Deer Trimmings

[Bailey08]

Help!

I heard from someone who can help me get deer trimmings for what seems to be a great price. Here's what he said: "It is the trimmings from a processing plant and is frozen in gallon cans at $4.00 for unground and $5.00 for ground. A gallon is approximately 6 pounds."

Sounds good, right? But I'm an urban supermarket raw feeder. I've never actually had venison myself, and I don't think I've even seen it, lol.

So: are deer "trimmings" good for dogs? I did a Google search and it sounds like they're leftover cuts of meat. So this would constitute his muscle meat, right? Anything I need to ask him or worry about?

 

[vanillasugar]

It really depends on the butcher. I got a box of deer trimmings that were muscle meat scraps, grizzly/sinewy bits, bone, a few organ-y bits I couldn't identify, and a substantial amount of bits still with some fur attached. (I even found a hoof buried in the box. I have a strong stomach and even that icked me out).

 

[Bailey08]

Omg. I don't know if I could handle that. In fact, I really don't think I could. Yikes!

We might just have to stick with supermarket meats, lol.

 

[mmorlino]

I'm pretty certain the "trimmings" is all the leftovers.

Speaking of gross outs -- I order 40lbs of chicken necks for my dogs and separate them into 2 pound bags. Well, I was doing that today and pulled a fistfull of necks out to put them in the bag... and what was there? A whole chicken head... eyes, beak, and the thingie on top... It took me a full second to realize what I was looking at, then I laughed at how creepy it was! haha!

 

[PalmettoPaws]

I'm pretty certain the "trimmings" is all the leftovers.

Speaking of gross outs -- I order 40lbs of chicken necks for my dogs and separate them into 2 pound bags. Well, I was doing that today and pulled a fistfull of necks out to put them in the bag... and what was there? A whole chicken head... eyes, beak, and the thingie on top... It took me a full second to realize what I was looking at, then I laughed at how creepy it was! haha!

I would have been seriously grossed out by that lol. Not sure about the deer trimmings from a human standpoint (gross to look at), but I bet it would make some happy dogs lol.

 

[mmorlino]

haha, Well I don't get easily grossed out... I just laughed at it because it was just so weird!!!

On a side note - I checked with my RAW provider (www.saddogsushi.com) and asked what parts I should get off of any deer my family shoots this season. They said anything they don't take the dogs will eat! They did say to freeze the stuff for 2 weeks "just in case", but it shouldn't be a problem right off the deer, either.

Since I have a pack of 8 doxies I have a deep freezer so freezing it for 2 weeks wouldn't be a problem. I told my Dad and everyone else that hunts on the family land to save anything they didn't keep for me.

Venison is VERY good for the dogs - not much fat (which you don't want) and tons of vitamins and nutrients!

 

[vanillasugar]

Unfortunately for us, venison is about the only meat that doesn't seem to agree with Sierra

That box I got? I ended up giving most of it to co-workers who also feed raw. Fortunately I got it for free, so I didn't lose anything.

 

[DanL]

Trimmings are the kind of stuff you should be able to get for free if you ask around. My brother hunts, I get rib cages, shoulders and necks all the time. One time the hoofs were still attached to the front legs, I gave them to the dogs. Daisy kept trying to bring it in for a week and then my wife made me throw it away.

 

[Bailey08]

Ack! I'm way too squeamish for a leg with a hoof.

I think Bailey may be, too. I gave him a duck once (from the supermarket), and he just licked it and looked at me like "wtf, mom?"

 

[lizzybeth727]

My roommate's dog hauled the bottom half of a deer leg (hoof and all) into the house once. Eeeeew! He must've gotten it off of our neighbor's garbage, or maybe from roadkill nearby, we never really figured it out. She let him keep it, but he had to go outside to chew on it. Glad to hear that it was very healthy for him.

 

[Doberluv]

My dogs, more than once have come out of the woods with half a deer leg, hoof and all and chewed away on it on the lawn. They've brought a set of small antlers and a skull back too. I have the antlers in the garage as a hook to hang things. With the deer leg, I let them chew for a while. It looked clean enough. But it kind of creeped me out, wondering if it had anything gross like worms or maggots. I didn't see any and just let them have it. Thankfully, they didn't get sick or anything.

Anyhow, venison is very good for them. I'd say, go for it.