Does anyone feed whole carcasses (hair/feathers and all)? Dr. Lonsdale apparently recommends whole carcasses, but I can't figure out if he's talking about whacking a rabbit on the head and tossing it to your dog or if he suggests some sort of preparation.

Honestly, I don't see the benefit of feeding a grain-fed animal's filled stomach to your dog (not to mention, it would be very difficult to locate such a thing), but a veggie mix along with the rest of the animal might be something to think about (or raising organic meat for your dogs - you love them, right? <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" /> ).

I read about wolves (yeah, yeah - dogs aren't wolves and so on and so forth <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> ) eating hair all the time, but I don't see anything about feathers anywhere. I know my last dog ate plenty of feathers (she was not on a BARF diet - she was a chicken killer) and it didn't kill her.

I still don't know if they're something to avoid at all costs (obviously, most vets aren't going to recommend letting your dog chow down on a snack of feathers and BARF sites are slamming dog food companies for using all the by-products like feathers).

My boy kills rabbits from time to time.....eats the whole thing. One time he got a tape worm as a result....

If you feed whole chickens the dogs learn how to pluck off the bulk of the feathers. The rest of the the feathers will actually "pad" the passage of the bone that is consumed. The semi-digested stomach contents of the "prey" are processed by the dog without any problems. Anything indigestible will just pass through in the end....
It is about as natural a diet as you can get!
(I did buy a dog that had been raised on raw chickens and I was feeding raw beef chunks at the time - hew would go through the motions of "plucking" the beef before he ate it - pretty funny to watch)

Jen,
When I can get them (can you believe we have a "squirrel season"-sheesh) I will offer whole fresh pigeons/doves and or squirrels to the pooches. Some dogs won't eat one or the other, or either.
It makes their poop real dry and...feathery or hairy. Offer in a place that's easy to clean and be quick to throw out what's not eaten very quickly-they all carry creepy crawlies. Clean your dog and wherever they ate it as well-I am speaking of things like mites, fleas, ticks, etc. They "jump ship" pretty fast after death of the host, and if your dog is getting frontline, they will pick...YOU.
I wouldn't do it as an exclusive diet, but if they like to eat it, and I like to shoot it, heck. I wouldn't ever offer whole chickens, with the feathers and heads and things, don't get the dog started on eating something that could get him or her shot if he's ever loose. All of my dogs have loved rabbit, and you even get those from farms and such and they're pre-killed and fairly clean.
Now that I'm reading this, maybe it might be a bigger pain than it's worth to feed a whole carcass!

Originally posted by alex mankowich:
I will offer whole fresh pigeons/doves and or squirrels to the pooches. Some dogs won't eat one or the other, or either.
It makes their poop real dry and...feathery or hairy.
(snipped)
I wouldn't ever offer whole chickens, with the feathers and heads and things, don't get the dog started on eating something that could get him or her shot if he's ever loose.
(snipped)
Now that I'm reading this, maybe it might be a bigger pain than it's worth to feed a whole carcass! So, feathers serve pretty much the same function as hair and the dogs will pluck them if they feel like it. The last part of your message that I quoted sounds about right. It sounds fairly messy.

Given the opportunity, I think a dog is going to chase chickens, no matter what it's eating (unless: 1. you train the dog not to, 2. it has zero prey drive, 3. it's dead). My dog had never eaten chicken in her life, but chickens that sailed over the fence were cool new toys.

Any reason you wouldn't offer the heads?

Oh someone is gonna bash me...but-
This is wholly unscientific, by the way. Um, just 'cuz I think maybe animals smell brains alot stronger than it seems they might-I used to raise chickens and when bad animals would break in and kill them, sometimes they just sorta, um, "braincase"(open the back of the head, skull, chew a little brain?) 'em all and didn't eat the actual bird. Also (in my redneck experience only) some very picky eaters across the animal kingdom can be specially tempted to eat with fresh warm brains.
So I am afraid I would be specially encouraging my poochies to eat my chickens by offering the head with that tidbit in it. If brains smell so darn delicious to them to begin with, and each animal has its own particualr smell, well, you understand how I got here? No doubt all paranoia and supersition on my part.
No health worry on my part at all. Lots of bird guys/gals I used to run around behind offered the heads of the bird retreived to the dog, supposedly to keep the reward motivator high for pointing/setting/retrieve and discourage the dog from eating the prize. I do offer pigeons with heads, beak and all.

Oh, yeah, also, from too much time at the sink plucking birds - chickens have a distinctive smell that even I can detect, different from other birds. It's real strong in the feathers, scaly feet, etc. So again, I would fear for live chickens if my dogs were to associate their feather smell with dinner.
I can eyeball my own dogs and my own chickens, intervene if things ever looked uncool. But someone else's loose hungry looking dog wouldn't get the benefit of the doubt, and I think most people with stock or poultry would feel the same.