Hopper Bopper Posted October 17, 2012 Report Share Posted October 17, 2012 Hi guys, I am looking into raw feeding my 6 month old ESS. What are peoples thoughts on feeding their dogs on pigeon as a main part of the raw feed mix? I heard years ago, not to eat too much because of a build up of chemicals from its meat. I don,t have a clue what these chemicals are. many thanks HB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sitsinhedges Posted October 17, 2012 Report Share Posted October 17, 2012 Wouldn't pigeon be a bit rich and scour your dog? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hopper Bopper Posted October 17, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 17, 2012 Wouldn't pigeon be a bit rich and scour your dog? I don,t know? HB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ETO Posted October 17, 2012 Report Share Posted October 17, 2012 Pigeon is fine as long as it isn't feral (city). All meats you are unsure of should be frozen for a period of 3 weeks or longer - just to be on the safe side Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sitsinhedges Posted October 17, 2012 Report Share Posted October 17, 2012 I used to try feeding mine with liver but even mixed with rice used to go straight thru them. Too rich see. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ETO Posted October 17, 2012 Report Share Posted October 17, 2012 Stick with the bland meats to start off with, then add little bits of richer meat at a time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davecooper1 Posted October 17, 2012 Report Share Posted October 17, 2012 Make sure you have plenty toilet paper, for your dog Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brettguise Posted October 20, 2012 Report Share Posted October 20, 2012 I chuck pigeon breasts in occasionally my dog is fine with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brett1985 Posted October 29, 2012 Report Share Posted October 29, 2012 mine has pigeon, rabbit and pheasent at the mo. nice, lean meat which he loves. always add veg and some warm water with his biscuits. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PERCE Posted October 30, 2012 Report Share Posted October 30, 2012 mine has pigeon, rabbit and pheasent at the mo. nice, lean meat which he loves. always add veg and some warm water with his biscuits. Dogs need fat in their diet, whilst the meats you are feeding are fine I'd advise you to add a fatty meat in there as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BADFEET Posted November 11, 2012 Report Share Posted November 11, 2012 (edited) I used to try feeding mine with liver but even mixed with rice used to go straight thru them. Too rich see. That would have been the liver, liver will make any dog scour. I feed my lurcher with whole pigeon, rabbits and any othe game.....feather and fur on and guts in ( as has been said a period of freezing is good for peace of mind) Whole minced chickens with the bone......as long as you meat has the bone as well they should keep fairly solid. The downside with game is that it is very low in fat so in the winter I will sometimes add lard . Also add any leftover veg, pasta, rice and raw and cooked fish. I have a lab pup which I will keep on the minced chicken and skinned rabbits. Edited to add: anything with bone should be UNCOOKED Edited November 11, 2012 by BADFEET Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Actionpigeons Posted November 12, 2012 Report Share Posted November 12, 2012 (edited) Really can’t see why anyone would want to feed pigeon to their working dogs. Firstly: the company’s that produce dog food have spent £100,000s on making sure that there is every thing a dog needs in a complete food. Secondly: all my dogs travel in the back of my 4x4 along with anything I have shoot on the day. Be it pigeons, pheasants or rabbit and I expect it to be in one piece when I get home, if I was to feed them game who could blame them for helping themselves to a snack on the way home. Thirdly: I get 50p for pigeons, £1 for a rabbit and £2.00 for a pheasant. Complete Dog food cost a lot less and is better. I feed my ferrets and breeding hawks pigeons, so its not about the cost its about giving the livestock I have a balanced diet that meets all their needs. Edited November 12, 2012 by Actionpigeons Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BADFEET Posted November 12, 2012 Report Share Posted November 12, 2012 Because dogs have evolved over millions of years to eat eukanuba !! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Actionpigeons Posted November 13, 2012 Report Share Posted November 13, 2012 (edited) Because dogs have evolved over millions of years to eat eukanuba !! I think you will find domestic dog have not been around quite that long. I agree that full carcases are the best food for dogs; I was a huntsman for most of my working life and fed just that to Hounds. However not many people have access to full sheep, calf’s horses and so on. So the diet would be lacking. Also if you look at the second reason I gave it may make sense, as the OP was talking about feeding an ESS pup, six month old pigeons, so if he intends working his dog its not a god idea. I can see it now the OP using cold game to train, the pup runs out and eats the pigeon instead of bringing it back. My 3-year-old lab is a very good working dog, however I don’t think she would bring back her food if I threw it out for her to retrieve. Not rocket science is it !! Edited November 13, 2012 by Actionpigeons Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bi9johnny Posted November 13, 2012 Report Share Posted November 13, 2012 As the man above said its not rocket science... Think people mess around with dogs diet too much Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BADFEET Posted November 13, 2012 Report Share Posted November 13, 2012 I think you will find domestic dog have not been around quite that long. I agree that full carcases are the best food for dogs; I was a huntsman for most of my working life and fed just that to Hounds. However not many people have access to full sheep, calf’s horses and so on. So the diet would be lacking. Also if you look at the second reason I gave it may make sense, as the OP was talking about feeding an ESS pup, six month old pigeons, so if he intends working his dog its not a god idea. I can see it now the OP using cold game to train, the pup runs out and eats the pigeon instead of bringing it back. My 3-year-old lab is a very good working dog, however I don’t think she would bring back her food if I threw it out for her to retrieve. Not rocket science is it !! Fair one, if you were in hunt service then you will know that a dog can eat a whole host of things....I know one pack that is fed on pies!! Totally respect your point of view and obviously it makes total sense not to feed a gundog game in its intact form, plucked, skinned and minced I don't see a problem with. I just think that people can be easily ripped off by so called " complete" food, it tends to bloat dogs out a bit and IMHO will never come close to raw meat, fish and veg as a feed for dogs. If you see a dogs stools on complete then see the same with raw meat/ bone it's totally different.....no big sloppy ***** with raw, just the real waste everything else is getting used which I don't believe is the case when your dog is pumping out massive sloppy *****. It's the general consensus of opinion that fresh meat and veg is the best for humans animals, not manufactured Ready meals so why is it any different for our dogs which we invest so much time, money and effort into and expect them to graft like an athlete ? Still, there's a few different views so the OP can make up his own mind. Atb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Actionpigeons Posted November 14, 2012 Report Share Posted November 14, 2012 Fair one, if you were in hunt service then you will know that a dog can eat a whole host of things....I know one pack that is fed on pies!! Totally respect your point of view and obviously it makes total sense not to feed a gundog game in its intact form, plucked, skinned and minced I don't see a problem with. I just think that people can be easily ripped off by so called " complete" food, it tends to bloat dogs out a bit and IMHO will never come close to raw meat, fish and veg as a feed for dogs. If you see a dogs stools on complete then see the same with raw meat/ bone it's totally different.....no big sloppy ***** with raw, just the real waste everything else is getting used which I don't believe is the case when your dog is pumping out massive sloppy *****. It's the general consensus of opinion that fresh meat and veg is the best for humans animals, not manufactured Ready meals so why is it any different for our dogs which we invest so much time, money and effort into and expect them to graft like an athlete ? Still, there's a few different views so the OP can make up his own mind. Atb As you say the OP can make his own mind up now as there are a few opinions. To reply to your comment “I know one pack that is fed on pies!!” yes your right there are a good number of packs that do feed Pies now, however its not that they prefer to feed pies, its down to the economics of running a flesh round. One of the Hunts I worked for went onto pies, the yards were a nightmare to clean and they hounds was forever at the water due to the salt content of the pies. Luckily we had a drop-off system that aloud farmer to drop-off dead stock so as I could feed flesh the day before hunting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brett1985 Posted November 14, 2012 Report Share Posted November 14, 2012 Dogs need fat in their diet, whilst the meats you are feeding are fine I'd advise you to add a fatty meat in there as well. sorry, should have made my post clearer, i will feed mine the meat in addition to his complete biscuits. im not really fussed wether it holds any major nutritional value, he enjoys eating it and it certainly wont do him any harm. i also find that cooked pheasent breast makes excellent treats for rewarding when cut into small pieces... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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