# Raising Rabbits for dog food?



## tuffycuddles (Sep 25, 2008)

My fiance and I and are thinking of the possability of raising/breeding meat rabbits for food for us and for our dog. 

Would this be a good idea? 
Are rabbits good for dogs?

any info on the nutritional value of rabbits would be welcomed.... i'd be feeding my dog rabbit along side of kibble.


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## GypsyJazmine (Nov 27, 2009)

Rabbit as a main staple to a dog's diet is not good...They don't have enough fat or meat on them.


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## Hallie (Nov 9, 2008)

Rabbits are bony, and as Gypsy said they're very low fat. Low fat, bony= you probably don't want your dog having too much rabbit. It'd be a waste really, you wouldn't get much meet and there would be too much bone.


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## Nargle (Oct 1, 2007)

What about raising chickens instead of or along with rabbits? I agree with the others, rabbit is much to lean to be the main source of meat. I've heard of people getting stranded in the woods and trying to survive off of hunting rabbits, but they end up getting really sick because of the lack of fat in their diets.


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## zimandtakandgrrandmimi (May 8, 2008)

chickens. they are relatively easy to manage and keep humanely.

there's one thing you should think about..im sure you probably have but i feel i should mention it just in case. you should think about how you are going to slaughter them. if you want to do it yourself you need to a. become familiar with chicken/rabbit/whatever anatomy and b. make sure you can do this

the other option is paying to have it done but the cost might be prohibitive.


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## Hallie (Nov 9, 2008)

I agree with the chicken suggesstion. Chickens would be easier to keep than rabbits. Rabbits have to be kept alone and shouldn't be kept together, you'd also have to wait awhile for the rabbits to reach their growth potential. I don't know much about killing chickens but rabbits are easy to kill. Simply put a pole behind their head, put your foot on the pole to hold it down and then grab the back legs and jerk upward. Could you do that to rabbits you've raised? My dad tried raising meat rabbits but couldn't slaughter them because he got attached, even if he could've it costs too much and in the end you don't get much.


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## nekomi (May 21, 2008)

I agree with the chickens suggestion. Another option would be jumbo coturnix quail - smaller, but they mature more quickly and are easier to dispatch.

Chickens really are VERY easy to raise. I have a flock of egg-laying hens and they are so simple to care for. You could raise meat chickens over the summer while the weather is mild and the foraging is good, and they'd be ready to butcher by fall.


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## tuffycuddles (Sep 25, 2008)

Hi thanks for the replys everyone. 
Chickens may work better. I wouldn't feel half as bad having chickens killed.  that was one of my biggest reservations about raising rabbits, however it will be my Dad and Fiance doing the slaughter. And i know that my dad grew up raising meat rabbits. (which is why that came to mind first before chickens.) But if chickens would be better anyways. that sounds like a good idea to me, and we could even get eggs out of that deal too.. tho i don't know the first thing in takeing care of chickens tho. oh well learning is always fun.

thanks.


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## nekomi (May 21, 2008)

http://www.backyardchickens.com has all the info you'd ever need on raising chickens.  

Just FYI, if you want eggs, you'll need to raise egg-laying hens seperately... the chickens raised for meat won't be old enough to lay eggs by the time they're butchered.


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## My Dog Bishop (Sep 27, 2009)

Have you ever heard a rabbit "scream" when they're in pain? They sound like a human baby. It would freak me out too much.


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## zimandtakandgrrandmimi (May 8, 2008)

My Dog Bishop said:


> Have you ever heard a rabbit "scream" when they're in pain? They sound like a human baby. It would freak me out too much.


you can do it without any pain or upset. but that's dependant upon resolve. ive done it and its not a problem if you act quickly and decisively and abruptly so they dont see it coming and there isnt any time for pain. but not everyone can do that.


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## My Dog Bishop (Sep 27, 2009)

I certainly couldn't do it.


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## Duckie1009 (Dec 17, 2009)

i couldn't do it either and certainly not after raising it. i'd unintentionally name them, train them to come, and post pics of them on facebook.


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## nekomi (May 21, 2008)

I agree with Zim; if you're causing pain to the animal, you're not dispatching it properly...


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## Hallie (Nov 9, 2008)

I've heard one of my past rabbits scream when the leash got stuck on it's foot, not a good sound. Very high pitch and not pleasant at all.


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## zimandtakandgrrandmimi (May 8, 2008)

When i was younger, my rather country relatives put me through what I guess you might call a rite of passage. I had to dispatch and prepare dinner. It was hard to do but there was a point to it. I'm actually grateful for it. Was a lesson in mercy and respect. I've done it several times since then and while its never easy, you sort of...gain more respect for what life is. I'd probably not be the animal lover I am today without that chicken. Sounds cheesy but its true.


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## Baileyby (Oct 17, 2009)

I agree that chickens would be a better option. 

Rabbits however are not that hard to kill. I used to hunt them all the time(haven't for a few years), and a quick blow to the back of their head/neck and that will kill them instantly. Rabbit is one of my favorite meats to eat, but I don't know if I could eat it if I personally raised them...I don't know...maybe...but dogs do love them. I know my beagles would eat them when I let them. But that was more as a treat than a meal.


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## Willowy (Dec 10, 2007)

OK, on the cat forum someone posted about her outside cats eating almost only rabbits, would they be OK? The resident nutrition guru posted back saying that rabbit is deficient in several necessary amino acids and couldn't be a complete diet. I've never heard that before.....wild rabbit is low in fat but other than that I think it should be the same as any other kind of meat. Anyone else know the details?


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## lucidity (Nov 10, 2009)

Willowy said:


> OK, on the cat forum someone posted about her outside cats eating almost only rabbits, would they be OK? The resident nutrition guru posted back saying that rabbit is deficient in several necessary amino acids and couldn't be a complete diet. I've never heard that before.....wild rabbit is low in fat but other than that I think it should be the same as any other kind of meat. Anyone else know the details?


I think that's bad. Rabbit meat apparently doesn't have enough taurine for cats. I read this study somewhere... researches fed cats ground rabbit for a year, and by the end of the study, they were all dead from taurine deficiency =/


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## Willowy (Dec 10, 2007)

OK, so it would be OK for dogs and humans (I've heard of trappers surviving on rabbit as long as they get fat from another source), just not for cats? Interesting. I thought heart always had a lot of taurine. But not rabbit hearts, huh?


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## lucidity (Nov 10, 2009)

Yeah, apparently. I found the article mentioned on this wikipedia page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raw_feeding

They used whole ground rabbits too, so it's not because they removed the organs or anything like that.


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## Mieya (Jun 22, 2012)

Hello I know this is a super super old post but I simply must!!

I have 4 dogs. 2 HUGE pit bulls, a pug and a Border Collie. 2 are allergic to corn, the pug and one of the pit bulls, so I decided to make my own food! Luckily I live on a farm so 2 years ago research and experimentation began and here is what I found....

Turkeys breed way too slow

Cows are too delicious to share with the dogs

Goats don't carry as much meat on them as you would think

Pigs make the dogs sick, everytime, guarenteed! Some research showed that pork has very high salt content. If it wasn't for that my dogs would be on a bacon diet.

Rabbits are 900% times easier to 'dress' (Kill and butcher) than a chicken, which requires you bleed it out alive and then pick all the feathers off.

Video of a rabbit being butchered: It's not safe for work and you will have to log into youtube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBYv...trevolution.com/butchering-and-eating-rabbit/

Video of a Chicken being Butchered: This author skips the gorey bits but you get the idea, the video is in two parts.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M0heIXFNypg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzDjjtdyuEU&feature=relmfu

Secondly, rabbits are easier to keep and maintain in a structured manner.
They will poop in one spot in their cage and you remove the tray and throw it somewhere you want instantly furtilized! (Like a garden maybe?) You can do that because unlike most other turds rabbit manuer does not need to be matured so it will not burn your plants.

Cleaning out a chicken coup in winter is like the 4th ring of hell.

Also keep in mind anything you raise to feed your dogs they will be highly aware of what is going into their food and even if they were nice before they will start looking at your animals longingly so predator proof coups and cages are a must.

Third, Rabbits reproduce with more ease then a Chicken. Chickens are odd and will lay furtile eggs up to one month after being visited by a rooster. However they have to be in the mood to actually hatch them, called Brooding, you'll usually only have one (Death from above!) cranky chicken brooding at one time. So your best bet is a confiscate all your furtile eggs and hatch them in an incubater and let the new chicks reside in a brooding box until theyre 6 weeks old and then you can move them into the coup to live out the rest of their days. Which is another 2 and a half months (10 weeks) for a dress out weight of about 5lbs for a dual purpose bird. Meat specific birds will grow a lot faster, usually reaching their butcher weight at 8 weeks. A dual purpose Chicken will eat about $16 of feed to get to its full weight (Prices maybe wonky, starting at 8 weeks I feed my flock "All Flock" because I also have turkeys.) Which means you'll be paying about $0.31/lb. But that doesn't take into account, the scratch, oyster shells, straw, and layer feed you need for the hen.

A rabbit will have 7 to 10 babies every 4 months, you'll butcher them when they're about 3lbs. (12 weeks) so you'll have 21 -30lbs of meat. It costs about $12 in 18% feed to get them there, so you're paying between $0.57 and $0.40 per lb.

At this point I have to address something else said in this thread. Wild Rabbits caught out in the mountains will make you sick. Most wild rabbits carry worms and diseases and most likely if you're out in the mountains killing off the wild life you probably aren't eating anything else, like vegetables. Wild Rabbits cannot breed with domesticated rabbits, they will try, but the genetics just aren't compatible. If you don't believe me on the worms thing just go out and get yourself a wild rabbit, then skin it and put it in Soda water. The worms will come crawling out, its gross. It in no way has to do with their leanness, no one ever died because they couldn't flavor their diet with a big mac. 

Here is the Nutritional information of a Domestic Rabbit (A wild rabbit will be different)

http://www.threelittleladiesrabbitry.com/blog2/2011/01/20/nutritional-value-of-rabbit-meat/

In short they have about 10% fat, which is expensive ground beef!

As seen in the notes below the post, "Rabbit Starvation" is caused by Mal-Nutrition, not lack of fats and protiens in the rabbit itself.

Now that all that is said, I feed my dogs...

40% Rabbit Meat
40% Steamed Brown Rice
20% Steamed Vegetables
Vitamin suppliment powder, we've been testing out different ones and have pretty much settled on one but its a specific brand and I don't just go around giving out free advertising so message me if you want to know.

Then I put it all in a blender and puree it and dehydrate it into little kibbles which will last longer then I ever need it to and doesn't allow the dogs to pick around the vegies! I end up with about 450lbs of dog food and 50lbs of cat food (Exactly the same only no vegies as cats are pure carnivores) every 4 months. On a side note, the food has cured the cat of some undiagnosable diarrhea problem he was having that 4 trips to the vet and several medications couldn't get a handle on.

It's important that you steam the vegetables, dogs stomachs have a very hard time breaking down complex carbohydrates so you have to break them by steaming or boiling them. I use a variety of vegetables so they get a wide range of different vitamines. This was the trickest part which is good and which is bad.... So far the list I have is....
Carrots
Sweet Potatoes
Beats
Aspargus (Not advised, makes their pee smell really bad)
Spinich
Salad Bowl Lettuce
Alfalfa (experimented with after watching them stand around eating Herbivore poo all day, works well but really hard to prepare unless its freshly cut. May try different grass varieties in the future)

Things that have been ruled out:
Russel Potatoes 
Onions of any kind
Bell Peppers of any kind
Tomatoes of any kind
Corn (Not simply because of current allergies. When we went back to corn we noticed the dogs got more sluggish and their poo got huge so we suspected they aren't digesting the majority of it.)

We feed the dogs "Freely" from morning until evening. Their dog food is mixxed with Scrambled eggs in the morning. I used to use raw eggs but had to wash their food bowls alot! That stuff is like glue! The colesterol is probably not good for them but I make them work all day so I can't suck all the joy out of their lives.

Sorry this post got so long but when I started making dog food lo those many years ago. The Internet wasn't helpful, gave me weird anxiety problems and if you look long enough you will find nothing is good for dogs. In the end this is what I learned, if you can't live off of it neither can your dog and if you accidently make their pee smell for a few weeks your dog will forgive you.


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## tuffycuddles (Sep 25, 2008)

Ok again ancient post, but just to revisit it, I actually did end up raising rabbits for a year, however we mostly ate the meat ourselves and the dogs just got our left overs as treats. (I have a source of ground chicken that was cheaper than what it cost us to feed the rabbits)Dogs LOVE dehydrated rabbit ears btw! In the end I was able to kill/clean/dress them myself even after raising them. They do taste great and the dogs love it. And we used the manure for the lawn/gardens, I tanned the hides and the dogs ate EVERYTHING we didn't use so NO waste. We quit raising them only because we live in town(limited space, had to revert the barn back to a shed) and it takes up time I could be using to sleep eat or dogsled. But if I ever move to the country I will definitely go back to it, especially if I had the space to grow my own my hay/feed for the rabbits to cut most of the costs.


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## Kathyy (Jun 15, 2008)

That is very cool. What did you use the hides for?


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## PatriciafromCO (Oct 7, 2012)

The rabbits are hard on me,, I don't like killing them,, I don't like that I have to keep them confined and feel the next time I do raise them it might be easier to try the CO2 method , I don't raise to full size just enough for a day's meal 1 to 5lbs (3lbs would be ideal) and feed them whole... 

I have raised free range Chickens for the dogs for 14 years now and they are easier to kill, still never easy on me because I like them as individuals, and feed whole again just raise them to a day's meal size. 

I have geese and I do not like killing them    so I have wonderful herd of geese that I adore, 

Turkeys are just a hard butcher, so I eat them more then I feed them to the dogs,, 

Ducks are ok but they are such great buggers to include good mousers ?? (yes I was surprised too) I leave them be to work in the barn. 

Always have an abundance of eggs


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## tuffycuddles (Sep 25, 2008)

Kathy, I have so far made a pair of mittens for when I go dog sledding. I still have some hides I havnt sewn into anything yet.... I might make a ruff for a hood..? I am not sure


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