# Brain



## BrownieM (Aug 30, 2010)

How many of you feed brain? Does it count as organ or muscle meat? I got some pork and beef brains today. These are okay to feed, right? I don't need to worry about mad cow disease or any other diseases?


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## BrownieM (Aug 30, 2010)

Also, I got whole frozen sardines and anchovies. These were caught in the Indian Ocean - are there any special precautions i need to take with these?


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

Hmmm.. I thought it was illegal to sell brain. Mad cow, ya know. 

But if I had the opportunity, I don't know that I'd be able to do it. Brains are just, I don't know, I can't even explain the gross factor for me. 

HOWEVER... I am sure they are great to feed. I would imagine they'd be like heart; a rich muscle meat. But that's just a guess. 

As far as the fish, they should be fine. I wouldn't think they'd be harmful to feed fresh. But since they're from the Indian Ocean, they have very likely been frozen for a bit. SO even if there WAS something suspect, the prior freezing would have taken care of it.

Nice shoppin'!


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## BrownieM (Aug 30, 2010)

Now I am really worried about the Mad Cow thing....and I didn't clean off the cutting board when I did the rest of the meat. For some reason I thought mad cow disease wasn't something people worried about anymore but now I wish I hadn't bought the cow brain...


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## pandaparade (Dec 29, 2010)

The only brain I feed is rabbit heads with fur still attached. I really don't know, but same here, just a brain would make my head hurt I think haha. Hope you can use it!


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## BrownieM (Aug 30, 2010)

I am just going to throw away the brains...to be safe...

I *think* those were the last things I cut and portioned so I think all of the other meat is okay....I really wish I hadn't bought beef brains!!!


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## Montana (Apr 10, 2011)

Funny you brought this up because I was in the ethnic market the other day and thought how great it would be if they had brain (they didn't). But if they did I think I would have fed it. I never thought about mad cow disease... Because of where I live I could probably have access to elk, moose, and deer brain due to hunting season coming up. I wonder if those would be okay?


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## RachelsaurusRexU (Sep 4, 2010)

I was also sort of under the impression that mad cow disease wasn't anything to worry about now. I'm fairly certain I've heard of people feeding calf and cow brain.


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## Lisa_j (Apr 7, 2011)

I feed veal brain. I also feed duck head, hog head, rabbit head, goose head, turkey,chicken, and lamb heads. I think that the head/brain is an awesome variety.


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

I'm not sure if Mad Cow IS still something to worry about, but I am pretty sure I heard something about brain being illegal to sell because of it. Obviously that is not the case, since I don't exactly picture BrownieM buying meat on the black market.:spy:

I'm pretty sure Mad Cow is still around. But it's fairly uncommon. I think the reason for not selling brains (and spinal tissue too) is because that's where Mad Cow originates. So if a cow were to be Mad, it's brain and spinal tissue would have the highest concentration of the disease. But if a cow WERE mad, it would be throughout all of the meat any way. And that's not stopping me from feeding beef! 

Sorry to have caused alarm!


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## RachelsaurusRexU (Sep 4, 2010)

Lisa_j said:


> I feed veal brain. I also feed duck head, hog head, rabbit head, goose head, turkey,chicken, and lamb heads. I think that the head/brain is an awesome variety.


Gurrrrl...YOU BRAVE!

I'm not terribly squeamish, but I don't think I could feed anything that came off of or inside of a head. Still freaks me out just enough :yuck:


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## xellil (Apr 4, 2011)

Every time I see the word that titles this thread, I think of Silence of the Lambs and the guy sitting there eating while the top of his head was off and his brain eaten by Hannibel Lector in dainty sliced-off bites.

Couldn't feed brain, nope - not fear of mad cow, just couldn't do it.

I bet dogs would love it though. They don't watch scary movies


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## Lisa_j (Apr 7, 2011)

RachelsaurusRexU said:


> Gurrrrl...YOU BRAVE!
> 
> I'm not terribly squeamish, but I don't think I could feed anything that came off of or inside of a head. Still freaks me out just enough :yuck:


Girl, throw it in the dish and feed it! I think it is kind of important, brains, eyes,it and all. Problem here is some dogs are a bit picky and I must offer it day after day without any other choice to get them to eat it!!!


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## RachelsaurusRexU (Sep 4, 2010)

AHHH! NOT THE EYES! THAT would REALLY freak me out! I'm not sure I could even do tongue... Oh man. I give you serious props!


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## Tobi (Mar 18, 2011)

I would feed brain if it was accessible but i am scared of feeding Deer brain because of some neuro conditions they could have.


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## xellil (Apr 4, 2011)

RachelsaurusRexU said:


> AHHH! NOT THE EYES! THAT would REALLY freak me out! I'm not sure I could even do tongue... Oh man. I give you serious props!


That just totally cracked me up. I'm right there with you! Eyeballs - worse than brains!


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## SerenityFL (Sep 28, 2010)

The list that Julie was talking about from Harvest Meats, (for the hopefully upcoming Miami co-op), listed lamb brains. I thought about it for a minute but I'm afraid to feed brains simply because of diseases. I'm sure someone will tell me that's wrong thinking but...in that sense, I'm too brainwashed. (ba dum bum.) Besides, it would completely and totally change my affectionate little ribbing I give my cat Serenity when she's howling for attention. I pick her up, she becomes silent and then I say, in my best Hannibal Lector imitation: "Have the lambs stopped screaming, Seren?" No, can't do the brains.

As for eyeballs? NO! WAY! NO way! No.


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## RachelsaurusRexU (Sep 4, 2010)

I cannot deal with eyeball stuff! CAN. NOT. DEAL! Even people messing with their contacts totally skeeves me. I don't know why I have such issues with eyes, but I always have! Watching a dog chew one would send me right over the freaking edge!


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## Lisa_j (Apr 7, 2011)

I have to laugh....I have come a loooonnnggg way. I went to my amish supplier this eve and we were just talking about how far I have come with this raw stuff. He laughs at me all of the time about this eco system stuff. I can now hold a WHOLE baby frozen lamb while my hubby saw-zalls it in pieces. I feed pinkins, chicks, heads and the like. I have come a long way ladies. I never thought that I could do this but I do!!! You can too!


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## xellil (Apr 4, 2011)

Lisa_j said:


> I have to laugh....I have come a loooonnnggg way. I went to my amish supplier this eve and we were just talking about how far I have come with this raw stuff. He laughs at me all of the time about this eco system stuff. I can now hold a WHOLE baby frozen lamb while my hubby saw-zalls it in pieces. I feed pinkins, chicks, heads and the like. I have come a long way ladies. I never thought that I could do this but I do!!! You can too!


Hey, I thought I was doing good the first day when I didn't puke feeding them raw chicken!! I'm with Rachel and Serenity - my dogs will get an eyeball over my cold dead body.

And then we got a whole chicken and it had FEET and a HEAD! ACK! My husband gagged and ran out of the room. I was able to feed the feet, but not the head. Couldn't do it - I had to throw it in the trash.


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## Montana (Apr 10, 2011)

The grosser the better!! I LOVE hacking into things that squish, pop, slime, grind, ooze, ect.
When I was little I had an obsession with poking out the eyes of fish in the grocery store. :tape: (Don't judge ;P).
I grew up in a hunting/fishing town so I've seen and touched it all.


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## Lisa_j (Apr 7, 2011)

I really don't mind anymore. The more variety, the better I think!!!


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## xellil (Apr 4, 2011)

Montana said:


> The grosser the better!! I LOVE hacking into things that squish, pop, slime, grind, ooze, ect.
> When I was little I had an obsession with poking out the eyes of fish in the grocery store. :tape: (Don't judge ;P).
> I grew up in a hunting/fishing town so I've seen and touched it all.


I'm judging I'm judging! EWWW! 

Actually, I'm not sure how I got so squeamish in my old age. When I lived on a ranch, I helped with the castration and then fried those babies up.


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## RachelsaurusRexU (Sep 4, 2010)

Did you say.....


"POKING OUT THE EYES"?!?!

uke: uke: uke:


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## Lisa_j (Apr 7, 2011)

Yep, she did say it!


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## RachelsaurusRexU (Sep 4, 2010)

NOOOOOOOO!!!! 

UGHHH the horror! :faint2:


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## Lisa_j (Apr 7, 2011)

Seriously, just close your eyes and DO IT!!!!! I don't really LIKE it per say, I just do it!!! It's for your best friend/s?????


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## RachelsaurusRexU (Sep 4, 2010)

Okay, in all honesty... if somebody offered me a bunch of heads, I definitely wouldn't turn them down. I just won't go out of my way to look for them LOL. In my defense, I do feed whole fish and those heads don't bother me! I don't think I'm quite ready for the cute furry ones, though!


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## doggiedad (Jan 23, 2011)

when i feed can fish i always make sure it's in
spring water/water with no salt added.



BrownieM said:


> Also, I got whole frozen sardines and anchovies. These were caught in the Indian Ocean - are there any special precautions i need to take with these?


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## Lisa_j (Apr 7, 2011)

RachelsaurusRexU said:


> Okay, in all honesty... if somebody offered me a bunch of heads, I definitely wouldn't turn them down. I just won't go out of my way to look for them LOL. In my defense, I do feed whole fish and those heads don't bother me! I don't think I'm quite ready for the cute furry ones, though!


They are all weird looking and all anyhow. Really, you wouldnt care!


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## Grandiose (Apr 2, 2011)

I recall reading somewhere (recently) that you shouldnt feed the brains/spinal columns of hooved animals due to foot and mouth disease...or something like that. I swear I remember reading it on a page linked from this forum....but I could be wrong. Anyone else?


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## meggels (May 30, 2010)

Man, here I was feeling like a total badass for "butchering" up Murph's 5lb frozen roll of beef/organs/bone mixture. I had the butcher knife in my hand and was like yeahhhh I rock.


Then I come to read this topic and feel like a total weenie lol.


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## xellil (Apr 4, 2011)

meggels said:


> Man, here I was feeling like a total badass for "butchering" up Murph's 5lb frozen roll of beef/organs/bone mixture. I had the butcher knife in my hand and was like yeahhhh I rock.
> 
> 
> Then I come to read this topic and feel like a total weenie lol.


Yes, i am figuring out guts and raw meat are much easier to handle when they're half frozen.


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## RachelsaurusRexU (Sep 4, 2010)

You'd be so proud of the text message conversation I'm having right now. One of my good friends moved to upstate NY last year. He's an avid hunter/fisherman, and just told me that he'll be back in CT at the end of the month for turkey season. Guess what he's saving me beside all the guts? THE HEADS! LOL. Hopefully they aren't too mangled and the shot will be easy to pull out... Same with all of his fish. He's going to freeze all the heads/guts and bring them for me when he comes to visit in June.


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## SilverBeat (Jan 16, 2011)

RachelsaurusRexU said:


> You'd be so proud of the text message conversation I'm having right now. One of my good friends moved to upstate NY last year. He's an avid hunter/fisherman, and just told me that he'll be back in CT at the end of the month for turkey season. Guess what he's saving me beside all the guts? THE HEADS! LOL. Hopefully they aren't too mangled and the shot will be easy to pull out... Same with all of his fish. He's going to freeze all the heads/guts and bring them for me when he comes to visit in June.


Oooh... where in Upstate NY? I'd love to butt in on this


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## xellil (Apr 4, 2011)

Grandiose said:


> I recall reading somewhere (recently) that you shouldnt feed the brains/spinal columns of hooved animals due to foot and mouth disease...or something like that. I swear I remember reading it on a page linked from this forum....but I could be wrong. Anyone else?


Personally, I wouldn't want to take the chance.

My aunt had five kids and she fed them ALL brains when they were very young - two physicists, a congressman, a lawyer and a construction mogul. Still, i am glad my mother didn't feed me brains, even thought I am not as brainy as my cousins.


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## hcdoxies (Sep 22, 2010)

xellil said:


> Personally, I wouldn't want to take the chance.
> 
> My aunt had five kids and she fed them ALL brains when they were very young - two physicists, a congressman, a lawyer and a construction mogul. Still, i am glad my mother didn't feed me brains, even thought I am not as brainy as my cousins.


Congressman, eh? And LOL -- "brainy" -- that's a knee slapper!!! :-D


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## Lisa_j (Apr 7, 2011)

Well, great. Sucks nuts for me as I have fed brains and really thought it was the best for them!!!! UGH!!!!!!!!!


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## RachelsaurusRexU (Sep 4, 2010)

SilverBeat said:


> Oooh... where in Upstate NY? I'd love to butt in on this


DUDE! Syracuse, actually! If you went on deer hunts with him you could take all of the organs from field dressing. It kills me that I wasn't into this when he still lived here! Think about all those lonely hearts, kidneys, liver, spleens, lungs, and pancreas...alllll alone out there in fields with no puppies to nom them


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## CavePaws (Jan 25, 2011)

RachelsaurusRexU said:


> Think about all those lonely hearts, kidneys, liver, spleens, lungs, and pancreas...alllll alone out there in fields with no puppies to nom them


LOL. That's so hilarious!

I'd probably feed the brains every once in a while, just as something for variety. People all over the world eat brains...Don't see why my dogs shouldn't have some every now and then. I would imagine all the organs up in the head of prey animals would make a really well balanced awesome meal. How is there a difference in the spine and brain of a hoofed animal and the spine and brain of a pawed, taloned, or finned animal when it comes to harboring disease that could potentially be transmitted to your dog? Just curious! Is there a reason you might feed a whole rabbit with nonchalance and a whole goat with worry?


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## SilverBeat (Jan 16, 2011)

RachelsaurusRexU said:


> DUDE! Syracuse, actually! If you went on deer hunts with him you could take all of the organs from field dressing. It kills me that I wasn't into this when he still lived here! Think about all those lonely hearts, kidneys, liver, spleens, lungs, and pancreas...alllll alone out there in fields with no puppies to nom them


SCORE! :whoo:


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## RachelsaurusRexU (Sep 4, 2010)

I thought it was Chronic Wasting Disease that people were worried about with brains, spinal columns, etc? (I think foot and mouth is related to pigs being fed garbage or something.) CWD is common in deer and elk herds in North America BUT wolves obviously pick off sick animals and supposedly aren't affected by it. Are domestic dogs? I don't know. I don't think there's a reason to be concerned with feeding the brains of hooved animals other than deer, elk and the like, though.


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## SerenityFL (Sep 28, 2010)

Lisa_j said:


> Seriously, just close your eyes and DO IT!!!!! I don't really LIKE it per say, I just do it!!! It's for your best friend/s???


Brains and eyeballs...no. It's not gonna happen. Just because they are my best friends doesn't mean that I have to go through horking every time I feed them. They get P LENTY of nutrition without brains and eyeballs.


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## Lisa_j (Apr 7, 2011)

OK, well sorry, I feel variety is best. You don't have too, I just think it is important. If my guys were in the wild, they would eat it all.


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## BrownieM (Aug 30, 2010)

No worries! It definitely is legal to sell in my area, I believe it may be restricted in some areas out of concern for Mad Cow. I think I am just going to toss the meat...It was only a few dollars worth. To be honest, I am more worried about myself than the dogs. Everything I have read suggests that the BSE causing prion in infected meat is not killed through freezing, cooking or cleaning products. Yikes. I can just imagine all of my kitchen utensils being contaminated even after washing and my hands being contaminated. My brain will be mush in five years....

Am I overreacting?!


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## BrownieM (Aug 30, 2010)

It really doesn't gross me out any more than any organ. It is in a tub just like an organ. My only concern is BSE (Mad Cow).


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## BrownieM (Aug 30, 2010)

doggiedad said:


> when i feed can fish i always make sure it's in
> spring water/water with no salt added.


I do the same when feeding canned fish, but these fish are not canned.  They are whole, frozen, unseasoned sardones and anchovies. I am only asking because I know certain fish (like atlantic? (or is it pacific?) salmon) can carry a deadly disease.


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## Savage Destiny (Mar 16, 2011)

BrownieM said:


> I do the same when feeding canned fish, but these fish are not canned.  They are whole, frozen, unseasoned sardones and anchovies. I am only asking because I know certain fish (like atlantic? (or is it pacific?) salmon) can carry a deadly disease.


Pacific.  Salmon, steelhead, and trout. The bacteria can be killed through cooking or deep freezing. 

This thread cracks me up though! The things we get excited about now. When I first started, handling and feeding a chicken wing made me nauseous. Now I dig through a container of necks and scream, "SWEET, THERE'S A TRACHEA IN THIS ONE!"


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## RachelsaurusRexU (Sep 4, 2010)

Savage Destiny said:


> Pacific.  Salmon, steelhead, and trout. The bacteria can be killed through cooking or deep freezing.
> 
> This thread cracks me up though! The things we get excited about now. When I first started, handling and feeding a chicken wing made me nauseous. Now I dig through a container of necks and scream, "SWEET, THERE'S A TRACHEA IN THIS ONE!"


Hey, that just happened to me the other day with a case of turkey necks! My dog wasn't even as excited as I was!


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## CavePaws (Jan 25, 2011)

RachelsaurusRexU said:


> I thought it was Chronic Wasting Disease that people were worried about with brains, spinal columns, etc? (I think foot and mouth is related to pigs being fed garbage or something.) CWD is common in deer and elk herds in North America BUT wolves obviously pick off sick animals and supposedly aren't affected by it. Are domestic dogs? I don't know. I don't think there's a reason to be concerned with feeding the brains of hooved animals other than deer, elk and the like, though.


Wouldn't it be interesting to find out how it effects domestic dogs? I think it would be cool only if somehow it didn't effect them...Unfortunately I don't think that is the case and this is why I wouldn't knowingly feed my pets something that looks as though it is diseased and could cause injury to my pets should they ingest it. Apparently, Chronic Wasting Disease is characterized by lesions formed on the brain of the effected animal and literal wasting away of body condition as the disease progresses. Apparently the lesions are "sponge like", just in case you ever get your hands on a deer brain and do want to feed it. Apparently the animal with CWD will act lethargic and "droopy". It appears that if you are worried about CWD you should also "Avoid eating, or contact with, brain, spinal cord, spleen, lymph nodes, or eyes." of the animal which is effected. This adds more worry to it than just the brain and spine. 

My point is, if you want to be worried about CWD there are so many other aspects of it than just the brain and spine that you need to worry about. Look at it from all standpoints and then remember that plenty of other proteins we feed can, perhaps, just maybe carry some disease. I'm saying this assuming that everyone reading feeds fair amounts of offal and variety in protein. 

I quoted from these two links, just in case anyone wants to know where that came from/wants to read some more on it. I would suggest looking into other diseases that can be contracted by other commonly fed animals.

Delta Wildlife : Magazine
Chronic Wasting Disease


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## RaisingWolves (Mar 19, 2011)

Savage Destiny said:


> bout now. When I first started, handling and feeding a chicken wing made me nauseous. Now I dig through a container of necks and scream, "SWEET, THERE'S A TRACHEA IN THIS ONE!"



LOL! OMG, it is crazy how far I've come with raw food. The only thing that bothers me now is chopping off heads. The toenails are freaky, but I can handle feet, organs, skin...but the head still makes me gag.

Every time I read the title to this thread I think of Zombieland.....Brains, I need brains!:biggrin1:


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## whiteleo (Sep 7, 2008)

There was a thread on here awhile back, maybe last year or longer about CWD, and it cannot be transferred to dogs only deer to deer or elk or moose. Some guy from the dept of game and wildlife even posted on the thread.


*: Venison and CWD*


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## BrownieM (Aug 30, 2010)

Right...and I have read all of this about CWD, but if I am not mistaken, aren't CWD and BSE _slightly_ different?


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## whiteleo (Sep 7, 2008)

I was replying to Cavepaws post. BrownieM, I don't think you have anything to worry about as far as mad cow disease goes. If they are allowed to sell brains then it had to be tested.
We have databases for day old calves on our co-op and people feed the whole thing head and all to their dogs.


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## sassymaxmom (Dec 7, 2008)

Max gets brain but only inside whole heads, by themself they are too expensive! That means he eats eyes and tongues and all sorts of weird bits.

This week he is eating a whole fetal goat kid. For $1.75 a pound I can deal with it, otherwise he wouldn't be getting any lamb or goat - ever.

I got over the smell of raw liver from watching how the dogs felt about it. Whole fish was sort of hard because I have pet fish. The whole prey lamb/goats are hard and those llama heads were hard to deal with. My cheap side is winning though, brain on its own is $3 a pound and hard to find. Lamb is $5-6 a pound so he would never get any.

Not sure this is completely on topic but here is an article on CWD in humans in Colorado. The link is weirding out my computer so I cannot type if it is open so be aware if your computer gets odd, close this link.
http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/eid/vol12no10/pdfs/06-0019.pdf


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## CavePaws (Jan 25, 2011)

Thanks, whiteleo!


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## Northwoods10 (Nov 22, 2010)

A friend of mine has fed brains before. Although I don't recall what the brains were from. She found them at an ethnic market. She's actually on this forum....maybe she'll chime in! (Nikki)

I haven't came across any yet....but I can't say whether or not I would feed them. I think I'd prefer feeding the whole head of something instead of just dealing with the brains! uke:


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