Chicken Bone And Marrow

Cutting chicken for the meat case leaves bones behind. Raw food makers grind that bone with its marrow and mix it into the meat, so the recipe carries calcium from the carcass itself.⁴

1. 01 // Source Chicken bones Bones left after the meat is cut off, with the marrow still inside.
2. 02 // Process Ground fine Bone and marrow are ground until the pieces are small enough to blend evenly into raw meat.
3. 03 // Process Pathogen control FDA requires raw makers using uncooked poultry to plan for H5N1; heat treatment inactivates the virus.
4. 04 // Output Inside the patty Frozen or freeze-dried with the meat and organs, never sold to the dog as a separate chew.

1. 01

   Balances meat's phosphorus

   Bone runs about 2 parts calcium to 1 phosphorus. Raw rations badly short on calcium fell below 0.6 to 1 in a German survey, the reverse of what dogs need.^1,2

2. 02

   Calcium from the carcass

   Grinding in bone lets a raw recipe get calcium from chicken it already buys, using a part the meat trade leaves over, instead of relying only on a mineral premix.

3. 03

   Fat and flavor from marrow

   Marrow is mostly fat and water. Adult red marrow is about 40% fat and 20% protein, so it adds palatable fat, not a distinct nutrient.⁷

How much No source publishes a standard amount; a 6-dog trial fed meat and bone meal at 6, 12 and 24% without hurting digestibility.⁵

1. Brands say

   Bone is a natural source of calcium

   Evidence

   1. Strong
   2. Some
   3. Thin
   4. None

   Plain arithmetic: broiler leg bone tested at about 180 g calcium and 83 g phosphorus per kg. Natural does not mean balanced, though. How much bone the recipe holds decides whether the dog gets enough.¹

2. Vets say

   Raw meat without enough bone runs short on calcium

   Evidence

   1. Strong
   2. Some
   3. Thin
   4. None

   In a survey of 95 bone and raw rations, the 10% that supplied under a quarter of the calcium dogs need had calcium to phosphorus below 0.6 to 1. Others overshot calcium from bones, so the amount matters.²

3. Owners say

   Bone in the diet firms the stool

   Outruns the evidence

   Evidence

   1. Strong
   2. Some
   3. Thin
   4. None

   The only dog data is a 6-dog trial where rendered meat and bone meal at up to 24% of a dry food raised fecal dry matter. No study has tested raw ground chicken bone.⁵

4. Brands say

   Marrow is a rich source of nutrients

   Outruns the evidence

   Evidence

   1. Strong
   2. Some
   3. Thin
   4. None

   Marrow is mostly water and fat: adult red marrow is about 40% fat and 20% protein, yellow marrow 80% fat. No study has fed chicken marrow to dogs and measured any benefit.⁷

5. Owners say

   Bone in raw food cleans teeth

   Outruns the evidence

   Evidence

   1. Strong
   2. Some
   3. Thin
   4. None

   An 8-dog study saw whole raw beef bones remove 70 to 84% of calculus, and a review rated even that weak. The effect comes from chewing. Bone ground into a patty gets none.⁶