Feb 113 min read

Raising Meat Rabbits For Dogs

In addition to self-sufficiency, the main reason we raise meat rabbits is so our dogs have a healthy organic raw source of meat for their raw diets. The following is a breakdown of what a rabbit just under 5 lbs will yield for about a 60 lb dog.

To learn . . .

-How and what you need to raise meat rabbits

-Best breeds

-What to feed rabbits

-Problems/Solutions

-etc. you can visit my farm site blog post here.

NOTE: Feeding your dog just rabbit is not ideal. Variety is best. If you're lucky enough to own a farm/homestead it's best to raise a variety of proteins from chicken, turkey, duck, cow, pig, and beef. If not, you can see who you can buy locally from or there are online companies that sell whole prey animals for dogs.

How To Feed Rabbit To Your Dog?

Whole/PMR - This is the easiest way to feed as you just hand the whole carcass over to your dog. It can also be messy, so I always feed it outside in a specific area. I'll keep an eye on my dog and take it away when there's about half left to save and feed the next day. I just wrap it in a grocery bag and pop it in the fridge.

Clean & Process - A bit more of a manual process is to chop the rabbit into meals yourself. You remove the fur, intestines, stomach. But hold on to those organs as they are full of nutrients. The stomach is good too but is messy to deal with. I also don't want my dogs eating the pellets the rabbit has eaten. But if your rabbits eat more of a natural diet like greens and such then it could benefit your dog having fermented innards. Feeding the feet provides fiber and a crunchy treat.

Ground - If you have a small dog or senior dog that that can't handle chewing on a rabbit carcass then you'll want to invest in a good meat grinder to grind it up for your pup. Find one that is powerful enough to grind small bones like this one here.

How Many Meat Rabbits Would Feed Your Dog For 1 Year?

This is a simple math equation and comes down to averages as you can never know what breeding troubles you'll run into, litter sizes, growth rate, etc. The average butcher weight size for a well-bred meat rabbit is about 5 lbs at 10-12 weeks old. This is about 2 meals for a 60 lb dog. So with 365 days in a year divided by 2 = 182.5 (round up to 183) rabbits needed to feed your dog for 1 year.

A rabbit can have anywhere from 2 babies in a litter to 12 or so in a litter. The average would be about 8. So, taking 183 divided by 8 equals 22.8 litters needed to feed a 60 lbs dog. Now divide that by how many times per year you plan on breeding your does. We do 4 but the max is 6-7. So 22.8 divided by 4 means you need 5.7 (round up to 6) doe rabbits to produce enough meat for your dog for one year.

I like to take the rabbits welfare into consideration and only aim for a max of 4 litters. NOTE: It'll be more difficult to breed during winter. We run into this and so we take advantage of the natural breeding season from spring to fall to do more intensive breeding, and then give the rabbits a break during the winter. A deep freezer comes in handy to store rabbits during winter. Here's a helpful chart.

Use This Chart As A Guide

Weight Of Dog	Breeding Does Needed (Breeding 4X's Per Year)	Breeding Does Needed (Breeding 6X's Per Year)
15 Pounds	1-2	1
30 Pounds	3-4	2-3
60 Pounds	5-6	3-4
75 Pounds	8-9	5-6
120 Pounds	11-12	7-8

*You can use this handy calculator here to find out how much raw your dog should be eating.

Conclusion

Processing your own meat is not for the squeamish, but it’s a good way to know where your dog's food comes from, how it was raised/killed/processed. I’ve seen great health benefits in my dogs. I know that there not getting meat from questionable sources in a commercial setting. If we don't feed the whole carcass, we do our best to make sure none of the animal goes to waste, including tanning the hides for later sale or use. We have a lot of foxes near us, so they also clean up any of the scraps that get left by the dogs.