Quote Originally Posted by Tekdave
Yea I thought it was weird that only about half the yard experianced the runny stools. I even added yogurt with in the first couple of days to try to remedy that. My dogs are from 30-45lbs. I was giving larger dogs the thighs and smaller dogs the legs w/ 1/2 cup of juicer pulp, 2tbs yogurt, 1/2 rice, 3x4" peice of liver, and an egg every other day. Would switching back to kibble hide the signs of coccidia? Its been about a year since and still no signs of sickness.
Okay, now that you said that, you just weren't feeding enough IMO.

I give my 36 lb dogs a whole thigh, and I would give a 45 lb dog probably at least that + a drumstick, if not 2 thighs. (Only a dog < 30 lb, or a puppy, would get just a drumstick)

To that I would add a whole egg every day, 1/4 cup of gizzards/hearts, yogurt, 2 oz of oil mix, + veggie mix (I only give 3 tBsp).

If your dogs had loose stools, it could be too much rice & veggies, not enough meat. Typically, dogs fed enough chicken have extremely small, dry stools.

If it was coccidia, and it could have been, yes kibble could mask it because kibble has beet pulp in it which absorbs moisture. Coccidia thrives in a raw-fed environment and you're not supposed to feed raw to a dog with an active case of it. The thing about coccidia is you can NEVER get rid of it (much like babesia), so many dogs carry it without having symptoms. Even when you treat coccidia, the drugs are coccidostats, meaning they only stop the protozoa from reproducing so fast, but they don't actually kill the bugger.

So, yes, some dogs on your yard can have the symptoms while others don't. Also, some dogs can tolerate rice and vegetables better than others. If you feed massive amounts of chicken (no rice, no veggies) your dog will poop what look like rocks. If you feed only rice and veggies, your dog will poop a puddle, so I very much doubt the chicken was the problem ... probably too much vegetable matter and not enough meat.

JMO,

Jack


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