I feed my girls a chicken wing tea once a week as a treat and to keep their teeth nice.  I am not looking to convert totally but I can get wings and also backs/frames fairly cheap from my local butchers so I might make it a twice or 3 times a week thing.  To do this I need a better idea of quantities.  I am feeding 3 girls, a 15.8kg 6 year old neutered staffy x, a 10.8 kg neutered beagle type and a 11kg entire springer.  The springer is about right weight wise the other two are a bit heavier than I would like.  The beagle I try to keep between 10 and 10.5.  The Staff is not mine but she is looking quite heavy at the moment. 

The beagle and staff tend to put weight on a bit quicker than the springer.

How many wings should I be feeding per meal?

Would their teeth really be helped by chicken wings or carcasses? Mine all swallow them whole! For their teeth we give big raw meaty bones.

Chicken wings do pile on weight very quickly (best food for getting a skinny dog to gain weight!), and of course individuals do differ a lot -some pile on the pounds easier than others, but as comparison, if I was giving an entire meal of nothing but chicken wings, then one dog of mine that weighs 34 kilos and always is lean (male neuter), never fat, would get 3 wings. Those of 20-25 kilos would get 2 wings, not more.

Thank you.

They do have a real good chew on them (they are much smaller than malis though!).  I can get frames from the butcher sometimes too.

My skinny springie has been getting 2 wings, the other 2 get one smallish one each

My concern was mainly that if I were to up the frequency of the raw meals I would not want to be vastly over or under feeding them.

I have noticed an improvement in the springers weight since I started these.  Although she also finished her phantom so that helps too!

I've been considering feeding some raw to our next dog when we get her. The breeder normally feeds raw, but will also use kibble so that the pups are used to it before the pups go to their new homes as not everyone will feed raw. I'm thinking chicken wings once or twice a week, raw and cooked veg added to kibble and a chunky bone for teeth and general enjoyment. The dogs adult weight will be between 25 to 30 kgs, so I guess two chicken wings. As I normally feed twice a day, would that be one in the morning, one in the evening, or both together and say kibble for the other meal? To me a chicken wing doesn't seem very much, does it satisfy them or do they have something else as well? Are wings ok for young pups? As to bones, what kind? It's a long time since I've given my dogs bones, I guess you get them from the butchers. Hope these questions don't sound too daft.

I will be very interested in the replies you get as I've got an 11month GR she's fed on dry food but has the occasional chicken wing and a bone from the butchers.  I would be very interested in if its ok to feed part raw part kibble and quantities of each.  She's the first GR I've had that doesn't eat the food in the blink of an eye, she did as a pup but now eats as and when she's ready and usually much less than the bag suggests.  I'm not worried as her weight is fine (23kg) any help and suggestions are gratefully looked forward to.

My last three dogs were GRs and so will be the next one!
Has she always been a less greedy dog or is this come about recently. I found that all my GRs had periods of not falling on their food, they had more interesting things to do I think. Eventually they all ended up inhaling what ever they were given.

The last 3months I would think, we did put it down to her first season which ended up going on for 7 weeks  but she's well over that now and eats when and if she likes. I've had 2 goldies before and tried to have a different breed this time but just couldn't there's just something about those eyes that drags me in lol

Know what you mean, they are quite irresistible. I also thought about a different breed too, but couldn't do it. The whole house is GR coloured so the hair doesn't show up the moment one is dropped. Couldn't afford to do it all again. :)

Did you have girls and if so what age did you have them spayed if you did that is lol

Graciemay, I'll PM you as we are hijacking this thread.

Thanks, sorry everybody got carried away lol

As I normally feed twice a day, would that be one in the morning, one in the evening, or both together and say kibble for the other meal? To me a chicken wing doesn't seem very much, does it satisfy them or do they have something else as well? Are wings ok for young pups? As to bones, what kind?

For a growing pup, you will no doubt need more. I find my 9 month old eats about 3 times as much as my mature adults (but she is very VERY active), without gaining too much weight. It's really a  case of trial and error I'd say. But when I mentioned two chicken wings is okay for my adults that weigh between 20 and 25 kilos, I meant per meal, so twice a day. However the situation wouldn't really arise for me as they get a variety of meats, whatever the butcher has available. :) Sometimes the quantities seem very small indeed for the size of dog, but we notice straight away if we add more that they put on too much weight.  My lot are all very greedy and could eat non stop all day I'm sure, but they aren't desperately hungry. :) As for bones, we get them from the butcher and I couldn't say for sure what was what but would guess (as a clueless vegetarian!!) that we're talking cow bones mainly with the occasional lamb. And yes, chicken wings are okay for young pups, they just take a bit more chewing. My cats get them as well.

Thanks Goldmali, that was very helpful

I totally raw feed so its hard to recommend amounts if you mix feed. Most raw feeders will not mix feed as they believe that as the two digest at different rates and can dry can ferment in the stomach its not good. Also purists believe that raw is the best way so would not want to add commercial. However I am not preaching you would need to do wider reading and deicde for yourselves on that.
  If you do want to learn more about raw(  of the pure raw meaty bones ways ) I would suggest if you are on facebook you have a look at the rawfeedinguk group there is loads of info on there. Or ann ridyards book the dogs dinner will give you all the info you want.  As a rough guide to start raw feeding an adult give approx 2.5% of body weight starting with one protein at a time then increase then vary the variety of protein week by week so you can see whats happening.If you dog is underweight feed a higher % if overweight a lower amount. After the start point just look at your dog and vary the amounts as you would if you were feeding a human.
With regard to bone if the dog has too soft poo add a bit more bone if too hard add more meat to the balance.
Take care with adding offal until you know how much your dog can manage its very rich and can make dogs very loose if sensitive but they do need some
When talking about meat this includes all types of fish as well also raw.
Variety including offal muscle and bone is important allparts of the animal and all types of meat as far as you can.
This is only one way of raw feeding some do use carbs as well, personally I dont feel this is necessary but you do your research and make your own desions
Hope that helps

Thanks, as it is only going to be maybe two or three meals a week I am unlikely to be adding offal and the like.  They do get fish too occasionally when the OH catches them!  They currently get 1 raw meal a week anyway and have had no stomach problems or digestive problems.  I just wanted an idea of quantities so that if I decide to make it another meal I am not drastically under over feeding.  Don't mind them getting a bit extra or less once a week but if it was 2 or 3 times I would need to keep an eye on it.  Jodi your quantities have been really helpful

I will keep Furriefriends advise in mind if I do at any point take the plunge and go fully raw.  I will certainly check out the face book information.  And also bear the offal info in mind if we ever get anybody getting a bit bunged up! :D

Just read my last line it should have said there ISNT only only one way of feeding raw sorry folks I wasnt preaching !

It was a really informative post and if I decide to go down the full raw route it would be really useful

Roxylola, what kinds of fish does your dog get and do you feed it raw, whole or in chunks? My oh occasionally catches a fish, trout, and as we are not that keen on eating them very much, perhaps the dog might. :)

Any type of fish is fine. ssssssome will take the fish just like seals but make sure they chew not swallw whole otherwise cut or mince however you like. just as long as its raw. I also give tinned mavkeral and pilchards in spring water or oil or tom sauce not to often as it could be a bit higher in salt. 

My two had some mackerel the other day.  The OH sea fishes so they get salt water fish only usually mackerel.  I fed them whole and they had a real good munch, they were about 12" long and probably a good 6" round at the widest point.  They also like sardines, pilchards, tuna, and any white fish I happen to have in my freezer when the beagle manages to open it!!!!

I'm doing a mix feeding schedule with my new pup,now 5.5 months.  Currently .17.5 kgand going to be about 28 kg adult.
He is eating arcana  kibble,mixed with a boiled(100g) chicken,pasta,carrot and courgette for his breakfast.
he has eaten a raw chicken wing for his lunch.
tonight he will just have the kibble.
He is gaining about pound a week...
he is doing wonderfully well,in good coat,very lively and has a hearty appetite.
I've never fed raw before but love the wings,to help keep his teeth clean.He also eats one and seems very content all afternoon.His stools are firm,never sloppy....I give just two wings a week so far,but may well progress onto necks...Im enthusiastic,but obviously cautious as this is a first for me in over 50 yrs of dog keeping.

It will be the same for me too Bellamia. Over the years I've had it drummed in not to feed chicken bones to dogs, I know that's cooked not raw, but it's so ingrained that its difficult to shake off! Your regime sounds good to me. Not sure exactly yet how it will work out as we spend about eight months a year in the motorhome or a static caravan, so it does depend largely on fridge size how much raw the dog will get. Just remembered that the oh sometimes sea fishes when we are at the the static. The one and only fish he caught so far, tasted horrible, so the dog will be welcome to one of those if he catches one again. :)

Graciemay - I feed my GR a raw diet and have done since he was 7 months old - he will be 8 this year. I sometimes feed the odd meal of kibble as I attend agility shows with my dogs and it's not always possible to take enough raw food with me to feed them.  If feeding a kibble meal I just replace one of their two meals a day with the kibble and I use half the daily allowance for the dried food and then when I feed a raw meal in the evening I feed half the daily amount of raw and this seems to work fine.

I also like to feed the odd kibble meal so that if I ever ran out of raw, or hadn't got it out the freezer in time, or they had to go to kennels etc then they would be used to having kibble as well.

Thanks Harley, I was wondering if its possible to give mince every so often and if so how much.  I'm just trying to add a bit of variety but with good things instead of treats and also be aware of her weight (I know they can put weight on after spaying). She already has bones from the butcher and a chicken wing every so often and sometimes a peice of a pigs trotter ( didn't give her the whole trotter as they look so big lol)

My male GR is fed about 454g of raw food a day and he weighs around 30-31kg - he is quite lean. So if I were to give him just one meal of mince because the other meal was going to be a kibble meal I would halve the pack and feed around 225g of raw... if that helps. It's slightly different for me as the raw is his normal diet and the kibble is something I use once every so often - and with raw feeding the balance is achieved over a course of about a month - so if he had a day when his food  weighed more/less than the approximate daily amount I would just adjust accordingly over the next day or so. Some meaty bones weigh heavier than others so he might have a greater amount of food one day and a smaller amount the next.

As you feed mainly kibble and the raw food is the exception I would probably feed a raw meal that was the equivalent weight to the kibble meal you are replacing.
Alternatively you could feed a whole day as a raw day - and would work out the correct amount by feeding approximately 2-3% of the full grown weight of the dog - and not feed kibble at all that day.

I would also add that my dog is very well muscled - he competes in agility and has 4-5 miles a day of mainly off lead exercise and goes to three  different training classes a week ........... and in the height of the agility season he can spend a lot of weekends at shows throughout the season. The amount of food fed is approximate - if he gets too lean I up the amount a  little and if he puts weight on I reduce it accordingly :-)

Good way to calculate how much raw to give http://www.raw4dogs.com/calculate.htm

If your dog looks a lil skinny feed a lil more- a lil over weight feed less.

The best fish is the oily types of fish- my main fish are smelts which I grind. My Boston's love fish where
Moose hates it. So I mix their fish with tripe hides the taste lol like tripe taste any better & it smells like @ss!! :-D