Chicken Necks

Necks come off broiler carcasses when birds are cut into parts for the meat case. Raw food and treat makers use them because the bone, once ground, supplies calcium.^2,7,10

1. 01 // Source Broiler necks The neck of a meat chicken, cut off during processing with the skin and bone still attached.
2. 02 // Process Ground or left whole Toppers and raw blends grind the neck, bone and all. Treat makers sell it as a whole piece.
3. 03 // Process Frozen or dried Necks are frozen raw, freeze-dried or dehydrated. Freezing and freeze-drying preserve bacteria rather than kill them.
4. 04 // Output Raw or dried neck A raw or dried product, not cooked, because cooked bone turns brittle and splinters.

1. 01

   Bone supplies calcium

   Meat alone is low in calcium: neck meat and skin hold 18 mg per 100 g. AAFCO notes that bone in chicken, once ground, is a good calcium source.^1,2

2. 02

   Fat and protein calories

   On a dry basis the soft tissue is about 65% fat and 35% protein, so necks add energy as well as protein to a topper.¹

3. 03

   A cheap bone-in cut

   Necks are a low-value leftover from cutting birds into parts. Using them bone-in lets a recipe get calcium from the meat itself instead of a separate supplement.

How much No source publishes how much a recipe holds. AAFCO lets a plain chicken line include the bone that comes with the parts.²

1. Vets say

   Raw chicken necks can paralyze dogs

   Outruns the evidence

   Evidence

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

   A case-control study of 27 affected and 47 control dogs found raw chicken consumption raised the odds of this paralysis 70.7-fold, and most of the affected dogs that ate raw chicken were fed mainly necks and wings. The study did not separate out a neck-specific risk.³

2. Owners say

   Chicken necks are a natural calcium source

   Evidence

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

   Likely, but measured only by brands. USDA puts boneless neck meat and skin at 18 mg calcium per 100 g, and puppies fed boneless raw meat developed bone disease. One brand lists 1,250 mg per whole neck; we found no independent analysis.^1,8,10

3. Brands say

   Chewing necks cleans teeth

   Outruns the evidence

   Evidence

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

   The best trial used raw beef bones in 8 lab Beagles with no control group, and a review rated its bias serious. That trial did not test chicken necks, and a ground neck in a topper does no chewing work.^4,10

4. Brands say

   Necks give dogs natural glucosamine for joints

   Outruns the evidence

   Evidence

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

   No cited study has measured what necks deliver. Even purified glucosamine with chondroitin failed to improve dogs with hip arthritis in a 75-dog placebo-controlled trial, while two marine oil products and carprofen did.⁹

5. Owners say

   Freeze-drying makes raw necks safe

   Outruns the evidence

   Evidence

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

   Freezing and freeze-drying preserve bacteria rather than kill them. In FDA testing of 196 raw pet foods, 15 carried Salmonella and 32 carried Listeria monocytogenes. A dried texture says nothing about a kill step.^6,7