# Gizzards



## whiteleo

I can't remember reading anything about chicken gizzards, what nutritional value do they have, and are they a muscle or organ? My dogs absolutely love
them, so I hope they aren't too bad for them.


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## rannmiller

As far as I know, gizzards are fine for dogs, I know my dogs love them. It's part of a chicken, so it really can't be bad for them.


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## RawFedDogs

whiteleo said:


> I can't remember reading anything about chicken gizzards, what nutritional value do they have, and are they a muscle or organ? My dogs absolutely love them, so I hope they aren't too bad for them.


No, they aren't bad and nutritionly they are muscle. However when a newbie is feeding gizzards, I think its pretty safe to assume they are feeding real organs also.


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## EnglishBullTerriers

RawFedDogs said:


> No, they aren't bad and nutritionly they are muscle. However when a newbie is feeding gizzards, I think its pretty safe to assume they are feeding real organs also.


Thats good to know, I bought some a while ago and fed them to Owen without even thinking about them not being good or something. They were on sale at that store and I stocked up on what they had. I also give beef or pork liver when it goes on sale. I hope that this is not bad either! I will usually give him a couple of ox tail a beef or pork liver and an egg for a random meal one evening every to every other week. Is that ok also?? At this point all I have been able to find on sale is pork chops and chicken, with the occasional turkey. I have only had a couple of people clean out their freezer for me and about 1/3 of it was things like potato salad and other things that I wouldn't give him. But I said 'thank you' and through out what wasn't good and I couldn't feed him. Any other suggestions where I could get cheap to free stuff?? 
I have noticed that if Owen gets to many chicken meals in a row, he starts throwing up. My solution is to feed a couple of meals chicken and then a couple of pork and then back to the chicken. Has anyone else had this problem?? Thanks.


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## whiteleo

Ya know, I just on my days off go to different grocery stores and look for meat that has been marked down, I've been finding lamb chops for next to nothing w/$2 off sitcker on it. They don't get it that often, but they love it. Of course I buy my chicken wings and chicken necks by the case, so I don't have to look for chicken. We must have a lot of grocery stores where I live, cause I just don't have a problem finding marked down meat, and we don't even have a super walmart. Too bad you don't have a freezer.


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## RawFedDogs

EnglishBullTerriers said:


> I also give beef or pork liver when it goes on sale. I hope that this is not bad either! I will usually give him a couple of ox tail a beef or pork liver and an egg for a random meal one evening every to every other week. Is that ok also??


Yes, all this is ok except maybe the ox tail. Is the oxtail cut or uncut? Cut oxtail can be problematic for some dogs because they can swallow those little bones whole and that can cause a problem. In nearly 7 years of feeding raw and being on internet lists of as many as 11,000 rawfeeders, I have heard of only twice that bones gave a dog a serious problem. In both cases it was ox tail that was cut instead of the big long thing. One case the dog swallowed the bone whole and it got stuck in this throat and the other case when the dog swallowed the bone whole, it blocked his intestine. So ... be careful with ox tail and only feed the long uncut ones. Your dogs would be a good size to have this problem.



> At this point all I have been able to find on sale is pork chops and chicken, with the occasional turkey.


I 

I would cut the bone off the pork chops and feed them as meat only. The shape of the bone, like a T-bone steak, is awkward for a dog and I could see it being a problem for the dog. The bone also has some pretty sharp edges since it was cut by a bandsaw.



> have only had a couple of people clean out their freezer for me and about 1/3 of it was things like potato salad and other things that I wouldn't give him.


Put an ad on freecycle. I get a good bit of meat that way. My ad specifies meat and when I ask friends for their old meat in their freezer, I specify meat so I don't get the other stuff. Craigslist is another place to put ads.



> I have noticed that if Owen gets to many chicken meals in a row, he starts throwing up. My solution is to feed a couple of meals chicken and then a couple of pork and then back to the chicken. Has anyone else had this problem?? Thanks.


I have never heard of that problem. What chicken parts are you feeding?


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## EnglishBullTerriers

He gets chicken quarters and sometimes a breast if it is on sale. Otherwise, just the quarters. Its easier to portion out each meal that way and it is usually on sale. The pork chops that I have been getting don't have the bone in it and it seems to be the wprst part of the pork that the store can get!  I don't mind though, its for my dog and not me.  The oxtail is cut, partially because my moms smaller dog will sit beside me while I make Owens meals and I give him 'treats'. He doesn't eat raw unless I give it to him. He now knows that when I bring in all the meat, its time to get spoiled.  Owen hasn't had a problem with eating the oxtail yet. (Knock on wood!!!) He seems to know to chew before swallowing. Plus, I only give him the biggest ones just to be sure. I am living in a hotel in East Atlanta area and my mom is keeping Owen for me in Valdosta. (Small town in far south Georgia= very few stores to choose from.) When I get into a house I will be able to get a freezer to put more food in and I will be able to go to more stores to look for more varieties of food!  I am VERY excited about that!  For now I am only able to stick with the meat swiching in a week.


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## rannmiller

Wow! You are in one of the most inconvenient situations to feed raw, let alone keep a dog, and here you are doing a great job of it! You make me smile! :biggrin:

I think the way you're doing things sounds pretty good. Another thing you can look for is turkey necks or drumsticks. I know some stores carry them for around $1.36/lb which isn't terribly cheap but it's about the second cheapest meat I can find so I like to get it for the pups every now and then. 

I'm trying out freecycle though, that's a great idea!


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