Dr. Pierson's chicken thighs recipe and fat

[peaches08]

I've read the recipe gosh knows how many times so I am very familiar with it, and I double the water that she says to add. I average 30-50% skin in the recipe but wonder if I should reduce it further. I also add a little more fish oil than she says to because of freezing, can that pack on lbs? What do you think the minimum amount of skin to add is? Oh, I do not remove excess fat from the meat, and I know some fat is necessary.

This last time that I made this recipe I didn't add as much water and used 30% of the skin. All 3 have gained weight. One of them, Gadget, cannot afford to gain more weight.

 

[vball91]

So I went to the usda site to look up fat percentages for chicken thighs with and without the skin, and the site is not available right now (surprise, surprise). So without that info on hand, I'm guessing here, but I think chicken thighs have plenty of fat without any skin. I don't think there is a minimum of skin you HAVE to include in that recipe. If you think the percentage of fat in the last batch is the reason for the weight gain, then I would reduce the skin by whatever you feel comfortable with, maybe by 50%? While fish oil adds some calories, I don't think you would be adding enough to account for the weight gain. Just out of curiosity, why did you reduce the water? Oh, and of course, you could keep the recipe the same and just reduce the amount of food a little.

 

[peaches08]

Thanks, I couldn't imagine the fish oil being a problem compared to skin/fat. As far as why I didn't add as much water as I normally do (although still more than the recipe calls for), I was in a hurry and didn't have as much freezer space so I cheated with hopes of not getting caught. Well, I got caught.

 

[vball91]

I am wondering if you just ended up inadvertently feeding more. If it was the same volume or weight but had less water, they definitely got more food.

 

[peaches08]

Yes, same volume so less dilute, but as an overall I'm wondering if the recipe isn't a bit high in fat. When I look at everyone's PMR menus I think they are lower fat than what I'm feeding. That's what I meant by my first post. All have gained weight noticeably in less than 3 weeks.

 

[peaches08]

Any other thoughts?

 

[ldg]

Yes, I suspect the recipe is high in fat. :nod: The analysis of my various menus by mschauer all use skinless meats, trimmed to the smallest amount of fat (in the USDA nutrient data options). The macro profile of the current diet is 73% protein and 19% fat. That's a little low - but it does provide enough of EFAs: the AAFCO minimum LA is 0.5% (DMB), and this diet is 2.44%; the minimum AAFCO AA is 0.02%, and this is 0.628%.

I do provide the skin/fat from the turkey breast, because I felt the diet was a little low in fat (and they get chicken wings which aren't in the analysis) a couple of times a month. I also felt maybe there's something in skin they should be getting. :lol3:

Of course, I do have fatty meats in the rotation (beef and lamb).

 

[peaches08]

Do you think I'll be OK dropping to 10% skin? I add the max amount and then some of fish oil.

Thanks LDG, I don't want to accidentally hurt my kitties.

 

[ldg]

You're using thighs, right? So a lot of skin per meat vs. a breast. I don't think it would be an issue or cause harm. Maybe mschauer would be willing to run her NutriComp program on skinless chicken thigh - just to see if the minimum AAFCO requirements for AA and LA are met with skinless thighs. If so, you know you've got room to adjust the calories as needed. Perhaps PM her?

 

[peaches08]

Chicken thighs, yes. And I'll send her a PM!