Duck/turkey neck — how are you feeding?

[FredMD]

Does anyone successfully give duck or turkey necks? I can’t feed chicken necks.

if so could you let me know:

1. where are you getting them?
2. How do you feed? Whole? Small pieces? How big?

thanks!

 

[Box of Rain]

My wife knows I like feeding Desmond dark meat turkey. So one day she came home with turkey necks.

I was perplexed about what to do with them. Too big to serve, even to a vigorous eater.

I ended up freezing them, figuring I'm use them to make stock.

But, for grins, I decided to see if I could "shave" these into very thin sections (while frozen) using a heavy meat cleaver, which I struck (with force) using a rubber mallet.

That gave me nice thin sections. Across the bone (as opposed to lengthwise).

Been in the repertoire ever since.

Note: being frozen makes this slivering possible.

Bill

 

[Box of Rain]

To clarify, the above technique is what I use with fresh/frozen turkey necks (as opposed to freeze-dried, which I have never used).

Bill

 

[FredMD]

Interesting. I’m looking to feed primarily for dental benefits. Do you give these slivers whole and do your cats have to chew on them a lot? I’m wondering if this could work with Stella being a gulper and all.

And yes, I don’t think freeze dried necks are a good option unless someone corrects me here, I’m all ears. I just got some freeze dried duck necks in and they break apart too easily and are kind of splintered, although I haven’t tried feeding them.

 

[Box of Rain]

FredMD

I found a photo (not very pretty, sorry) that shows what the turkey necks look like using this method:

Top left (dark red) is liver, middle is dark turkey meat, right/bottom-right is the turkey neck. Plus warm water.

Hope that helps.

Bill

 

[Box of Rain]

Interesting. I’m looking to feed primarily for dental benefits. Do you give these slivers whole and do your cats have to chew on them a lot? I’m wondering if this could work with Stella being a gulper and all.

And yes, I don’t think freeze dried necks are a good option unless someone corrects me here, I’m all ears. I just got some freeze dried duck necks in and they break apart too easily and are kind of splintered, although I haven’t tried feeding them.

Desmond, who is a great chewer (thanks to eating edible bone with every meal) destroys such slivers. Not a huge workout for him. On the lower end of "challenges." But not a bad item to start with (or to rotate in and out).

I have no experience with freeze dried bones (or items like freeze dried duck necks).

I am convinced that the dental benefits to eating fresh bone are huge.

For smaller bones, the mallet smash (while leaving skin and everything else intact) is another reasonable method.

Cats tend to catch on.

Bill

 

[FredMD]

Thanks for that. How big a slice across the bone do you think would work for a gulper? Needs to be big enough that she can’t swallow whole but not too big that she thinks it’s too much work. Am I on the right track? This is all new to me.

and I don’t quite understand the mallet smash. I tried it with quail leg like you said leaving everything intact but it just seemed to break everything into sharp shards

 

[Box of Rain]

Best to avoid shards. Perhaps you used too much force? Quil bones are delicate.

With the turkey necks (as I do them) the bone is pretty thin. But the size and shape encourages chewing. It is not an especially challenging workout, but I think it would serve a gulper.

Obviously, you want to find things a cat can chew (will chew) while minimizing any choking hazards.

I absolutely believe it is worth the effort. Trust your inner-intelligence and observe.

Bill