How Raw Goat Heads Differ From Rabbit & Poultry Heads

I recently got my hands on 2 raw goat heads for just shy of 10 bucks (together).

That’s when I found an online raw dog food retailer here in Germany who I bought whole furry prey rabbits from.

I was really excited to have Wally go to town on the raw goats heads, and BOY, was he excited, too!

He ended up getting 3 one-hour-ripping and tearing sessions out of the first raw goat head.

The second one is still in his raw dog food freezer.

But after the 3 hours of chew time Wally had on the first one, I tossed it for a few reasons.

And that includes how different they are from raw rabbit and poultry heads that I usually feed.

There’s also another one that surprised me, to be honest.

So in today’s blog post, that’s what I’ll talk to you about – the differences in these raw heads from different animals and how they affect Wally.

Curious to find out more? Let’s jump right in!

How Raw Goat Heads Differ From Rabbit & Poultry Heads

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The Size Of A Raw Goat Head

The most obvious difference is their size.

I mean, raw goat heads are big. The one I gave to Wally weighed just shy of 6 lbs.

Compared to that, rabbit and poultry heads are peanuts:

• Duck heads weigh around 4 oz
• Rabbit heads weigh around 5 oz
• Chicken heads weigh around 2 oz

What’s Inside A Raw Goat Head?

The raw goat heads I bought came with almost everything, including eyes, brains, tongue, teeth, fur and even the horns with the marrow.

The only body parts they were missing were the ears.

Now, the eyes and the brains count as secreting organs, the tongue is muscle meat, and the fur is animal fiber.

Again, that’s similar compared to most rabbit and poultry heads.

Although they obviously don’t have any horns filled with marrow, and poultry heads are usually not sold with their feathers.

For rabbit heads, some are available with the fur, and some without.

I’ve also fed raw rabbit heads before that didn’t come with the eyes, but still had their brains, teeth and tongue.

So it kind of depends on where you’re sourcing them from in the world.

Raw Meaty Bone vs Recreational Bone

Now, I wasn’t entirely sure how to classify the raw goat’s head before I had a good look at it and watched Wally start to rip and tear at it.

I bring this up because raw heads typically consist of 75% edible bone and 25% meat (also edible, of course).

That’s true for rabbit heads and poultry heads, all of which are raw meaty bones.

So bone:meat ratio-wise, it’s gotta be roughly the same for raw goat heads as well.

But there’s one major difference – and that’s the size and the weight of the skull.

And at this weight category, I prefer for Wally not to eat the bone.

I realized this as the skull became more and more prominent with Wally chewing meat off of it.

So that said, even though goat heads are smaller than pig heads and much smaller than cow heads, they’re still a weight-bearing bone of a 140-250 lb animal!

And in raw feeding, that’s a no-no because these types of bones are MUCH denser than those of rabbits and poultry.

That makes them more of a recreational bone as opposed to a raw meaty bone that’s fully edible.

So yeah, I wasn’t going to take the chance of Wally breaking a tooth on it and chucked it.

Raw Goat Heads For Dogs Benefits

So while I don’t recommend to feed raw goat heads as a raw meaty bone, they’re still a great dog chew with lots to dig into:

• Eyes
• Brains
• Fur
• Marrow
• Tongue

And the meat, of course.

Just as an FYI, goat meat is a red meat that’s nutritionally superior to white meats and also a good hypoallergenic option for dogs with lots of food sensitivities.

Because of the size of this goat head, your dog will be getting a full body workout, too.

So it’s sort of an ultimate doggie boredom buster that will leave your dog tired and sleepy after an hour of working at it!

Here’s a short video that shows Wally ripping, tearing, pulling and pawing at it:

Where To Buy Raw Goat Heads For Dogs

I already briefly mentioned that I bought my raw goat heads from a German raw dog food retailer.

In Germany

They’re located in Northern Germany and are called cit Tiernahrung. Here’s the link to their raw goat head listing.

If you look at the picture in the listing, you’ll see that the goat is pictured with its ears but without any horns.

That’s why I was surprised at the fact that ours came with the horns but without the ears.

I’ll have to reach out to the retailer and share that with them.

In The States

Now, I’m not aware of any raw dog food retailers that sell raw goat heads in the States.

But I did find a few places that sell whole raw goats.

You can check them out in my blog post on how to make raw dog food with goat.

So if you’re looking to chop up a whole raw goat, now you know that the goat’s head makes a great recreational bone.

And you could also offer the marrow-filled horns as a joint-boosting whole food supplement.

Tip: A butcher or wildlife processor might be willing to process the whole goat for you. That way, you won’t have to do all that work.

Obviously, there’d be a fee for that.

On that note, I haven’t had whole goats processed, but my boyfriend had several deer processed by a wildlife processor in NC for $50-$100, depending on the size of the animal.

Fun fact: The wildlife processor – his name is Rick – switched his pup over from kibble to raw after we started talking about raw deer meat for dogs!

How Wally Felt About The Raw Goat’s Head

Well, Wally was over the moon with his raw goat’s head!

He had a blast ripping and tearing at it, stepping on it and dragging it through the kitchen.

Oh, and he also banged it onto the kitchen floor, sort of like a Basketball.

Definitely wasn’t expecting that behavior! For anyone curious to see that, I shared it on the K9sOverCoffee Instagram.

However, I did notice that with each chewing session, he was less and less willing to let go of it.

So usually, I don’t have any problem with pausing the raw feeding sessions.

Like for example, when I’ve fed him whole rabbits and whole ducks, I got him to let go.

But with this thing, he was not.

So ultimately, I put his tactical dog collar on him that has a built-in handle and got him away from the goat head that way.

But he was growling while he still had the head in his mouth when he realized I was about to take it away from him.

He stopped when he dropped the head, but I won’t have that kind of behavior, so that’s why I tossed the rest of the head after the third chewing session.

As far as what I’ll be doing with the second goat head that’s still in Wally’s raw dog food freezer, I’ll be giving that one to our dog trainer.

He has a German Shepherd and a Belgian Malinois who are also both raw-fed.

I’m curious to hear how his dogs reacted to it and will add that here.

What I’ll Do Differently In Future Large Head Feeding/Chewing Sessions

For future large head chewing sessions, I think I’ll cut the head in half and remove the lower jawline before offering it to Wally.

Because I would still like to offer him a raw lamb’s head or a sheep’s head, whichever I can find. They really are great boredom busters and chock-full of healthy nutrients.

But yeah, if I (or the bf!) cuts it in half and removes the jawline prior to feeding it, I won’t have to remove it mid-feeding session.

That way, Wally can take all the time he wants and benefit from the Omega-3s in the brains and the eyes.

How Raw Goat Heads Differ From Rabbit & Poultry Heads: Bottom Line

So, raw goat heads are MUCH larger than rabbit and poultry heads.

That doesn’t make them a good raw meaty bone because the skull is just too dense. After all, they’re supporting the head of a 140-200 lb animal.

Generally speaking, the bones of large grazing animals don’t make great edible bones because they have the capacity to break a dog tooth.

That doesn’t mean that it HAS to happen, but it can.

So rather than offering your dog a raw goat head as a fully edible food item, it’s best offered as a recreational bone.

With that one, you toss the skull after your dog has teared the flesh off.

Remember that you can use the marrow-filled horns to make bone broth.

Have you thought about giving your dog a raw goat’s head, or securing a whole goat to use for your homemade raw dog food?

Let me know in the comment section below this blog post if you’d like to share!

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