# Making Dog Food From Offal



## Baymule (Oct 29, 2017)

We sent 4 lambs to slaughter and I got the liver, heart and kidneys from all four. Today I canned dog food from them. I cooked and diced the meat. I also had a bag of chicken necks in the freezer so I tossed them in too. It made a rich broth.

I put a half cup of cooked rice in each jar, along with cubed end of the season squash. I put 1 cup of the meat, each jar got a chicken neck and filled with broth.

I processed at 10 pounds of pressure for 90 minutes. I just finished 7 quarts and put 5 more quarts in the canner.

Since I was in the kitchen, I made zucchini bread and fried some pan sausage. Zucchini bread is smelling good!

We will mix this with the dogs food on those times when they go off their feed. Talk about an appetite stimulator! LOL


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## Sara Ranch (Oct 29, 2017)

I hope your dogs appreciate the hard work you put into their healthy future meals!

When I start harvesting my chickens & turkeys, I may save the offal and use it for dog food too...

MMMmmmm - zucchini bread!  I think I am hungry!

I didn't come close to what you did today in the kitchen.  My best effort was beef bone broth turned into soup.


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## AClark (Oct 29, 2017)

Just a question and not being a jerk, but you put chicken necks in your canned dog food? I know raw chicken necks are nothing to worry about, but doesn't that cook the bones and make them prone to splinter?
I've fed raw food before, I like it, but until we're doing some butchering ourselves it's not cost efficient for me. I do give my dogs the left over cuts and such though as goodies.


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## Baymule (Oct 29, 2017)

After being pressure cooked at 10 pounds pressure for 1 hour, 30 minutes, those chicken necks are mush. I also can the back bony pieces of chicken the same way and the bones are soft. My dogs love it. I understand your concern @AClark but after being pressure cooked to death, the chicken bones are not a problem. You can ask me a question any time, I don't get offended by someone questioning my practices, so ask all you want! 

If I don't ask for the offal, it gets thrown away. We don't like liver, heart or kidneys, but a little effort it makes great dog food and they love it. When we butcher chicken, I save the back pieces and neck and can them with rice and vegetables for the dogs. There has not been a problem with the bones for my dogs. That's not to say that the bones would or wouldn't be a problem for your dogs, this is what works for me.

@Sara Ranch if ya'll don't eat the chicken gizzards or livers, can them for your dogs. Cut the gizzard open, wash the gunk out and peel the yellow lining off.


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## Southern by choice (Oct 29, 2017)

Very cool Bay! 
I know you don't do this a lot but just a reminder to everyone to be careful with how much and how often you feed chicken necks.
The thyroid of the chicken is in the neck and this can cause issues for dogs.


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## dejavoodoo114 (Oct 30, 2017)

@Southern by choice , how often would too often be when considering feeding chicken necks? I never thought about the thyroid being there and being a problem for the dogs. If I know how much time to leave between feedings, I can freeze the necks when I do large batches of chickens.


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## AClark (Oct 30, 2017)

Thanks Bay. I knew cooking bones was verboten, (not going to lie I give my dogs cooked beef bones) I do a lot of canning but my meat never has bones in it, I didn't know they turned to mush. So that's really nice, a calcium mush in your dog food!


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## Sara Ranch (Oct 30, 2017)

Yeah, I am not a fan of the innards like gizzards.  I will definitely share with the doggies.   

Lost nine birds (chickens/turkeys) today due to high winds/them getting out of safety areas.    I am NOT happy about that.  Will know shortly if the count is actually higher when I close up and do head count in the next few hours.  

It translates to a financial loss as well as a freezer loss.  I won't be harvesting as many birds next month for food.  

Looking forward to the response about the thyroid time line.


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## frustratedearthmother (Oct 30, 2017)

I'm curious to know if canning deactivates the thyroid stuff?


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## Baymule (Oct 30, 2017)

I put one neck per quart jar. So that probably isn't a problem. I know lots of us raise our own meat, there are always parts we don't like. Some people love liver, we're not in that crowd. If we don't ask for it at the slaughter house, they just throw it away. It's mine. I raised it, why would I let it be thrown away? The squirrel DNA in me just can't let that happen. Just because I don't like it.........the dogs sure love me for it. 

@AClark the larger chicken bones like the leg bones don't turn to mush, just the smaller ones and the flat ones like in the back pieces. 

@Sara Ranch so sorry about the losses!


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## Baymule (Oct 30, 2017)

Southern by choice said:


> Very cool Bay!
> I know you don't do this a lot but just a reminder to everyone to be careful with how much and how often you feed chicken necks.
> The thyroid of the chicken is in the neck and this can cause issues for dogs.



FEM asked a good question. Does canning deactivate the thyroid?


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## Southern by choice (Oct 30, 2017)

I wish I knew. I was trying to look back and find my info. 
My computer crashed some months ago and I lost a lot of files.
I am actually told by my DH they aren't lost .... 
Well...they may as well be because everytime he has to put the system back right and do this or that( I am NOT computer savvy can you tell? ) I can't find anything. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

It applied to raw feeding so maybe canning would eliminate the issue... I don't know 
We feed very little raw now since we no longer have our big poultry farm. Usually it is just winter with the deer meat.


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## babsbag (Oct 30, 2017)

When a had a dog with puppies I was cooking whole chickens with mixed vegies in the pressure cooker for about 2 hours and then running it all through a meat grinder and then would add some "mush" to her dog food every day.  The bones went through the grinder quite easily. 

She did really well keeping her weight during the feeding of 8 puppies.


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## Baymule (Oct 31, 2017)

This article says the thyroid is located next to the trachea, next to the larynx. The chicken necks I give my dogs are skinned and the trachea is not included. 

http://www.petmd.com/blogs/thedailyvet/ken-tudor/2014/july/raw-diets-and-hyperthyroidism-dogs-31873

This article is very informative, with diagrams showing where the thyroid is on the trachea or gullet.

https://thesciencedog.wordpress.com/2015/10/29/got-gullet/

This article seems to stress that the thyroid is in raw food diets. So far, I haven't found where cooking the necks removes or destroys the thyroid or any thyroid residue.

https://sfraw.wordpress.com/2017/03/17/qa-feeding-necks-hyperthyroidism-in-dogs/

This article didn't say that cooking the thyroid cancels it out, but it did say that it used to be included in hamburger for human consumption and that it caused thyroid problems in people. Since I don't know anybody that eats raw hamburger, my assumption is that cooking the gullet with attached thyroid does nothing to mitigate the damage the thyroid gland can do to our beloved dogs. Or ourselves for that matter. In other articles I read that the practice of including thyroid material in human diets was outlawed in the 1980's. But it can still be included in commercial raw diets for our pets. 

http://truthaboutpetfood.com/diet-related-hyperthyroidism/


So in summary, I discard the gullet, but it disappears down the gullet of a hungry dog drooling over the prospect of a yummy treat.  This I will not do anymore. So my home canned dog food is safe for my dogs because I did not include the gullet. Butcher day treats will be minus one particular treat that will from now on, be donated to the trash.

I do love this forum, see how we all learn from each other and share information?


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## Southern by choice (Oct 31, 2017)

you are awesome! 



Baymule said:


> I do love this forum, see how we all learn from each other and share information?


Me too! We have such a great community here!


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## Baymule (Oct 31, 2017)

You're pretty darned awesome yourself! I would have never know about thyroid and dogs if you hadn't mentioned it. Now we all benefit!


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## LndSchneid (Nov 1, 2017)

Baymule said:


> We sent 4 lambs to slaughter and I got the liver, heart and kidneys from all four. Today I canned dog food from them. I cooked and diced the meat. I also had a bag of chicken necks in the freezer so I tossed them in too. It made a rich broth.
> 
> I put a half cup of cooked rice in each jar, along with cubed end of the season squash. I put 1 cup of the meat, each jar got a chicken neck and filled with broth.
> 
> ...


Awesome.


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## Sara Ranch (Nov 1, 2017)

@Baymule - Thank you for sharing so much information with us!

Do you make any other dog food?  I so hate buying processed food at the store.  I would love to make something at home, that is affordable to make.


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## Baymule (Nov 1, 2017)

@Sara Ranch I buy a dog food called Victor. I buy the Beef and Rice at $38 per bag. We have two Great Pyrenees and a black Lab/Great Dane mix that weighs 105 pounds. They eat two bags a month. If we give them cheap dog food-they eat more and poop elephant turds. LOL

https://victorpetfood.com/

I make dog food from offal and chicken backs and necks when I have it. They get it for a special treat, on very cold nights and when their appetite is a little off.


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## Sara Ranch (Nov 3, 2017)

@Baymule - looking at their website now & asking about local suppliers.

Love that it's gluten, soy, and corn free!

My pups eat about 8-12 cups a feed a day.  And I sometimes feel that is not enough for them.    And it's way more than the packages of dog food recommend!  And they are not fat dogs at all.


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## Baymule (Sep 19, 2019)

Canning dog food again. We took 4 lambs to slaughter and I kept the offal. Liver, heart, kidneys plus 2 old pork roasts. I put half a cup of cooked rice in each quart. I just took 7 jars out and started 6 more, plus 1 quart of broth. After this batch is done, I’ll have 7 more quarts of broth and rice. I was down to 4 quarts of dog food! I still have 12 quarts of chicken backs from the Cornish Cross we raised this spring. We’ll be slaughtering 10 old layer hens, so they will get more chicken backs, necks and gizzards.

This takes 90 minutes of pressure canning. Can anybody say BORING? Just put the weight on batch #2, got to wait for it to get up to pressure before I can start timing. 

I sit and stare at the canner like it’s going to blow up. It’s not, it stays right on a bit over 10 pounds, but I still won’t leave it alone. So here I sit for an hour and a half, thinking about all the other things I could be doing besides watching a dial that don’t move. 

It does make me feel good to not be wasting meat, because I don’t like the offal. Dogs sure love it.


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## frustratedearthmother (Sep 19, 2019)

Looks good - a little crusty French bread to go with it and ....yum, lol!


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## B&B Happy goats (Sep 19, 2019)

FEM, even getting soaked with rain....you can make me smile..
Stay safe and dry


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## frustratedearthmother (Sep 19, 2019)

Thanks @B&B Happy goats!

Can't change it - might as well just keep on keepin' on!


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## B&B Happy goats (Sep 19, 2019)

frustratedearthmother said:


> Thanks @B&B Happy goats!
> 
> Can't change it - might as well just keep on keepin' on!



Your right, it's  all in the attitude.......and you got a great one


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## Baymule (Sep 19, 2019)

frustratedearthmother said:


> Looks good - a little crusty French bread to go with it and ....yum, lol!


Actually, you could! It is canned with the same care that I prepare our food. But.....liver, heart, kidneys and old pork roast...… I lost all interest at liver. 

I finally walked out of the kitchen at 7:28. It went from a "treat'" for the dogs to every night. If BJ doesn't mix up their dog food, they won't eat, so who's the boss here? I may have to go to the slaughter house and buy offal from them. We don't slaughter enough animals to keep the dogs fed. Today's work will last about a month.


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## Baymule (Sep 19, 2019)

A small town between Houston and Beaumont, got 41 inches of rain from this tropical depression.


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## B&B Happy goats (Sep 19, 2019)

That much rain has  got to be a nightmare


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## frustratedearthmother (Sep 19, 2019)

Yep...they say it's the 7th worst rainfall in US history....5th worst in the contiguous US.  Crazy!


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## CntryBoy777 (Sep 19, 2019)

Anyone hear anything from @greybeard ? I sure hope he didn't try to stick it out again..........Joyce was saying she saw a report that the water is almost street light high in Beaumont and that I-10 is closed west of there with water over it.....been thru there quite a few times.......... @frustratedearthmother I sure hope it moves on soon for ya....keep an eye out for cottonmouths and rattlers.....


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## Beekissed (Sep 20, 2019)

After this rainy spring and summer, we are currently experience a drought and would sure love to have a little of that rain come this way!  We are crunchy, dusty dry here with temps still into the high 90s on some days, but usually in the high 80s still.  

We need those fall rains and cooler nights long about now.  

Bay, I love it that you can up your offal into dog food!  When I get to where I can butcher a few lambs each season, I'll be doing the same.  When I get a chance to can up deer offal, I do that as well.   Usually I have still have some squash and pumpkins I can throw into the jar also, but won't this year.  

Good for the dogs!   Have you ever thought of also canning in some rib bones?  That's something that often goes directly to the dogs here but I'd like to can up some of that this year to dole out later into the winter.


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## Baymule (Sep 20, 2019)

This time I got the ribs pretty much the whole, long ribs, instead of short ribs. I think I’ll cut them in sections for a raw treat. I asked for lamb shanks, which are the lower leg bones with very little meat. Another raw dog treat. I’ve used up the pork bones, giving them out semi frozen, on hot days as dog popsicles. 

@Beekissed when you can chicken, can the backs and necks for the dogs. I keep the liver and gizzards for us to fry, from young chickens. From old layers, they go in the canning jar, along with the hearts.


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## Beekissed (Sep 20, 2019)

Baymule said:


> @Beekissed when you can chicken, can the backs and necks for the dogs. I keep the liver and gizzards for us to fry, from young chickens. From old layers, they go in the canning jar, along with the hearts.



I should do that...I normally use all that for making stock, then pick the bones and can that meat.  After that the dogs normally get the all the left over bones and offal(gout, so can no longer even use those in the stock), but I could can them up and eek them out throughout the winter for a treat.  

That would be great for those subzero days when I normally take some hot water up there and make a gravy with their dog food, to give them a hot meal for that day.   I could just heat up a jar of canned up dogfood and mix it with their dry.


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