Can dogs eat raw chicken?

Can dogs eat raw chicken?

Yes, most dogs, including puppies, can eat raw chicken and it can be an excellent and healthy part of a balanced diet.

Depending on the part of the chicken you feed, it’s an excellent source of protein and provides a variety of vitamins, including B vitamins, and Vitamins A, K and E. It also provides a range of important minerals such as selenium, magnesium, iron, zinc and copper – and the raw bones are a good source of easily digested calcium. You can learn more about the benefits of a complete raw diet for dogs here.

It’s important to know that raw chicken alone won’t provide your dog with everything that they need to stay healthy, and a diet consisting of only raw chicken can lead to nutritional deficiencies.

You should make sure that any chicken you feed to your pet is unseasoned and unmarinated. Seasoning and marinades often contain ingredients, such as onions, that are toxic to our dogs and are often high in salt.

When including raw chicken in your dogs diet, take care not to overfeed them – you can use our handy calculator to check how much food your dog should get.

There are some risks associated with raw chicken, which you need to be aware of and we’ll discuss these further on in this guide. 

Can dogs eat raw chicken bones?

Yes, most dogs can eat raw chicken bones. Gnawing on bones releases endorphins and is a wonderful activity for a dogs mental well-being. The action of the bones against the teeth also helps with keeping teeth clean and healthy, while gnawing helps to keep jaws strong. 

Chicken bones are soft in comparison to, for example, beef or lamb bones, which means that they’re more easily digested making them a great choice for smaller dogs. Bones provide your dog with calcium in a highly bioavailable form, meaning that your dog is easily able to use it. They also provide other minerals including phosphorus and magnesium and are a wonderful source of joint-healthy nutrients such as chondroitin and glucosamine. 

The bone marrow is extremely nutrient rich and will provide your dog with vitamins, including B-vitamins which are important for energy metabolism, minerals, including iron, and collagen to support healthy joints. 

Bones should only ever be fed raw (2). Cooking changes the structure of the bone which makes it brittle and liable to splinter into sharp pieces which can cause both external to your dogs mouth and internal injuries. Cooked bone is also more difficult to digest, making it a potential blockage risk. 

Always supervise your dog when they have bones of any type.

Can dogs eat raw chicken wings?

Yes, dogs of any age can eat raw chicken wings and they make a great ‘starter’ bone for younger puppies.

Due to their smaller size, chicken wings may be more appropriate for some dogs,  particularly if your large dog has a tendency to ‘gulp’ down larger treats. You may want to hold one end of the wing the first few times your dog tries one, while they get the hang of gnawing on them. 

Be sure to supervise your dog when they have chicken wings, even when they’re used to eating them. 

Can dogs eat raw chicken breast?

Yes, dogs can eat raw chicken breast as part of a healthy balanced diet. 

Chicken breast is a great source of lean protein, providing your dog with essential amino acids, as well as potassium, magnesium and selenium. 

While chicken breast will provide your dog with a range of nutrients, on its own it won’t provide all the nutrients that they need to thrive. 

Can dogs eat raw chicken drumsticks?

Yes, dogs can eat raw chicken drumsticks. Drumsticks are high in protein and will provide your dog with vitamin B12 as well as zinc and iron. 

Although they’re a ‘weight-bearing’ bone, poultry bones are soft enough for dogs to both gnaw on and digest easily. 

The bone marrow in drumsticks will provide your dog with collagen to support their joints as well as being a rich source of vitamins and minerals. 

As the skin is quite fatty, you may want to remove it before giving the drumstick to your dog, particularly if you have a dog who suffers from a health condition such as pancreatitis. If you’re unsure about feeding anything to your dog, please do check with a vet.

As always, supervise your dog when they have any type of bone. 

Can dogs eat raw chicken liver?

Yes, dogs can eat raw chicken liver. Liver is an important part of a raw diet and is extremely nutrient rich, providing important B-vitamins as well as vitamin A. It’s a good source of the antioxidant Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) which plays a critical role in the body providing heart benefits and cell protection as well as playing a role in energy production. 

Chicken liver will also provide your dog with taurine, choline, copper and iron.

As liver is very rich, you should only feed small amounts at a time to avoid an upset stomach. If you’re adding it to an already complete raw meal, or using it as a treat, a piece approximately the size of your thumb nail is plenty. If you’re making your own raw food, liver should be included at 5% of your recipe. 

Can dogs eat raw chicken skin?

Many dogs can eat a small amount of chicken skin. It should only be fed in moderation, however. 

Chicken skin is quite fatty, so too much may cause an upset stomach. Modern farming methods mean that chicken skin is usually much higher in omega-6 fatty acids than in omega-3 and when we include too much omega-6 it can have a pro-inflammatory effect. If you’re going to give your dog chicken skin,  it’s best to use free range chickens as they will have a better omega-6 to omega-3 profile than cage or barn raised chickens.

Due to the higher fat content, it’s best to avoid giving chicken skin to dogs prone to pancreatitis. 

Can dogs eat raw chicken carcass?

Yes, most dogs can eat raw chicken carcass provided you supervise them while they’re eating it. 

Chicken carcasses will provide your dog with all of the nutrients found in chicken meat and in bone, as well as providing connective tissues which are a great source of joint-healthy nutrients including glucosamine, chondroitin and collagen (4). 

Gnawing on a chicken carcass is a great enrichment activity for dogs, aiding their mental well-being. As they hold their bodies under tension to tear off meat and gnaw on the bones, they also get a gentle, full body workout!

Can dogs eat raw chicken gizzards?

Yes, most dogs can eat raw chicken gizzards if you have them. The gizzards are a tasty source of iron, and zinc as well as providing protein and a range of vitamins. 

Gizzards can be added as a ‘topper’ to your dog’s meal or given as a delicious treat. 

They can be quite rich, so feed in moderation so as not to upset your best friend’s stomach. 

Can dogs eat raw chicken feet?

Yes, dogs can eat raw chicken feet and these make a tasty (if somewhat creepy looking!) treat. They’re a good source of connective tissue, collagen, chondroitin and glucosamine making them a joint friendly addition to your canine companion’s diet. 

As the nails are somewhat sharp, it’s best to remove these before giving the feet to your dog. 

What are the risks of dogs eating raw chicken?

As with anything in life, there are some risks associated with raw chicken.

Bacteria

The main risk from giving raw chicken to your dog is bacterial. Most people are aware that raw chicken can be a source of salmonella. 

When you’re feeding raw chicken as part of a complete diet from a reputable manufacturer, like Bella+Duke, you know that the food has been tested for pathogens such as salmonella and E-coli. However, raw chicken that you buy from a butcher, supermarket or farm shop is sold with the assumption that you’ll be cooking it before it’s eaten and it doesn’t undergo the stringent testing of raw pet food, so you do need to take some precautions (3). 

To mitigate this risk, freeze the chicken when you get it home. While this won’t kill any bacteria that’s present, it will inhibit further bacterial growth, meaning that the bacterial load is lower than chicken that isn’t frozen. When you’re ready to feed it to your dog, defrost it in the bottom of the fridge.

Practice good hygiene; wash your hands after handling the raw chicken and wipe down any surfaces. Confine your dog to an easily cleaned area while they eat it – and teach children not to touch the chicken unless they’re feeding your pet under your supervision (and washing their hands afterwards!)

If your dog displays any symptoms of illness shortly after eating raw chicken, please speak with a vet. 

Parasites

In the UK, farmed meat from a reputable source is relatively low risk for parasites, but low-risk isn’t no risk. 

You can mitigate this risk by freezing the chicken for at least 3 days before feeding it to your dog. 

Nutritional deficiencies 

While it can be a wonderful part of their diet, raw chicken alone isn’t enough to provide your dog with a balanced and complete diet, and feeding them just raw chicken can lead to serious nutritional deficiencies which can lead to a variety of health complications. 

Make sure your dog is getting everything they need by feeding them a complete raw diet, and including chicken as part of that. 

Risks from bones

While bones are an important part of a raw diet for dogs, they do carry some risks. 

While dogs have wide throats, coated with a hard substance called keratin, which means that they can swallow large chunks of food and bone, there is a risk of choking if they swallow a chunk that’s too large for them. So it’s important to supervise your pet while they’re eating bones. 

Bones should only ever be fed raw, this is extremely important. When they’re cooked, the structure changes and this causes them to become brittle and liable to splinter into sharp pieces which can injure your dog, both in and around their mouth and internally. Internal injuries from bones can be serious. Cooked bones are also much more difficult to digest, which can cause an internal blockage. If you’re concerned that your dog may have eaten cooked bone please seek advice from your vet. 

Food Intolerance

Due to it being a common ingredient in many dog foods, chicken is one of the most common food intolerances in dogs, leading to a range of uncomfortable symptoms such as itchy skin and feet, recurring ear and anal gland infections, or tummy upsets when they eat it. 

If you know that your dog is intolerant to chicken, you should avoid feeding it to them. If you have any concerns about your pets health, please speak with your vet. 

Are there any benefits to dogs eating raw chicken?

Yes, raw chicken has many benefits for your dog when it’s included as part of a balanced diet. 

Chicken is a great source of a wide range of important vitamins, including B-vitamins, and minerals, including zinc, that your dog needs. It’s a good source of high quality and easily digested protein and when we feed our pets high quality protein that they’re able to digest easily, there’s less waste – which means less for their kidneys to have to deal with. 

Feeding your dog raw chicken bones and carcass provides them with connective tissue and with chondroitin, glucosamine and collagen all of which help keep their joints healthy. Gnawing on bones is also really good for their mental well-being and releases endorphins which help to keep them calm and happy.

Can dogs get salmonella?

As carnivores, dogs have a highly acidic stomach and a very short digestive tract. The acid in their stomach is efficient at killing off many pathogens, including salmonella, and the short digestive tract means that any bacteria that survive the stomach acid are less likely to multiply enough to cause illness, before they come out the other end. Dogs also have an enzyme in their saliva which destroys the protective coating on bacteria, causing them to die. 

While this means that dogs are able to cope with a far higher bacterial load than we can, it doesn’t mean that they can’t get salmonella. Although it’s less likely it is possible for them to become ill with it. 

Chicken meals from Bella+Duke have been tested for salmonella before they’re sent to you however meat, including chicken, from supermarkets, butchers and farm shops won’t have been tested as it’s assumed you’ll be cooking it so it does carry a higher risk. You can mitigate this risk by freezing the chicken to inhibit bacterial growth, meaning that they get a lower ‘bacterial load’, and defrosting it in the freezer. Don’t rinse the chicken before giving it to your dog, as this will spread any bacteria that might be on it around your sink and surrounding area.

Extra care should be taken with very young dogs, and very elderly dogs as well as pregnant mothers and dogs with underlying health conditions. These dogs will have less efficient immune systems so will be less able to deal with pathogens, including salmonella. 

If your dog becomes ill after eating raw chicken, and you’re concerned they have a food borne illness, please speak with a vet.

How to prepare raw chicken for your dog?

If you’re feeding a raw chicken meal from Bella+Duke, you simply need to defrost it in the bottom of the fridge and then portion out the meal into your pets bowl. 

If you’re feeding raw chicken, or raw chicken bones from another source it’s advisable to freeze it for at least 3 days, to inhibit bacterial growth and kill any parasites that might be present, before defrosting it in the bottom of the fridge to feed it to your pet. 

You don’t need to do much to prepare it, and can serve it as it is but take care that any chunks are an appropriate size for your dog – smaller dogs may struggle with larger chunks and could potentially choke on them. Also take care that raw chicken bones are a suitable size for your dog. 

What to do if your dog eats raw chicken?

If your dog eats raw chicken that you’ve given them, you don’t need to do anything – although you may want to keep an eye on them the first time they have it, just to make sure they’re not intolerant to it (watch out for things like itchy skin, or an upset tummy)

If they snaffle some raw chicken from a bin, or from somewhere outside, keep a close eye on them. Raw chicken from the bin may have a high bacterial load and be more likely to cause a food borne illness, and food that’s been thrown out might have been seasoned with ingredients that are toxic to dogs. Speak to a vet if you’re concerned. 

Chicken in Bella+Duke raw dog food

You’ll find chicken in some of the Bella+Duke raw food for dogs as part of your dogs healthy, balanced diet. We include the bone (ground up, so it’s easy for your dog to digest) to provide calcium and other minerals, alongside the meat to provide a protein-packed punch.

References

1. Raw Feeding in Dogs and Cats https://www.magonlinelibrary.com/doi/full/10.12968/coan.2018.0068
2. Give Your Dog a Bone by Ian Billinghurst Billinghurst, I. (1993). Give Your Dog a Bone. United Kingdom: Dogwise Publishing
3. Salmonella Contamination of Retail Chicken Products Sold in the UK https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0362028X22051766
4. Dillitzer N, Becker N, Kienzle E. Intake of minerals, trace elements and vitamins in bone and raw food rations in adult dogs. British Journal of Nutrition. 2011;106(S1):S53-S56. doi:10.1017/S0007114511002765