# Adding new proteins, and eggs?



## kady05 (Jul 29, 2011)

Piper is almost 3wks. into raw and is doing great! I've completely stopped cutting any fat or skin off of the quarters now and she still hasn't had any loose stools or any negative side effects. She's also getting 3% of her body weight (about 1.3lbs. a day) now and handling it just fine.. I actually don't think she's lost any weight at all since starting, which I'm really happy about. 

So I think next week, after this hurricane passes (didn't want to start her on anything new and have it not agree with her in 100mph winds!), I want to start her on turkey necks. That's a good second protein, right? I picked up a 30lb. case today, so I'm good to go for a little while. 

My question is, how often should I give the turkey necks? Like should I start with a meal of part of a neck + a quarter (for the bone content), then the next day, back to quarters both meals? Repeat. Obviously this depends on how she tolerates it. I'm just wondering how often people give the new protein in the beginning. 

Also, I've tossed in an egg to her meals twice now, and she's handled them fine. Anyone else feed them? Just wondering how often, if you do.. I feel like once a week wouldn't be enough for her to get any benefit from it, but maybe I'm wrong.


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## DaneMama (Jun 27, 2008)

Glad to hear everything has gone smoothly! 

Turkey necks are the ideal thing to feed next. I would alternate meals of chicken and turkey. Give her one turkey neck for a meal one day and see how it goes. If all goes well, do that again the next day. Keep up with this for a week. 

Start adding in meals of boneless chicken or turkey if all goes well after the first week! 

We feed eggs regularly. They are an excellent thing to add to their diet :wink:


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## kady05 (Jul 29, 2011)

DaneMama said:


> Glad to hear everything has gone smoothly!
> 
> Turkey necks are the ideal thing to feed next. I would alternate meals of chicken and turkey. Give her one turkey neck for a meal one day and see how it goes. If all goes well, do that again the next day. Keep up with this for a week.
> 
> ...


Yup, very smoothly!

Okay that sounds good, I will start that beginning of next week then.

Oh I should've asked this in my first post.. as far as boneless chicken/turkey, what are some good cuts for that? Chicken breasts are pretty pricey, that's about the only boneless chicken I know of! I need to get more "in the know" about meats because I want to go to my local butcher and not sound like a total idiot when I ask them what they have LOL.


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

i would buy whole chickens and you can use it all....you're at that stage..

not sure i would add eggs in yet....i would go through other proteins first...

as to turkey....there are wings, breasts, thighs, drumsticks...


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## kady05 (Jul 29, 2011)

magicre said:


> i would buy whole chickens and you can use it all....you're at that stage..
> 
> not sure i would add eggs in yet....i would go through other proteins first...
> 
> as to turkey....there are wings, breasts, thighs, drumsticks...


Hmm, that's an idea. Don't all of the turkey parts you mentioned have bone? I would assume that turkey & chicken are pretty similar as far as any boneless parts are concerned though. 

She hasn't had any problems with the eggs, so I think I'm okay there. I've fed them before, when she was on kibble.. just stopped after awhile.

Here's a little video of her tonight, this was her second egg, she's getting the hang of it 

Piper gets an egg..


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

turkeys are just gigunda chickens LOL...so yeah, they've got the same parts...but turkey is expensive right now. i swear, it only cheapens up around easter and thanksgiving.

if piper is used to eggs and stools are fine, then eggs are fine.


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## Scarlett_O' (May 19, 2011)

I did turkey for my 2nd protein.

We went, bought a whole turkey hacked it up and fed it like Natalie said, chicken, turkey, chicken, turkey, chicken, etc!:smile:


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## sozzle (May 18, 2011)

You guys are lucky being able to buy turkey, I presume cheaply?. Here it is seasonal ie Christmas and really expensive, like NZ$60 -$100 depending on size although I have seen them frozen. In 24 years of living in NZ I have never bought one!


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## Scarlett_O' (May 19, 2011)

sozzle said:


> You guys are lucky being able to buy turkey, I presume cheaply?. Here it is seasonal ie Christmas and really expensive, like NZ$60 -$100 depending on size although I have seen them frozen. In 24 years of living in NZ I have never bought one!


I bought the 2 at the same price as whole chicken, US $.98/lbs.....however I have only found the ONE store that had it that cheap....but Im excited for Thanksgiving/Christmas time when it all goes down in price and I can stock up!!:biggrin: The babies all LOVED it!:smile:


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## Tobi (Mar 18, 2011)

kady05 said:


> Yup, very smoothly!
> 
> Okay that sounds good, I will start that beginning of next week then.
> 
> Oh I should've asked this in my first post.. as far as boneless chicken/turkey, what are some good cuts for that? Chicken breasts are pretty pricey, that's about the only boneless chicken I know of! I need to get more "in the know" about meats because I want to go to my local butcher and not sound like a total idiot when I ask them what they have LOL.



Bone in chicken breasts are win!! 99c a lb you can find them on sale in grocery stores, you can just de-bone the breast and tenderloin off them. and you can freeze the bones with all the fat and excess chicken and stuff in case they DESPERATELY need some bone :lol:

they are usually advertised in weekly fliers as "split chicken breasts" and are extremely easy to bone out


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## RawFedDogs (Jun 16, 2008)

I have recently been buying boneless chicken thighs FOR ME!! I love BBQ boneless thighs. Great flavor and super easy to grill. I don't have a clue what I pay for them.


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## sozzle (May 18, 2011)

RawFedDogs said:


> I have recently been buying boneless chicken thighs FOR ME!! I love BBQ boneless thighs. Great flavor and super easy to grill. I don't have a clue what I pay for them.


Yes great for cooking. I tend to buy them over breasts (generally expensive here) as it is hard to overcook and they always stay moist unlike chicken breast. I always buy thighs for curries.


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## Angelwing (Feb 20, 2011)

The dogs love chicken thighs but they are expensive (but what isn't here I guess). I've been feeding more raw eggs lately but I throw the eggshells in a coffee grinder first. I feed crushed eggshells everyday now.


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## kady05 (Jul 29, 2011)

sozzle said:


> You guys are lucky being able to buy turkey, I presume cheaply?. Here it is seasonal ie Christmas and really expensive, like NZ$60 -$100 depending on size although I have seen them frozen. In 24 years of living in NZ I have never bought one!


I got my 30lb. case of turkey necks for $38, so like .79/lb. So yeah, pretty darn good for that.



Tobi said:


> Bone in chicken breasts are win!! 99c a lb you can find them on sale in grocery stores, you can just de-bone the breast and tenderloin off them. and you can freeze the bones with all the fat and excess chicken and stuff in case they DESPERATELY need some bone :lol:
> 
> they are usually advertised in weekly fliers as "split chicken breasts" and are extremely easy to bone out


Oh that's a good idea. See I don't think of these things yet LOL. 

And yes, I can't wait til Thanksgiving when turkey goes on sale! And I have a couple of friends who hunt who have promised me venison


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## Cliffdog (Dec 30, 2010)

I have nothing constructive to offer other than I love that video, haha. Love seeing dogs enjoying raw... I think that's the first time I've ever seen a dog eat egg like a normal food, LOL. When I gave Bonnie her first egg she picked it up gentle as she could and carried it around like a baby for 15minutes before it cracked and she realized it was food!


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## Tobi (Mar 18, 2011)

Cliffdog said:


> I have nothing constructive to offer other than I love that video, haha. Love seeing dogs enjoying raw... I think that's the first time I've ever seen a dog eat egg like a normal food, LOL. When I gave Bonnie her first egg she picked it up gentle as she could and carried it around like a baby for 15minutes before it cracked and she realized it was food!


Mine must be retarded... he gets 2-3 of them a week and still does that!!! :lol: it's like it's a new thing every single time!


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## kady05 (Jul 29, 2011)

Cliffdog said:


> I have nothing constructive to offer other than I love that video, haha. Love seeing dogs enjoying raw... I think that's the first time I've ever seen a dog eat egg like a normal food, LOL. When I gave Bonnie her first egg she picked it up gentle as she could and carried it around like a baby for 15minutes before it cracked and she realized it was food!


LOL, you know _unoriginal's dog Bentley does the same thing with eggs apparently, she was telling me that on FB the other day. It's like they want to be egg parents!


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## 3Musketeers (Nov 4, 2010)

I don't really give eggs often, although they're a great thing to give. 
When I first gave the brats an egg, Patchie and Popi ignored it, so I walked away, then Sparky grabbed it, ran over to me and dropped it in front of me like it was a tennis ball for me to throw. Needless to say, it cracked when he dropped it and they learned it was food. They started getting the runs once, either form too many boneless meals, or too many eggs, or something, and I just haven't given them eggs again.


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## Cliffdog (Dec 30, 2010)

Tobi said:


> Mine must be retarded... he gets 2-3 of them a week and still does that!!! :lol: it's like it's a new thing every single time!





kady05 said:


> LOL, you know _unoriginal's dog Bentley does the same thing with eggs apparently, she was telling me that on FB the other day. It's like they want to be egg parents!


Dogs are so crazy. Life would be so boring without them. :lol:


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## chowder (Sep 7, 2008)

My store just put out packs of turkey wings for $.89 pound so I bought them all (LOVE my new freezer!!). They also had the drumsticks but they were $1.29 / lb and I was too cheap to pay that much for them. Every so often they will put out packs of turkey parts real cheap and now that I have two freezers.....guess what the pups are getting!! It is so much easier to just buy the turkey parts like that then to buy the whole turkey and have to cut it up. Easier to freezer and store that way, too. 

I still remember years ago when my MIL told me that dogs couldn't have turkey because it would make them sick. We would throw away all the leftover turkey from Thanksgiving and then feed the dogs Pedigree kibble......poor babies. I still feel guilty!


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## Cliffdog (Dec 30, 2010)

chowder said:


> My store just put out packs of turkey wings for $.89 pound so I bought them all (LOVE my new freezer!!). They also had the drumsticks but they were $1.29 / lb and I was too cheap to pay that much for them. Every so often they will put out packs of turkey parts real cheap and now that I have two freezers.....guess what the pups are getting!! *It is so much easier to just buy the turkey parts like that then to buy the whole turkey and have to cut it up.* Easier to freezer and store that way, too.
> 
> I still remember years ago when my MIL told me that dogs couldn't have turkey because it would make them sick. We would throw away all the leftover turkey from Thanksgiving and then feed the dogs Pedigree kibble......poor babies. I still feel guilty!


Yeah, but buying the whole turkey and cutting it up is way more fun. :lol:


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## chowder (Sep 7, 2008)

Cliffdog said:


> Yeah, but buying the whole turkey and cutting it up is way more fun. :lol:


Barbarian!!


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## Scarlett_O' (May 19, 2011)

Cliffdog said:


> Yeah, but buying the whole turkey and cutting it up is way more fun. :lol:


TOTALLY agree!!!:thumb: I LOVE hacking up turkeys and chickens!!:biggrin:


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## kady05 (Jul 29, 2011)

Cliffdog said:


> Yeah, but buying the whole turkey and cutting it up is way more fun. :lol:


LOL I'm not quite there yet.. I would have no clue how to portion it all. I'm getting better with handling the quarters but bleh.. it still grosses me out!


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

kady05 said:


> LOL I'm not quite there yet.. I would have no clue how to portion it all. I'm getting better with handling the quarters but bleh.. it still grosses me out!


you'll be singing a different tune in about six months


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## kady05 (Jul 29, 2011)

Just a little update, Piper has had 3 turkey necks so far and is doing just fine! They've actually loosened her up a bit, but in a good way.. she was a tiny bit constipated on just the quarters.

Found some split chicken breasts on sale for .99/lb. today so I got almost 30lbs. Will start adding those in next week as more of a boneless meal as long as she continues to do well on the turkey necks.


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## Tobi (Mar 18, 2011)

kady05 said:


> Just a little update, Piper has had 3 turkey necks so far and is doing just fine! They've actually loosened her up a bit, but in a good way.. she was a tiny bit constipated on just the quarters.
> 
> Found some split chicken breasts on sale for .99/lb. today so I got almost 30lbs. Will start adding those in next week as more of a boneless meal as long as she continues to do well on the turkey necks.


:whoo::whoo:

Glad Piper is doing so well still! it's such a great feeling when things go as planned! :lol:

Great find on the chicken breasts... who is going to de-bone them for you? or are you finally going to dig in?! lol :wink:


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## kady05 (Jul 29, 2011)

Tobi said:


> :whoo::whoo:
> 
> Glad Piper is doing so well still! it's such a great feeling when things go as planned! :lol:
> 
> Great find on the chicken breasts... who is going to de-bone them for you? or are you finally going to dig in?! lol :wink:


LOL, I think I'll be okay.. I've got cutting the quarters in half down pat, so it shouldn't be too hard


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## monkeys23 (Dec 8, 2010)

I'm so happy to hear its going so well!


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

you are well on your way to introducing proteins to a happy dog.....

first, chicken and now turkey....awesome!


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## kady05 (Jul 29, 2011)

magicre said:


> you are well on your way to introducing proteins to a happy dog.....
> 
> first, chicken and now turkey....awesome!


VERY happy dog! She's so funny when I get everything out to make up her meals.. sits and just whines at the counter.


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