Chicken Feet for Dogs: What They Are and How Many to Give

Chicken feet for dogs are exactly what they sound like, a whole chicken foot dried until it crunches, and yes, dogs can eat them. A plain dried foot with nothing added is a short chew, and the two things to get right are the form it comes in and how many you hand over. We air-dry chicken feet in Malvern, Pennsylvania, and this is the long version of the answer we give across a folding table.

What a chicken foot is

A chicken foot is the part of the bird below the drumstick: the shank and four toes, with nails on the ends. There is almost no meat on it. What you get is skin and tendon wrapped around a lot of small bones, which is why a dried foot is so light in the hand and so loud when a dog bites down. Some sellers clip the nails before drying and some leave them on. Dried, the whole thing is pale yellow to tan, and it looks like a chicken foot from every angle. There is no dressing that up.

Air-dried, dehydrated, raw or cooked

Four forms come up when people search for this, and they are not the same thing.

• Air-dried. The foot is dried slowly with moving air until the moisture is gone. This is how ours are made. Some pieces can have a sharp edge, which is one reason the label says to supervise.
• Dehydrated. The word gets used loosely, and plenty of what is sold as dehydrated chicken feet is dried much the same way. The ingredient list matters more than the word, so read it for anything added.
• Raw. People who feed a raw diet buy frozen chicken feet from the butcher and use their own handling rules for raw poultry. Raw feet live in the freezer and are closer to a meal component than a chew.
• Cooked. Feet from a stock pot or a roasting pan are the ones people are warned about with dogs. Air-drying is a different process, and ours are air-dried. Anything off a plate with garlic or sauce on it is out too.

How many chicken feet a dog can have

A common rule of thumb keeps treats of every kind to around 10 percent of what a dog eats in a day, and a chicken foot counts toward that. It is light, but it is mostly skin and bone and it is richer than it looks. A starting point by size:

• Small dogs, under about 20 pounds: half a foot to one foot, two or three times a week. Break it at the shank so the piece matches the mouth.
• Medium dogs: one foot a day is a common rhythm, with the rest of the day's treats trimmed to make room.
• Large dogs: one or two a day. Duck feet are larger, which is why we point bigger dogs toward them further down.

Cut back on other treats on a chicken foot day. If your dog is on a special diet or has a history with rich food, ask your veterinarian before adding them.

The first chicken foot

Hand it over when you can sit and watch. The crunch is loud the first time and then it is just a noise in the house. If your dog is a gulper, hold the far end for the first one so the dog bites instead of swallowing. Take away any small end piece once the chewing stops, which is also what the label asks. Put water down. Then wait a day before the next one and see how the dog does. One foot on day one tells you more than three.

Our air-dried chicken feet for dogs

If you want them dried and ready, ours are air-dried chicken feet with one ingredient, chicken feet. We air-dry them in small batches in Malvern, Pennsylvania, and nothing is added. They come in a pack of 6 feet or a pack of 18 feet, and they ship from us. Texture is crunchy and crispy. Shape and color vary a little from foot to foot because this is a natural product, and some pieces have a sharp edge, so the supervision line is there for a reason. Once dried they need no refrigeration. The label says to feed it as a chew treat and not as a complete diet, with fresh water out and someone watching. It also says to discard small pieces if they present a swallowing hazard.

For a bigger dog, or a dog who finishes a chicken foot before you have put the bag away, our air-dried duck feet are larger and last longer. The two sit side by side in our duck feet versus chicken feet guide. More of our treats for dogs are in the dog treat collection.

Storage

Dried chicken feet keep at room temperature. Moisture is the thing that ends them, so the bag gets resealed or the feet go in a jar with a lid, somewhere cool and dry. A damp garage or a bag left open on a porch will soften them. If a foot goes bendy or smells different from the rest of the bag, toss it. The habits are the same ones in how we store freeze-dried treats.

Chicken feet questions

Can dogs eat chicken feet?

Yes. A plain dried chicken foot with nothing added is a common chew. Skip feet from a pot or a plate, and skip anything seasoned.

How many chicken feet can a dog have?

Keep all treats near 10 percent of the day's food. For most medium dogs that works out to one foot a day. Small dogs get half a foot a few times a week, and large dogs can take one or two.

Are dehydrated chicken feet the same as air-dried?

Close enough that the words get swapped. Both mean the moisture was pulled out with moving air, and both end up crunchy. Ours are air-dried in small batches. Whichever word is on the bag, check that chicken feet is the only ingredient.

What about the nails?

Some sellers clip the nails before drying and some leave them on. If you would rather not have them, snip them off with kitchen shears before you hand the foot over.

Can puppies have chicken feet?

We do not list an age range for ours. If you try one with a puppy that is on solid food and chews with some confidence, start with half a foot and take back the last piece. If you are unsure, start smaller and go slower.

Why do some chicken feet have sharp edges?

Chicken feet are a natural product, so shape varies and some pieces can have a sharp edge. That is why we flag it and ask you to supervise. Snap off anything that looks like a spike before you hand it over, and take away small end pieces.

Do chicken feet need refrigeration?

No. Once dried they keep at room temperature in a sealed bag or a jar. Keep them dry and out of the sun and they stay crunchy.