Hi all - have to share and need some advice.

I have a girlfriend whose training a bird dog (Gordon Setter) and while out on a walk last week she casually asked me if I had any bird wings.

Unfortunately I didn’t have any soaring around in my treat pack but we talked about what’s available at the grocery stores and butchers. She said she’s looking for wild game type birds as opposed to domestic chickens and turkeys – something like grouse, pheasant, duck, etc. that are fairly fresh. She’s checked with a few butchers and these don’t seem to be readily available right now - more so during hunting seasons.

Well, as fate would have it, yesterday, as I was coming across the bridge into my community, there was a dead pigeon (they nest under the rails of this one-lane bridge with a passing area up top). These birds live quite peacefully on this bridge but every once in a while a vehicle hits one.

As I was waiting for an on-coming truck I got a close look at this freshly killed bird (it wasn’t there when I went over a couple of hours earlier) and started thinking about threads I’ve read on this site and the wings my girlfriend is looking for… but all my childhood conditioning came back – don’t touch dead animals, they could be full of disease… and…yuck…there’s no way I’m picking that up! So when the truck passed I carried on my way as well… but as I was nearing the bottom, the worth of this bird was giving me second thoughts. I turned around and headed back up the bridge, rationalizing - it’s still cold out, there aren’t bugs and flies around yet - how bad could it be? From what I’ve read here, others take advantage of road kill and this bird could be put to good use.

I plucked the bird up by a wing and couldn’t believe how big the outstretched wing became - about 20 Inches. While examining the bloody head wound, the same truck came back up the bridge (there is a small store on the other side). The truck stopped and I could hear the young men talking, “Oh my gawd, she’s picking it up”. One looked at me and said, “Dinner?” They were having fun and I could see they were curious so I walked over to them with it. We discussed how it probably died and the fact that it looked perfectly edible. Note: If it wasn’t for this forum I would never, in a million years, have had this conversation, so gotta thank you all for this one.

I couldn’t believe what was coming out of my mouth – nice clear eyes, no bugs, not too much blood so my truck mat wouldn’t get too messy. We had a good chuckle and I told them “Leerburg made me do it”. They asked if this was a new brand of beer and I just walked away giggling to myself.

Needless to say, I got it home and removed the wings and have them safely cooling in the shed. I’ll be giving them to my girlfriend tomorrow – she’s very excited and says they are exactly what she’s looking for. I put the rest of the bird in a bag and put it in my freezer – I read here it kills stuff that may otherwise be harmful. So that’s the sharing.

Now to my dilemma… When hubby got home I told him the story, let him know the bird was in the freezer and that I intended to chop it into 3 and feed it to the boys - feathers, beak, feet and all – less the wings of course. He is adamant that we will not be doing this.

We have always fed raw, he does most of the shopping and a good share of the feeding – knows all the butchers and gets great deals on all kinds of stuff but we have never fed birds with the feathers on them. We also hunt and they get deer and moose meat (hair and all) but he has something about a feathered bird – insists this is going to spark up some sort of bird killing thing.

I really thought he knew better but he’s being unusually strange about this. I showed him Michael W’s video with Turbo and the tasty looking feathers coming out of both sides of his mouth. He went on about having neighbours with chickens and guns to worry about, pack mentality, the natural birds in our yard, the size of our boys, blah, blah, blah….

Our boys are never allowed outside our fenced yard unattended so this is a mute point as far as I am concerned. He says he’s just not willing to take the chance so why even bother introducing them to it. I’ve explained how their obedience levels play a big part in this, good recalls, always on leash or e-collar and the distraction training we’ve done while working in prey drive. They are not going to be chasing after any chickens or game birds. We’re having quite the argument over this.

Does anyone have any words of wisdom that can help me gain some ground on this disagreement? I’d really like to let the boys enjoy a few fresh feathers. Or perhaps I may be wrong? I’m certainly willing to listen to all angles. Oh, and is it ok to feed them the beak?

I don't have the words of wisdom you're looking for, but I enjoyed the story immensely! (Personally, I don't see the problem with the dogs getting the feathers...)

leih

Easy! Skin the bird. You still get all the benefits of meat, bones, etc... but can appease your DH by not feeding the feathers. We skin our chickens vs boiling / plucking - I just don't picture myself doing that!

I'll find video link which shows how to skin a chicken and you can probably easily apply it to the pigeon.

Pick your battles...

video link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xgo6Qlaff

If your are pretty sure that it met it's demise via automobile, and not sickness or poison, then I say go ahead.:smile: The whole thing, beak, feathers, feet.....

Killing animals is a training issue, not dietary.

There is a forum member that checks in every now and then that feeds rabbits. At the same time, those same dogs can be around her pet rabbits without worry. They eat the dead ones that she hands them, and leave the live ones alone.

I don't know,
But I just don't see dogs making the leap between this chicken, rabbit, deer, etc being the same thing that comes out of the fridge and fed via my hand as the thing running across the field.

They are going to, without training, chase whatever is running away. Without actually killing something though for the sake of something to eat I doubt seriously they know or feel that, that chicken that once was running around the yard is the same thing he's having for dinner tonight.

How do you think sheep herders of yore dealt with it?
Feed them kibble?

"Leerburg made me do it" HA!! TOOOO funny!!

If I knew it was a fresh kill, and it didn't look diseased, I would go for it. I have fed deer freshly killed by cars... usually a friend was the killer I hit a turkey once and brought it home for the dogs.

Just because you feed a dog a bird or deer or whatever, they won't go off chasing it. My dogs have NO CLUE that the venison steak they had for dinner came from a DEER. It came from the FRIDGE, DUH!!!! If they chase birds or deeer, its usually just prey drive (the need to chase moving things)... not because they recognize it as a food source.

Oh you guys are wonderful… this is great ammunition!!

You’re so right Barbara. I can’t get caught up in this somewhat small disagreement and not see the bird for the feathers or the forest for the trees or something like that. Thanks for the reality check!! But I know I’m right.

Oh and I couldn’t get the video to play…said something about “Malformed ID”. This is such a great idea!! I certainly couldn’t see myself plucking this thing either but never thought about skinning it.

Mike and Randy, excellent back-up. This is what I’m trying to tell him but you guys said it so much better. A training/obedience issue and prey drive. We have done a lot of distraction work with neighbourhood cats and squirrels in the woods - but he's not making the association. You guys have said it perfectly.

And Kelly, I certainly didn’t mean to bring “Leerburg” into any disrepute. I’m sure these guys are still scratching their heads trying to figure out what it is. I’ve seen them around the neighbourhood so if our paths cross again (probably not – “there’s the lady that picks up dead pigeons”… run...) I’ll introduce them to the site. And I love the association that their “Food comes from the fridge”, not the live animals that kick in their prey drive.

Excellent points guys. I’ll run this stuff by him tonight and see if I can’t save myself some skinning time. Or…. If he won’t let me feed them the whole bird, perhaps HE should do the skinning… hmmm.

Oh and yes Michael, yes, I'm 100% sure that it was killed by a vehicle. It was one of the boys who pointed out that the small (skin scraped back) head wound was probably the result of a passing rear view mirror or maybe a bumper.

These pigeons are a wonderful attraction in the community, I can't see anyone even thinking about poisoning them. The bridge spans a large river that is the recipient of their droppings and their cooing really adds to the ambiance for people walking across it.

HA! I was told the same thing about road-kill deer when we were at the blood-trailing seminar! I was bemoaning the fact that, except for 1/2 a deer leg in my freezer I didn't have any 'parts' to train with. They told me to stop at a fresh deer carcass and 'get me some'.

Although they did warn about trying to hoist the whole deer into my pickup. Said the game warder might think something fishy was up.....

 Quote: Deb Collier

HA! I was told the same thing about road-kill deer when we were at the blood-trailing seminar! I was bemoaning the fact that, except for 1/2 a deer leg in my freezer I didn't have any 'parts' to train with. They told me to stop at a fresh deer carcass and 'get me some'.

Although they did warn about trying to hoist the whole deer into my pickup. Said the game warder might think something fishy was up.....

Call the game warden ahead of time. Let them know where it's at and what you want to do. That will take away most if not all suspicion.

I've got a game warden I call when I find one and he gives me the go ahead. Says if anyone says anything to have them give him a call and he will verify.:smile:

May even call you if they find one.:wink: