I've been reading the many posts about chicken wings recently and wondered if it would be ok give to give them to older dogs? 10 yr old yorkie and 8 yr old poodle. They've never had anything raw!

Thanks

Hi - to put your mind at rest my 11 yr old Irish Setter (who is missing some of our teeth) had raw chicken wings only recently and she does great with them.  No problems at all - loves them.  She takes her time but does munch quite happily on them.

So I would say give it a go!  She always crunches them and has never swallowed them whole.

Rachel

Hi Rachel thanks for that.

I'm just off shopping so I'll give it a go. They're a bit fussy and probably look at me like I'm mad! I'll see how it goes...

Sandra

They'll love them I'm sure - my 1yr old English Setter does still look at them as if what the heck do I do with that!!  But then tucks in - my other boys love them to bits.

Good luck - if they aren't too sure first hold it for them or smash them a bit first!

hi Sandra, my mum has a toy poodle 9yrs & a 2 yr old yorkshire terrier , both VERY FUSSY eaters i told her to try raw chicken wings a couple of months ago & they love them !  :)
caron

Well! My flabber is well and truly ghasted!! Said dogs are munching away right now and loving them! LOL. I'm really surprised, they took them straight away and started crunching.

How often should they have them and how many?

Thanks for your help :)

Sandra

If you're giving them make sure it replaces a meal, not in addition to a meal otherwise you'll have some very happy, but heavy dogs LOL.

My whippets get between 2-3 wings a meal depending on their weight as a meal replacement.

As for how often - it depends on what you're wanting to use them for - if it's for teeth cleaning then replace a meal with them a couple of times a week, if it's for all meal replacements then you might want to consider varying it some and using other meats etc.

Wendy

Thanks Wendy :)

I haven't replaced them for a meal - oops! - I have been giving them more as a treat (for healthy teeth!) a couple of times a week. They only get one each. They love them. :)

Should I give them a couple at a time and replace a meal a couple of times a week?

Sandra.

EDIT: LOL sorry Wendy just reread your post! You answered my questions anyway! Time for bed me thinks... :)

No worries

I would probably think for the size of your dogs one would probably replace a meal.  Do you feed once or twice a day?  If you feed twice a day I would think that one would be enough for a replacement.  If you feed once a day I'd feed 1/2 their regular meal, then give the wing later on as the treat.

Hope that helps.

Wendy

Hi Wendy
Yes that helps a lot, thanks. They get fed twice a day a small amount in the morning and larger amount afternoon. I'll cut out their later meal a couple of times a week and give them the wings then.

Thanks for that :)

Sandra.

Do you just give them the wings as they come or put them through a procceser?
thanks colette

feedee give them as they are :) Altho it may be wise to bash them a couple of times with a hammer for the \\\'first time\\\'. Putting them through a grinder wouldnt provide any teeth cleaning which is part of the reason alot of people give bones :)

Mine are loving them! They've had 1 everyday, the yorkie finishes it off in about 10 minutes and my poor gummy poodle takes an hour! LOL

They might not be able to chew....poor old things, but I'm sure they can inflict a nasty suck???

I am feeding my 13 week dane puppy on a barf diet.  My 13 yr old rescue yorkie/jack russell has lots of missing teeth and he now loves chicken wings. He also ate a whole turkey neck which our puppy couldn't  manage :rolleyes:

just wondering does anyone who feeds raw chicken worry about bird flu? Might sounds a silly question but could it be transmitted that way?

So far it seems to be only if you slaughter or handle the recently deceased bird (intact with feathers and innards) the affected chicken yourself.

I am not at all concerned about contracting bird flu from dead chickens or any other poultry that has been slaughtered, gutted and plucked by someone else.

I was actually thinking about my dogs catching it from eating raw but I take your point

Don't let them do the slaughtering, then! ;)

My dogs eat raw chicken as well, however I do buy it already dead, plucked, and gutted!

From what i understand bird flue isnt transmissable to dogs.I thought i heard that on the news or somewhere the other night.

Nobody really knows what it can do yet. The fear is that it will mutate and cross from bird to human transmission. At the moment it spreads from bird to bird, if eaten we catch it too! The difference is that it cannot travel from human to human, it cannot as yet move through the population with that much ease, but scientists fear that it will learn to, like aids, only like FLU!

What it could do to your dog in the future....who knows?

If it gets into Africa and infects sick people there, whose immune systems are weak from other viruses and partically aids, it could become stronger.

Well as far as I am aware the chicken has to be alive ;)

There is a lot of scaremongering being done by the media. Avian flu including this strain has been around for many many years & has yet to mutant into humans. The origiin of AIDS is shrouded in mystery of the CIA kind & it cannot be compared to Avian flu.

If it gets into Africa and infects sick people there, whose immune systems are weak from other viruses and partically aids, it could become stronger

What an odd thing to write I presume you mean Africans dying of AIDS or dying of malnutrition already. The virus will not become "stronger" resistant to drugs possibly but viruses don't actually get stronger. BTW few Africans with AIDS or dying of malnutrtion travel around especially if they are at the stage at which their immune system is compromised

This may surprise you there are millions of people with AIDS other than the 3rd world/Africa

I'm immune system compromised with Autoimmune Disease(not Acquired Immune Deease Syndrome-AIDS)& am no more a risk of helping Avian flu spread that you are

This link answers many questions about avian flu.