Calcium/Phosphorus with homecooking question

BxrMommieNAZ · #1 11-30-2008, 02:27 AM

Real quick and hoping this has a straight forward simple answer (that's as simple as the question LoL), if I were to pressure cook 10 pounds of chicken with the bones in it and mash the bones after it's done cooking, would I need to supplement a homemade diet with additional bone marrow for the calcium/phosphorus or would mashing the bones with the chicken be sufficient?

Thanks!

**gmacleod** · #2 11-30-2008, 04:24 AM

It will be sufficient - no need to add any further calcium source.

Technically, and depending somewhat on the parts of chicken you choose to use (whole would be best) then you may even have excess calcium. As long as your dogs are adults, that's not a major problem. For puppies though, tossing out some of the excess bone would be a good idea.

The approximate calcium content of an adult chicken carcass (including skin) is 2.2%, versus 1.4% phosphorus. That gives a near-optimal 1.6:1 ratio. You can't make much improvement on that

BxrMommieNAZ · #3 11-30-2008, 12:11 PM

I'll be using chicken quarters (thigh and leg) with the bones in them plus the skin, it'll be a 10 pound bag, so 10 pound chicken quarters bone and skin attached. Just homecooking for my one dog since he has allergies and commercial just isn't working for him, but my female is fine so she'll stay on kibble, but he is an adult, he's 16 1/2 months and is healthy no special dietary needs minus that he has horrible allergies.

Thank you!