In order to use an ingredient to formulate dog foods, it is ideal to the industry to know its properties including the digestibility. So, this work studied the chemical composition and the digestibility of chicken parts used to feed dogs, since they are used frequently by the dog food industry. The ingredients were raw and cooked neck, back, and feet. The animals were weighted before and after the experimental period and food was served once a day. The food was weighted before and after being served. Each animal consumed approximately 50g food/kg body weight. The feces were collected daily and freezed as well as the food until the bromatological analyses procedures. The feet had the highest values for crude protein (CP) and mineral content (MC); while the back, the highest values for dry matter (DM), organic matter (OM), and fat. Cooking had no significant effect on chemical composition of the ingredients. Considering the digestibility coefficient, OM and CP of neck had a significant increase when it was used in the cooked form; but, the metabolizable energy (ME) and the digestible energy (DE) values considerably decreased. For the back, the heat treatment resulted in a significant reduction of ME and DE and the digestibility coefficients of DM, OM, and CP, and ME, and DE of the feet were higher using the same treatment.
dog; digestibility; chicken parts; chicken neck; chicken feet
