Thanks Julian. I have some lamb I waited a little too long on to butcher - it tastes ok but is tougher than I'd like. l'll start sharing it with the dogs. I've heard of the BARF diet. Don't really want to bother with grinding if it's not necessary. Stephanie -----Original Message----- From: Julian Hale <jbh...@comcast.net>
Date: Mon, 25 May 2009 21:43:44 To: <blackbelly@lists.blackbellysheep.info> Subject: Re: [Blackbelly] band saw for meat At 08:43 PM 5/25/2009, you wrote: >I know this has probably been discussed before, and there are lots of >different opinions on it - but do you feed bones and all to the dogs? >Cooked or raw? There are plenty of folks who feed raw meat to dogs >(and from my own sheep, I'd not worry about contamination anyway), but >I have had it drummed into me never to feed bones - raw or otherwise - >to dogs because of the risk of splintered bones or obstruction of the >gi tract. Have you all been feeding bones to dogs for years and had >no problems? I'd sure hate to lose one of my livestock dogs because >of something I fed them. > >Stephanie RAW bones are perfectly fine. I've fed raw meat and bones for years without GI problems of any sort. COOKED bones on the other hand, splinter and can puncture the throat, stomach, etc. You do need to pay attention to choking hazards, but I know of dogs who've choked to death on kibble, so it's something to pay attention to anyway. Like I said a couple weeks ago, I almost lost a ewe to choking on alfalfa pellets! If you are interested in feeding raw, but are worried about consuming whole bone, I highly recommend the book The B.A.R.F. Diet by Dr. Ian Billinghurst. BARF stands for Bones And Raw Food, and relies upon grinding most of the meat and bones that you feed your dogs. I've switched away from Billinghurst's method, not because I found it lacking, but because it is a little too time consuming. Now I pretty much just feed whole meat and bones. Julian _______________________________________________ This message is from the Blackbelly mailing list Visit the list's homepage at %http://www.blackbellysheep.info _______________________________________________ This message is from the Blackbelly mailing list Visit the list's homepage at %http://www.blackbellysheep.info
