Raw Pheasant, goose, and duck ok for dogs?

[juliefurry]

A hunter friend of ours gave us a bunch of raw pheasant, goose, and duck breast for Hannah. Is this ok for her to eat? I already gave her some pheasant and she really likes it, she's been eating it for 2 days as her muscle meat. She has had no bad reactions to it and I cut up either the duck, or goose, into daily portions for her to try next. Is this stuff ok for her? It has been in the freezer for quite some time (atleast a month at Mark's friends house).

Also he says he has some doves if we were interested, for Hannah to try as well. Would the doves be ok for her to eat too?

I've fed them all in the past and still do when I get my hands on some. well except for the doves, haven't ever fed those, but i've never had any problems with any of them.

[Novel_Weims]

I do feed domestic duck, but would not feed quail, partridge, pheasant, dove, or other type of upland game bird because my dogs actively hunt. Those are not "food" for them, those are "food" for me. They do retrieve duck in competition, but, they are not stopping and pointing them, so I feel there is enough of a distinction.

ETA: When I feed duck, I feed the entire duck, feathers and all. You're wasting quite a bit of valuable nutrition if you remove just the breasts from the birds. The organ meat, partially digested feed, cartiladge, etc all has its place in a dog's diet.

[Julie]

I don't see any reason not to feed those to your dogs....
I don't feed goose, duck, or doves to my dogs, but that is only because that is the main thing we hunt for and I don't want them to decide to endulge on their "retrieving" time. I still don't think it would be a problem as they eat deer, but don't chase them. But eating a retrieve would be far easier for them than chasing a deer.
So for us, those are not choices, but for anyone that doesn't hunt waterfowl, or doves I don't see any problem.

[juliefurry]

Originally Posted by Novel_Weims

ETA: When I feed duck, I feed the entire duck, feathers and all. You're wasting quite a bit of valuable nutrition if you remove just the breasts from the birds. The organ meat, partially digested feed, cartiladge, etc all has its place in a dog's diet.

Yeah I know I asked about getting a WHOLE duck or goose but he already had them cut up and just had the breast meat. He said next hunting season, he's done for this year, he will save me a whole duck or goose (or both). I feed other things with bones to Hannah (like chicken, lamb, turkey, rabbit, and beef). She also gets livers and tripe too on a regular basis so she isn't getting just the breast meat. Hopefully next year though I can get a whole bird and let her try out one of those.

Seeing as you don't feed certain birds to your dogs because they actively hunt would it be ok to feed them to a dog who does not actively hunt? Hannah has not hunted a day in her life, and according to Mark's friend (not the one who gave us the meat but a different hunter friend) would definetely not be "hunting dog" material .

[juliefurry]

Originally Posted by Julie

I don't see any reason not to feed those to your dogs....
I don't feed goose, duck, or doves to my dogs, but that is only because that is the main thing we hunt for and I don't want them to decide to endulge on their "retrieving" time. I still don't think it would be a problem as they eat deer, but don't chase them. But eating a retrieve would be far easier for them than chasing a deer.
So for us, those are not choices, but for anyone that doesn't hunt waterfowl, or doves I don't see any problem.

Yeah Hannah doesn't hunt so I think it'd be ok for her. She'll watch birds and chase them but she isn't use to gunfire and she's afraid of water. Also she a very overexuberant fetcher and would probably do some damage. She knows drop it and all that but she doesn't have a very soft mouth when it comes to retrieving, her main objective is to "kill" what she is retrieving.

[DanL]

My friend just gave me a huge bag of pheasants and rabbits he'd hunted on a trip with one of his sales customers. Gunnar turns up his nose at them but the others eat them no problem. I got Gunnar to eat some pheasant by cutting it up and mixing it with some ground beef.

[Novel_Weims]

Originally Posted by juliefurry

Seeing as you don't feed certain birds to your dogs because they actively hunt would it be ok to feed them to a dog who does not actively hunt? Hannah has not hunted a day in her life, and according to Mark's friend (not the one who gave us the meat but a different hunter friend) would definetely not be "hunting dog" material .

Yes, I think it would be entirely OK to feed them to a non-hunting dog. However, you may want to dig out any stray pellets or BBs.

You'll find the dogs love pulling out duck and goose feathers, because the feathers are so numerous, but, they will not eat them, because the oil on the body is actually bitter. The dove feathers though you will most likely see the dogs partake of. My guys love playing with the feathers and on a day when they're bored they'll find one flying around and catch it and eat it. Same with the rabbit fur. I skin my rabbits, but there is still fur on the feet and head. The dogs love it. However, it makes for some interesting poop scooping later on. I think of these things as natural colon cleansers.

[juliefurry]

Originally Posted by Novel_Weims

Yes, I think it would be entirely OK to feed them to a non-hunting dog. However, you may want to dig out any stray pellets or BBs.

You'll find the dogs love pulling out duck and goose feathers, because the feathers are so numerous, but, they will not eat them, because the oil on the body is actually bitter. The dove feathers though you will most likely see the dogs partake of. My guys love playing with the feathers and on a day when they're bored they'll find one flying around and catch it and eat it. Same with the rabbit fur. I skin my rabbits, but there is still fur on the feet and head. The dogs love it. However, it makes for some interesting poop scooping later on. I think of these things as natural colon cleansers.

Yeah I checked really good for bullets or anything. They guy also eats them himself so he said he would be REALLY surprised if I had found any in there.

We bought a few live rabbits, intended for food, and Mark's friend helped me get them ready for Hannah to eat (I couldn't do it I cried so hard) we left most the fur on, and didn't do anything she was able to eat it all herself without us cutting anything she knew what to do.

My friend just gave me a huge bag of pheasants and rabbits he'd hunted on a trip with one of his sales customers. Gunnar turns up his nose at them but the others eat them no problem. I got Gunnar to eat some pheasant by cutting it up and mixing it with some ground beef.

Hannah had no problems eating the pheasant. She LOVES it. The only thing we have problems getting her to eat is her organ meat and that we do mix with ground beef, or turkey, or sardines. Then she'll eat it but not plain or if we put it just with her RMB's she won't touch it.

[Novel_Weims]

I have watched my dogs eat rabbit and I find it such a natural and awe inspiring thing. It's like having the National Geographic channel live in 3D. Everything about their bodies are made to eat this type of food. All their natural behavior is all about this diet.
Pulling the stuffing out of their fav toy can be so annoying. Why can't they just leave it alone. You give them a rabbit and they immediately seek out the most nutrient rich parts, the organ meat internal contents. If they only had enough time to eat one thing, they instinctively know that this is it. It's amazing.
The pulling off of meat pieces, using their front paws to stabilize their prey is awesome, as is the leisurely crunching of the bones. I find my dogs eating to be so neat. They thoroughly enjoy every second of their meal. They exercise their minds while exercising their jaw and cleaning their teeth. They even develop better fine motor skills. It truly makes me speechless.