Raw Feeding

[jrid]

A friend has offered to give me some meat and chicken that has been in her freezer for a couple of years to give to my dogs. How old is too old if the meat has not been previously thawed.?

 

thanks

[Mark Billadeau]

Is the meat vacuum packed or just wrapped?

[jrid]

I am not sure about the beef, but I know the chicken came from the supermarket, so it is probably just wrapped.

 

 

thanks

[Sue R]

Grocery store wrapping is really not suitable for more than short-term freezing at best, IMO. While I have readily cooked and eaten grass-fed beef (which has higher levels of anti-oxidents than does the commercial, grain-fed meat) that was properly vacuum-packed (and had no off color, odor, etc.), I doubt I'd use market-wrapped meat that was as old as your friend's.

 

The issues I would look at are freezer burn and/or oxidation of the fatty tissue in particular.

[Laurae]

I'd probably feed it.

[Cynthia P]

I'd feed it as well; My dogs regularly get things cleaned out of freezers.

[juliepoudrier]

^^Same here. I've been getting old frozen venison and other stuff that's a couple of years old and feeding it to those of mine that eat raw, with no ill effects. I wouldn't make old frozen stuff a staple of their diet, but occasionally cleaning out the freezer and giving it to them isn't likely to hurt anything.

 

J.

[MyTDogs]

I agree with the others....feed it. To me, the problem with old frozen food is not really spoilage it is more a degradation of texture, etc... My dogs don't care about the texture

 

HTH,

[rushdoggie]

I would hazard to guess that old, freezer burned meat is probably a lot more nutritious than the meat-by-product-meal in most dog foods.

 

Me, I'd thaw it and if it doesn't smell spoiled, I'd feed it. My dogs drink from puddles and eat cat poop if they can get away with it, I doubt old frozen meat would hurt them.