys as they can be a bit stupid and try to swallow it almost whole. That you don't need.


Jeez I never knew rabbits were so expensive!! $50 for 2 rabbits!! So I have NEVER in my life chopped an animal before... I am getting a whole rabbit to see how they do. How do I cut it?! What do I do with the organs? Do I keep them??? Is there anything I need to know or do when I am cutting the rabbit up? Poor bunny...... 

Are ribs normally expensive? Do you guys get them discounted or is this a higher commodity item? I wanted to get like 20 lbs of ribs and they quoted me over $200!! So I said forget it, Ill take one rack of ribs and go from there. Are ribs also enhanced meats??


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## Coffee (Sep 3, 2012)

Carlita05 said:


> Jeez I never knew rabbits were so expensive!! $50 for 2 rabbits!! So I have NEVER in my life chopped an animal before... I am getting a whole rabbit to see how they do. How do I cut it?! What do I do with the organs? Do I keep them??? Is there anything I need to know or do when I am cutting the rabbit up? Poor bunny......
> 
> Are ribs normally expensive? Do you guys get them discounted or is this a higher commodity item? I wanted to get like 20 lbs of ribs and they quoted me over $200!! So I said forget it, Ill take one rack of ribs and go from there. Are ribs also enhanced meats??


$50 for 2 rabbits? Are you serious? :scared: That is craaaazy!

Not sure what the $/£ rate is at the moment but I pay £3.00 each for rabbits and £1.50 per lb for lamb ribs.

I honestly can't get my head around those prices you've ben charged!


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## Carlita05 (Aug 17, 2012)

Liz said:


> No problem -- with rabbit you can cut off a bony piece like a foot or paw and see how they do. They should do well - rabbit is lean. With ribs I would take the ribs and cut the excess meat off the outside - I don't like giving just one rib to big guys as they can be a bit stupid and try to swallow it almost whole. That you don't need.


Hey Liz

So my one dane at the rabbit leg by just swallowing it! And then my female wont eat it. I tried searing it too and she wont eat it. What do i do?! Any suggestions?

Also the butcher gave me these scraps of rib bones, but they are not normal rib bones like the tiny pieces we eat... They are a large piece of bone almost hte size of my hand and has a piece of bone coming out of it in the middle like a T btu its not a T-bone. I asked for ribs and told them I was going to cut off the meat and give it to the dogs, so they said oh wait we have some scrap rib bones, here have these. Didnt realize until I got home that it wasnt what I thought it was. 

Any idea about this???? Should I take a photo?


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