Ok, so I'm thinking about supplementing the girls' diet with raw when I can, but I just wanted to be sure, It's okay to give them raw chicken, bone and all?

I know only cooked bones splinter, but wont they choke on small bones? I just want to be 100% sure it's safe before I try.

also, they are both gulpers, I'm needing some slow feed bowls as it is.

My in-laws feed whole raw chicken thighs without issue to their beagles who are the epitome of inhaling their food kind of dogs. As for whole chickens, I personally would avoid ribs. Not much for meat on them anyway, or get a meat grinder and grind up the bones and meat all. My parents have the LEM big bite grinder and it chews through raw chicken bones like they are nothing more than a little gristle.

I have kygen slow bowl and it works great with kibble. It isn't as efficient with raw. Raw that is ground up or cut up in small enough bites to fit in the grooves it does okay with but it won't work great if you need them to slow down eating a whole leg or wing or such.

I know from reading, that a lot of raw feeders give whole, raw chicken leg quarters. I have a hard time visualizing a dog gulping that down. I also read a study (which, I cannot remember where nor who but vaguely remember that at the time it seemed well done) where a dog was given raw bones, they then did serial imaging, and the bone was well digested in the stomach (now that I think about it, that study was to determine whether feeding mixed kibble and raw was ok. Conclusion was, yes ok.

Whole chickens are fine, the issue is amount, if you are feeding kibble then a whole chicken is way too much. Chicken leg quarters are a good choice, they get the drumstick and thigh, those bones are less pointy, and easier to chew up, feed frozen will slow them down. You may need to remove skin and some fat if stools get loose, however, with the bone in it and they eat the bone too, it should balance out. I prefer having my dogs eat the bone on their own rather than grinding, Jenn's method is perfectly fine, and the dog will get the bone that is needed, but, for me them eating the bone on their own cleans their teeth, I have never brushed my girls teeth, because the raw meaty bones clean them. At 3 years old Miya's teeth are still white just by giving her RMB's.

So my question is will you be feeding kibble every day and just want to add some raw? Or feed complete raw one day and kibble the next? I ask because the amount of food fed will vary depending on how you plan to feed.

Amy, I posted the thread a while back on the study, so it's here somewhere.

yeah i'd rather give the bone whole than grinding, I'd probably get complaints from Dh about having to buy "another thing for the dogs" lol. Thighs and quarters sound good, I can definitely get ahold of those in bulk for a good price.

Thanks!