# Chicken Quarters - how much of diet?



## BrownieM

How much of a dog's daily diet should a chicken quarter be? For a 62 pound dog? For a 42 pound dog? 

If I feed a chicken quarter one meal, how much more/what else would I feed that day?

(The bags of dog food are dwindling down so I am getting ready for the switch!! :biggrin

What about a chicken back? What percentage is that?


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## Spaz

Hannah weighs 70lbs. and if I went by the 2% rule she should be getting 1.4lbs of food a day. If I'm feeding chicken quarters I will normally give her one in the morning and then some muscle and organ meat at night. But I don't weigh anything out I just eyeball it.


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## BrownieM

okay and now I have a dumb question. Is a chicken quarter the same thing as a chicken leg?


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## Spaz

Chicken quarters are the leg and thigh combined. :smile:


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## Spaz

If you are just starting raw you will want to stick with just chicken. Most people say backs are the best thing to start with. I started with quarters and Hannah did fine but all dogs are different.

For the 62lb dog I would say a chicken quarter would be enough food for the day and for the smaller guy a quarter might be a bit too much food. It is always better to under feed in the beginning that to over feed.


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## BrownieM

Thanks!! So for the smaller dog would I just cut off some of the quarter? 

I am about 50% already feeding raw right now. They eat pre-made raw in the AM and kibble at night. However, lately I have been feeding chicken backs about twice a week for dinner instead of kibble. Not sure if one chicken back is equivalent to 1/2 of a daily ration of food though...

I will probably still have quite a bit of pre-made raw left when I drop kibble altogether, so I am trying to figure out what I could feed for their 2nd meal. It sounds like 1/2 of a chicken quarter would be good for the big guy and maybe 1/4 of a chicken quarter would be good for the puppy.


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## luvMyBRT

Lucky is 50 pounds. A chicken quarter is a whole days ration for her. I will cut her quarters in half at the joint. I will feed a drumstick for a meal and a thigh for a meal whenever I feed chicken.

ETA: You need to make sure your dog is a good chewier as a drumstick could be a potential choking hazard for gulpers.


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## BrownieM

I feel bad asking all of these questions...but I am still wondering..

When I start PMR, how many chicken backs will I be feeding my 42 pound, 9 mo. old Standard Poodle daily during weeks 1 and 2?

How many chicken backs will I expect to be feeding my 62 pound, 2 1/2 year old SPoo during weeks 1 and 2?

Thanks again...:biggrin:


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## DaneMama

Don't feel bad at all...we are happy to help.

It really depends on how much the backs and quarters weigh because it can vary greatly. Quarters typically weigh about a pound a piece. Backs weigh maybe a quarter on average (the ones we get). If you're really worried about exact amounts I would get a kitchen scale that will read weights up to 20 pounds or so.

What I suggest you do is feed chicken backs exclusively for the first few days. If stool condition is good/normal then add in quarters for one meal alternating with backs. For example, feed chicken backs for breakfast and a quarter for dinner. Do this for another week or so. If stools are good/normal try feeding a completely boneless meal of chicken "sandwiched" between two meals of chicken backs.


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## BrownieM

Would a chicken quarter and a chicken back in one day be too much for a 42 pound dog? A 62 pound dog? 

If so, do I just remove part of the quarter or back perhaps?

I really do need a kitchen scale, ha ha. I am terrible at estimating the weight of meat because I rarely handle meat! I really do need a kitchen scale, ha ha. Maybe I can find a cheap one somewhere! Oh, hey! Secret Santa, whoever you are! :wink::wink::wink:


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## BrownieM

Oh and when you say a completely boneless meal of chicken, does that mean I would just buy like a boneless chicken breast and feed it?


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## DaneMama

Yes or cut most of the meat off of a quarter. Then feed the quarter leftovers the next day. Just make sure the bones are surrounded completely by meat.


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## PUNKem733

What about a 20 pound dog? Isn't a whole quarter too much for that size?


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## RawFedDogs

PUNKem733 said:


> What about a 20 pound dog? Isn't a whole quarter too much for that size?


Yes it is. You might try drumsticks or thighs or wings or necks.


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## BrownieM

danemama08 said:


> Yes or cut most of the meat off of a quarter. Then feed the quarter leftovers the next day. Just make sure the bones are surrounded completely by meat.


Just out of curiosity, why do the bones need to be completely surrounded by meat?


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## DaneMama

BrownieM said:


> Just out of curiosity, why do the bones need to be completely surrounded by meat?


Because when its just the bare bone, dogs who "gulp" will just swallow them whole and can be a choking hazard.


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## CorgiPaws

While all of this has given you a good starting point, I'm sure... it's hard to say exactly. My Boxer fluctuates between 50 _ 55lbs, and she eats 2 or 3 quarters a day. Highly active, fast metabolism. While another 50lb dog eats one quarter. 
You'll find, through experience, that exacts really mean nothing. If my dogs look chunky, then I feed them a few lighter meals til they look jsut right. Vice versa if they look skinny.


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## Ania's Mommy

^^^^ Precisely. And to further confuse matters, my 75lb German Shepherd eats one quarter (or one pound) per day. And she's fairly active too.

Just goes to show that nothing is exact science with raw feeding. You just have to tweak things around until both poo and dog look right. :tongue:


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## Jackielyn

My 140 lb senior great dane gets 2 quarters a day...crazy eh!?


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## BrownieM

Oh my! I was searching through my old posts to see what day I started feeding raw, and I came across this one. My questions are so silly its almost embarassing LOL! I sure have learned a lot in 6 weeks...


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## RawFedDogs

BrownieM said:


> My questions are so silly its almost embarassing LOL! I sure have learned a lot in 6 weeks...


HEHE, wait until you have been reading questions for 9 years. :biggrin:


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## naturalfeddogs

We feed mostly chicken quarters right now, because of money woes. Mine are about the same size as what you are saying, and they are doing fine on two a day, along with beef liver weekly.


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## isabellak

Brownie,
Your questions are exactly the ones a new raw feeder would be asking. You and I were pretty much starting at the same time and I really enjoyed reading your posts. I still do :smile:


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## coolstorybro

hi. i also want to switch to raw b/c of the cost and also i know what is in my pups food. i fed him a chicken quarter today. he is 40-45 pound lab/mix. is just 1 a day enough? i always think he is hungry and should feed him 1 in the morning, and 1 and night? 

also, will he survive just on chicken quarters? i have read 'rawfeddogs' link, and says to feed certain parts in the morning, and other parts at night. will he do ok with just 1 chicken quarter a day? 

i also have a lot of kibble left. is mixing raw and kibble in 1 day bad? if im going to feed kibble, should i only feed kibble that day? same goes for raw? thanks.


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## Ania's Mommy

coolstorybro said:


> i fed him a chicken quarter today. he is 40-45 pound lab/mix. is just 1 a day enough?


One quarter/day should be sufficient. Maybe even too much. An average quarter is about a pound. You should feed roughly about 2% - 3% of your dogs DESIRED weight. But the 2%-3% is just a rough estimate. Some dogs need more, some need less. Just keep an eye on his build. You want to see a waist. You should also be able to feel his ribs. And on a short coated dog, see the last ones a little bit.

Also important to note, when starting out, it's best to under-feed rather than over-feed. Over-feeding can cause loose stools.



coolstorybro said:


> i always think he is hungry and should feed him 1 in the morning, and 1 and night?


Most all dogs will have you believing they're starving. :wink:



coolstorybro said:


> also, will he survive just on chicken quarters? i have read 'rawfeddogs' link, and says to feed certain parts in the morning, and other parts at night. will he do ok with just 1 chicken quarter a day?


While transitioning, your dog will be just fine on only quarters. Eventually, you'll want to add organs and other types of meat in order to balance the diet. But you will need to work up to that. At this point, if you were to add organs and other protein, you would likely see loose stools. Just follow RFD's plan, and things should go smoothly.



coolstorybro said:


> i also have a lot of kibble left. is mixing raw and kibble in 1 day bad? if im going to feed kibble, should i only feed kibble that day? same goes for raw? thanks.


I wouldn't feed raw and kibble. They have different digestion rates, and the mixture can cause diarrhea. When starting raw, it is best to do it cold turkey (sorry about the pun). Some dogs can handle both raw and kibble. But it's just much cleaner and easier to do one or the other. That way, if problems come up, you know why.

I would donate any leftover kibble you have to a shelter. But if you insist on feeding it until it's gone, then no, I would NOT feed kibble and raw in the same 24 hours. I'd alternate days.


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## coolstorybro

Ania's Mommy said:


> One quarter/day should be sufficient. Maybe even too much. An average quarter is about a pound. You should feed roughly about 2% - 3% of your dogs DESIRED weight. But the 2%-3% is just a rough estimate. Some dogs need more, some need less. Just keep an eye on his build. You want to see a waist. You should also be able to feel his ribs. And on a short coated dog, see the last ones a little bit.
> 
> Also important to note, when starting out, it's best to under-feed rather than over-feed. Over-feeding can cause loose stools.
> 
> 
> 
> Most all dogs will have you believing they're starving. :wink:
> 
> 
> 
> While transitioning, your dog will be just fine on only quarters. Eventually, you'll want to add organs and other types of meat in order to balance the diet. But you will need to work up to that. At this point, if you were to add organs and other protein, you would likely see loose stools. Just follow RFD's plan, and things should go smoothly.
> 
> 
> 
> I wouldn't feed raw and kibble. They have different digestion rates, and the mixture can cause diarrhea. When starting raw, it is best to do it cold turkey (sorry about the pun). Some dogs can handle both raw and kibble. But it's just much cleaner and easier to do one or the other. That way, if problems come up, you know why.
> 
> I would donate any leftover kibble you have to a shelter. But if you insist on feeding it until it's gone, then no, I would NOT feed kibble and raw in the same 24 hours. I'd alternate days.


so for a couple of months, 1 chicken quarter a day is fine? if i can find a butcher, i will alternate foods like in 'rawfeddogs' link. thanks.


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## Ania's Mommy

coolstorybro said:


> so for a couple of months, 1 chicken quarter a day is fine? if i can find a butcher, i will alternate foods like in 'rawfeddogs' link. thanks.


If you are able to find other proteins, that would be ideal. You can find a lot of stuff in the regular grocery store. Turkey, pork shoulder roasts, beef ribs, and fish are good staple foods that can be found in the grocery store.

If you feed nothing but chicken for two months, you will see pretty yellow poo. THis isn't something to be alarmed about. Just lettin' you know! :smile:


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## sheila-and billy

I am new, and have learned alot in a short time here and reading other sites and books. For right now, my pooches eat a quarter skin off thigh, 1-2 chicken necks skinned, few ounces of chicken hearts, and 1-2oz chicken or beef liver for the past few days to start introducing organ meats. Somedays they get a bit more than their 2-3%, somedays they get less. It seems, like many have said here, it balances out over the week as they are looking nice and leaner than ever, coats looking nicer, allergies getting less. Somedays I alternate and give them backs instead of quarters. Thanks to you guys here, I am a professional poop voyeur.:biggrin:


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## bully4life

BrownieM said:


> Just out of curiosity, why do the bones need to be completely surrounded by meat?


Think of the meat is kind of a buffer/ lubricant. An example would be when a dog swallows a piece of meat thats to big,( with bone in it) he is able to bring it back up due to fact the meat can slide up and down in his throat. Now imagine just swallowing bone, it doesn't slide, but will catch on the sides of the throat. Eventually everything will "line up" in the intestines and a complete bowel movement will happen.


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## schtuffy

coolstorybro said:


> i also have a lot of kibble left. is mixing raw and kibble in 1 day bad? if im going to feed kibble, should i only feed kibble that day? same goes for raw? thanks.


I would recommend donating the kibble as well. That's what I did with my leftover kibble when I switched to raw. And a lot of them take opened bags too.

Brownie, I remember when I started all I had were questions. Then after a couple weeks I suddenly didn't have anymore :biggrin:


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## Onyxmom2

BrownieM said:


> Oh my! I was searching through my old posts to see what day I started feeding raw, and I came across this one. My questions are so silly its almost embarassing LOL! I sure have learned a lot in 6 weeks...


I'm thankful for your 'silly' questions, being 6 days into feeding raw, saves me from asking them! :redface:


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## BRT

BrownieM said:


> okay and now I have a dumb question. Is a chicken quarter the same thing as a chicken leg?


Its not dumb because i had the same question:biggrin:
Well, i´m going to take "advantage" of this post to ask one question, because it seems that i might be feeding to much food to my BRT. Well, he is now 5 months and half, and his wheight is around 62Lb. I believe he will reach around 143Lb. I´ve reed before in this forum that a puppy must eat between 4% and 6% of its wheight until it reaches 2% of its adult wheight. So, lets say, 5% of it´s actual wheight (3Lb) has reached 2% of its adult wheight (2,86Lb). So i´m already giving him 2,86Lb everyday. Is this correct or am i completly crazy and i´m overfeeding my puppy? He looks great, lean, and his stools are ok.


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