Meat rabbits for dog food....

[candyfloss]

I am looking into raising meat rabbits (almost) exclusively for dog food (along with chicken, and maybe quail). We like to feed raw, meaty bones food.

We only have one, very spoiled, Jack Russell, and would prefer to feed her with meat that we know is not full of crap, I am not interested in just buying the cheapest cut of "meat"

does anyone do this?

I was thinking that the rabbits wouldn't need to grow out to fryer size (our dog is only small), and I would just dehead and skin, and then feed them whole.

We also have 5 (almost 6 kids), so I am sure will could much through a few fryers ourselves!

 

[Kitsara]

At one point in time, we did feed one of our dogs raw and home prepared food. He had some major grain allergies. Typically we skinned and bled out the rabbits just to cut down on the mess. We also supplemented with rice and veggie mixes. It can be quite time consuming to prepare your own food. My recommendation would be to slaughter a number at once and freeze. Our dog was a Great Pyrenees/German Wirehair Pointer mix. We were able to give him a whole frozen carcass. For yours, I'd suggest cutting it up into fryer pieces before freezing. I'd remove the gall bladder from the liver before freezing the organs as well.

 

[lovinglife]

And don't forget some for you! Rabbit meat is very good, better taste, texture and lower in fat than chicken, not to mention so much easier to process.

 

[Prairiechick]

My Cals could feed a JR for about a week when I butchered them LOL! Yeah, cut it up and feed it. that way. I know people worry about the bones in rabbit and chicken but that is only a danger after they are cooked and become brittle.

 

[PendergrassRanch]

Ideally you would have more variety to the raw diet. Add in red meats and organs of course. I would definitely raise rabbits for your dog. I am thinking of doing the same thing

Check out preymodelraw.com. They have a great start up guide.

Feel free to pm me with any questions. I have fed raw for a while now with much success.

 

[alsea1]

With the price of rabbit feed, that could get expensive.