Quote: betty landercasp

Yes, I do have chicken backs, also turkey backs. ... I am a retired veterinarian, I know something about nutrition, though most of what I know about feeding dogs is "open a quality bag from a place that sells a lot of product so the Vit. E is fresh".

I didn't expect a large-animal vet to have much dog-feeding info on tap. Many small-animal vets have less than what you said about the Vitamin E.

OK, chicken backs are going to be perfect. Turkey backs are probably too big for this small puppy.

If you click here http://leerburg.com/feedpups.htm and scroll down to "Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner," you will see a good puppy diet.

But that excellent balanced raw diet is worked up to gradually so that if any item is going to trigger a little diarrhea, you know it instantly. (You want to avoid, not cure, puppy diarrhea, which I'm sure you well know. )

What I would start with are your chicken backs, skin removed. I'd give about 5% of his weight divided into 3 meals. He may need more, but overfeeding at the beginning triggers diarrhea as often as lots of fat all at once.

So look over those meals, see what you have and don't have, and post any questions.

Do you have fish oil and E? Long-chain Omega 3s are seriously deficient in modern grain-fed slaughter meat (raw or kibble) and hence modern diets, and I consider adding them back in to be very important to balance Omega 3s and Omega 6s better and provide anti-inflammation benefits.

If you have the backs, some kind of muscle meat, and the fish oil and E, you can get started, adding one thing at a time to the skinned backs, getting the other good puppy ingredients as you go along over a week or so (such as organ meat at about 5 to 10% of the diet).

thanks so much, we'll start.
Our turkeys are not "modern grain fed" but the chickens are, and the Vit. E is already here as is the fish oil, my husband was all into that for awhile but has since decided that as these Vitamins we have are from China they could cause unforseen problems- he's stopped eating them.
Thanks a bunch for the advice, I'll begin with the chicken backs today.

I am still concerned about the predation on the chickens, this pup has much more prey drive than our last ACD, who would not kill a mouse, and understood somehow without my teaching her that the chickens were "MINE" . She would not herd them either, she would not look at them at all. Sorry if the above is off topic. Will start a new thread some other time. This pup is going to have trouble separating "herd" from "attack", I can see it already.

Ask any questions you come up with.

There are dozens of very knowledgeable raw feeders here.

Maybe most important after the ratio of bone to meat (which happens to be perfect in the dead small prey as it is) are variety (gradually) and starting small (overfeeding triggers diarrhea and many folks do it).

I believe the BONEs in my chickens my be too tough for my little guy, as they are not the 6 wk old chickens normally butchered, but 3 month -4 month old free range chickens. Capon size chickens.
What do you think about that? The backs are NOT soft and pliable as you describe.
Most store bought chickens are 3-4 lbs, these guys are 10-12 and their backs are hard to break with a knife.

How did the puppy do with them?

 Quote: Michael_Wise

How did the puppy do with them?

And what did he do?

What's the news with this? How did he handle the big backs?

well, it turned out I didn't have any backs, my son had thrown them out, so I've been feeding him thighs and it doesn't seem to be a problem, normal stools so far.
I'm also feeding them to my Italian Greyhound, who I think believes she has been put on the Adkins diet, she IS fat, but she's getting thinner eating all this meat only.

I am using Kibble as rewards, so he still gets a few (10-15)pieces of kibble each day.
It's easy in the pocket.
Hoping my book comes soon.

He's eating 3 thighs per day. Does that sound about right? I think he probably weighs about 10 lbs. Plus some peanut butter (stuffed Kongs)

well, it turned out I didn't have any backs, my son had thrown them out, so I've been feeding him thighs and it doesn't seem to be a problem, normal stools so far.
I'm also feeding them to my Italian Greyhound, who I think believes she has been put on the Adkins diet, she IS fat, but she's getting thinner eating all this meat only.

I am using Kibble as rewards, so he still gets a few (10-15)pieces of kibble each day.
It's easy in the pocket.
Hoping my book comes soon.