Raw food diet

Question
QUESTION: Hi

I'm in the process of switching my 2 boys (both 2 years old) onto a mostly raw meat diet.  I only got them about 3 months ago (they hadn't had the best treatment until then) and I really want to do my best for them.  They were quite nippy when I got them because of this, but they seem to nip less when they're fed raw meat!  So far, they've had diced beef, minced steak and feeder mice (not pinkies - small furred mice).  The mice are their favorite so far.  This may sound like a stupid question, but I've seen people recommending raw chicken thighs to be fed.  Some people recommend buying and feeding them with the bone in, but others say this is dangerous and they should be de-boned before feeding.  Can you tell me which is correct please?  I would have thought they need the bone as well as the meat, but I'm not sure if a chicken thigh-bone is more than they can handle.

Thanks

ANSWER: In general you want to steer clear of beef - it is quite fattening.  Mice and rabbit are great.  Chicken with bone is great as long as it is raw.  Cooked chicken bones splinter and can cause trouble.  Usually a thigh or a leg is a bit much at first - we usually cut up a whole chicken with poultry shears (smaller chunks) and feed that.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: That's great, thanks.  This isn't really a question now, more just a follow-up comment in case it can help anyone else.  The beef isn't a big favorite anyway so I'll take them off that for now.  I hadn't realized it wasn't as good for them and I'm happy to take that mostly out of their diet as I've found some pieces stashed instead of eaten now and then.  They're only getting raw as I'm trying to keep their diet as natural as possible so now I know I can give them bone-in chicken safely that will be the next step.  I should have mentioned they have also had, and loved, rabbit although only small pieces so far.

Answer
I am glad you are trying to work on a raw diet.  Just be careful that you also keep them interested in kibble (in case you need to go away or can't get other stuff, or they need overnight medical care) and be careful they get enough food.  I remember reading somewhere how much they needed per day and I was totally surprised.  We feed a high quality kibble and supplement with raw.