Ground Duck Bone

Duck plants cut off the breasts and legs to sell, leaving carcasses and necks that still carry bone and scraps of meat. Raw pet food makers grind bone in with meat and offal and sell the mix raw.^1,9,10,11

1. 01 // Source Carcasses and necks What remains after the saleable cuts come off. Processors also strip leftover meat from them by machine.
2. 02 // Process Ground with meat Bone is ground together with raw meat and offal, the standard base of commercial raw foods.
3. 03 // Process Packed The grind is vacuum-packed or sealed in sausage-like plastic tubes, usually sold frozen.
4. 04 // Output Frozen or freeze-dried Either way the bone stays raw. Freezing and freeze-drying preserve the food; they are not a bacterial kill step.

1. 01

   Balances meat's phosphorus

   Muscle and organs bring phosphorus but little calcium. Bone runs about 2 parts calcium to 1 phosphorus. German raw foods of meat and offal with no mineral supplement gave too little of both.^1,4

2. 02

   Uses the whole carcass

   Duck plants are left with carcasses and necks after the meat cuts. Grinding that bone into a raw food turns a leftover into the recipe's mineral source, in place of a mineral supplement.^1,11

How much No source publishes a typical amount. In 31 German complete raw foods, calcium ranged from 9 to 724% of the minimum requirement.¹

1. Brands say

   Bone supplies the calcium that meat lacks

   Evidence

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

   Dry raw bone runs about 22% calcium, one duck bone test found 31%, and chicken bone carried about 2 parts calcium per part phosphorus. German raw foods of meat and offal with no mineral supplement gave too little calcium.^1,2,3,4

2. Vets say

   Raw bone foods carry harmful bacteria

   Evidence

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

   FDA testing found Salmonella in 15 and Listeria in 32 of 196 raw pet food samples. A German survey found Salmonella in 2 of 10 raw products tested. Freeze-drying preserves food; it does not kill these bacteria.^1,9,10

3. Brands say

   Bone-in raw food is naturally balanced

   Outruns the evidence

   Evidence

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

   In 31 German complete raw foods, calcium ran from 9 to 724% of the minimum, and 7 had more than 2 parts calcium per phosphorus. All but one product over the upper limit listed bones or whole carcasses.¹

4. Owners say

   Bone in the food keeps teeth clean

   Outruns the evidence

   Evidence

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

   In an 8-Beagle study, gnawing whole raw beef bones cut calculus cover from 42% to about 12% in 12 days. That came from chewing. Ground bone is swallowed with the meat, and no study shows a dental effect.⁷

5. Brands say

   Ground bone is safe where whole bones are not

   Outruns the evidence

   Evidence

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

   No study has tested ground bone in dogs. The closest data is a clinic series where chicken and fish bones were 68 of 111 esophageal foreign bodies, and it does not say whether they were raw or cooked.⁸