Canning Dog Food From Offal

[baymule]

We sent 4 lambs to slaughter and I got the liver, heart and kidneys from all four. Today I canned dog food from them. I cooked and diced the meat. I also had a bag of chicken necks in the freezer so I tossed them in too. It made a rich broth.

I put a half cup of cooked rice in each jar, along with cubed end of the season squash. I put 1 cup of the meat, each jar got a chicken neck and filled with broth.

I processed at 10 pounds of pressure for 90 minutes. I just finished 7 quarts and put 5 more quarts in the canner.

Since I was in the kitchen, I made zucchini bread and fried some pan sauce. Zucchini bread is smelling good!

We will mix this with the dogs food on those times when they go off their feed. Talk about an appetite stimulator! LOL

 

[baymule]

We caught chicken leg quarters on sale for .47 cents a pound in 10 pound bags a couple months ago and bought 4 bags. I finally got around to thawing a bag out, cooking the chicken, deboning the meat and canning it. I got 7 quarts mixed with rice and broth. I used 4 cups cooked rice divided into 7 quart jars. The chicken cost $4.70, the rice maybe less than a dollar. So the dog food cost less than a dollar a quart. My husband divides my home canned dog food between 5 dogs and mixes it with their kibble. They love it and lick their pans. Getting them to eat was a problem, they nibbled at dry dog food and ants would get in it. Not any more. Since I started canning for them, they eat it up. Spoiled? Yes they are.

 

[baymule]

I thawed out 2 bags of chicken leg quarters, a quart bag of chicken livers and hearts from butchering Cornish Cross, and 4 quart bags of chopped beef liver. I cooked the chicken and picked the meat off the bones. I canned 19 quarts of the meat with a cup of rice in each quart. I canned 2 quarts of broth, making 21 quarts. I put a gallon of broth in the refrigerator. I got started at 7 AM and turned off the canner at 7:40 PM. I'm out of quart jars. Do i go buy more? Probably couldn't find any.........

A funny..... Our customer that buys a pig for the freezer every year bought another freezer. He ordered it weeks and weeks ago. When he went to pick it up, the guy loading it asked how did he get a freezer. (because freezers are hard to come by and are back ordered) Our friend explained that he had ordered it quite a while back. The guy at the store said, "Freezers are the new toilet paper."

 

[baymule]

I also posted this on BYH and there was a discussion about the thyroid in chicken necks being a problem For dogs. So I went looking for answers. I thought y'all might like knowing what I found.


This article says the thyroid is located next to the trachea, next to the larynx. The chicken necks I give my dogs are skinned and the trachea is not included.

http://www.petmd.com/blogs/thedailyvet/ken-tudor/2014/july/raw-diets-and-hyperthyroidism-dogs-31873

This article is very informative, with diagrams showing where the thyroid is on the trachea or gullet.

https://thesciencedog.wordpress.com/2015/10/29/got-gullet/

This article seems to stress that the thyroid is in raw food diets. So far, I haven't found where cooking the necks removes or destroys the thyroid or any thyroid residue.

https://sfraw.wordpress.com/2017/03/17/qa-feeding-necks-hyperthyroidism-in-dogs/

This article didn't say that cooking the thyroid cancels it out, but it did say that it used to be included in hamburger for human consumption and that it caused thyroid problems in people. Since I don't know anybody that eats raw hamburger, my assumption is that cooking the gullet with attached thyroid does nothing to mitigate the damage the thyroid gland can do to our beloved dogs. Or ourselves for that matter. In other articles I read that the practice of including thyroid material in human diets was outlawed in the 1980's. But it can still be included in commercial raw diets for our pets.

http://truthaboutpetfood.com/diet-related-hyperthyroidism/


So in summary, I discard the gullet, but it disappears down the gullet of a hungry dog drooling over the prospect of a yummy treat. This I will not do anymore. So my home canned dog food is safe for my dogs because I did not include the gullet. Butcher day treats will be minus one particular treat that will from now on, be donated to the trash.

I do love this forum, see how we all learn from each other and share information?

 

[baymule]

We ran out of canned offal for the dogs!! Oh no!! So we went to the slaughter house, Mr. Jim priced us beef lovers at 25 cents a pound! He had beeves coming in for slaughter, so we went back later and got 69 pounds for $17.25 YAY! One liver fills up a wash pan.

So I cubed them up, simmered in big pots and canned 28 quarts, but one broke in the canner, so I got 27 quarts. Plus I froze 6 quart bags, raw. Got 4 quarts of broth that I put in the refrigerator. Dogs are over the moon with this stuff on their kibble!

I’m going to get more and get a bunch canned up. Got to get more quart jars. I’d like a 2-3 month supply. One quart per day split 4 ways, I really love my dogs to do all this. LOL LOL

 

[farmerjan]

Talking to one of the salespeople in Lowe's while looking at bath tubs and such for the house I am buying. Looked at a gas kitchen stove too.... and just asked about the situation with freezers. She laughed and said that early August is the soonest there might be some delivered. Then went on to explain it was a double edged deal. Back in early Jan most companies had produced enough to be available until mid summer according to average previous years sales. Then the plants were shutting down for a retrofit as they are changing the freezing systems (?) . Then they were going to start making the newer ones.
Well the virus hit, plants were shut down already and then did not open back up even after the retrofits were done, which took longer due to problems with getting parts/supplies. So, then people were panicking over not being able to get food, started buying up all the freezers at record speed, so the ones that were supposed to last until mid summer at least, were already gone.... And they are not getting the newer ones made due to reduced production in the plants....
So WAH LAH...... no freezers and none to be found anytime soon. Ridiculous.
Qt jars have been somewhat available so far here. I must have over 1,000 counting all that I have inherited. Guess I will be doing alot more canning in the future.... especially since it will keep if there are power shortages.
Looking at the insanity of looting and such and now this "new country" called CHAZ in the middle of Seattle.... who knows what the future might bring. I am a little concerned that although I like the price and possibility of owning the house, it does sit right on a fairly busy road..... and not but a few miles away from the I-81 corridor.... and in the now crazy blue state of Virginia.

 

[wyoDreamer]

My weight on my pressure canner doesn't rock like my mom's did. But I can get it to the point where it will steam for a little bit, then hiss for a little bit, then steam for a little bit, then hiss for a little bit. That is as close to rocking it will get, and it has been good for 6 years - never had a fail yet. Knock on wood. I wonder if it has some mineral build-up in the stem and that is causing problems. It was given to me by a neighbor, so it what it is. The bottom is not flat, and the emergency pressure release button always looks like it is ready to pop out, until I get the steam built up, then it looks ok.

 

[baymule]

Canning for the dogs again. Haven’t had chicken leg quarters on sale for quite awhile. Covid has surged again, hospitals are full, schools are shutting down and businesses can’t find enough employees.

So I was delighted to get the grocery sale circular with 10# bags of chicken leg quarters on sale for only 39 cents a pound! YAY! I immediately bought 6 bags. I spent 2 days canning 4 bags, 2 each day. I no longer cook and pick off the bone. I pack the legs and thighs in the jar raw. So far, 28 quarts. I get 7 quarts per 10# bag. I put cooked rice in the jars and since the Thai long green beans are producing like gangbusters, I’m putting those in the jars too.

I have two bags thawed out for today. Yesterday I bought 6 more bags of chicken. It’s been a long time since it was on sale, so I can’t pass up this opportunity.

Right now, I have 2 half gallon jars of hog head meat and rice in the refrigerator for the dogs dining pleasure. The slaughter facility skins them, saws in half and vacuum seals them. Have 2 more halves in the freezer I need to get out and make room for more. We have 3 hogs that should be ready to pick up this week. More head halves for dog food!

I tried to make scrapple one time, but just couldn’t eat it. My grandmother used to make it, but I couldn’t follow in her footsteps. Dog food it became.

 

[baymule]

I got 14 more quarts yesterday for a total of 42 quarts. 6 more bags in the freezer, dogs will eat well! LOL

 

[baymule]

Got a nice little business going There!

I call it custom growing. I have neither the room nor the inclination to keep breeding hogs or cattle. But I will sure buy from those who do. Thus I am supporting small farmers like my buyers support me.

We started out with one customer who bought a few CCX , then upped their order the next year. This year that grew to 6 customers. The biggest purchase was 25 chickens, the smallest purchase was 1 chicken. We sold 48 total.

3 hogs got split 5 ways between us and customers with half a hog to be split between us and DD and family.

I started out being delighted at covering costs so that our meat was free. Now actually making a little money, not a lot for all the hard work, but showing a small profit.