Anybody raised rabbits?

[toman]

I've been looking into raising rabbits in the future as a free source of dog food and possibly a little extra money. (selling dog food...) Anybody here raised rabbits before? I'd like to know how much time and effort it takes, and if it's even worth it. Also, how much space does it take? Like, would I be able to do it in a normal sized back yard without trouble?

[tooter_mcgee]

We had rabbits for pets when I was younger, but my mother used to raise them although it wasn't for dog food. That set aside, your back yard would work assuming you aren't trying to raise hundreds at once. They do take effort though, and i'm not sure the results will be worth it to you in the end. You obviously have to feed and water them, but their cages get filthy rather easily, so you'll have to clean all the cages every few or so assuming there's one rabbit per cage or they can get really sick. I don't know if I helped or not, but let me know if there's anything else you want to know.

~Di~

[toman]

That's about what I was figuring. I'm not sure if the amount of work would be worth it, but it probably would save some money. Maybe not enough though, since dog meat only costs me around $50 a month anyway.

[redthewitch75]

Uhm...why might one desire to raise rabbits as dog food? This troubles me. They do make cool pets. We had one and he used a litter pan. He was awesome. He died back in October, unfortunately. So, anyway, is there a high demand for rabbits as dog food?

[LIBRA]

Uhm...why might one desire to raise rabbits as dog food? This troubles me. They do make cool pets. We had one and he used a litter pan. He was awesome. He died back in October, unfortunately. So, anyway, is there a high demand for rabbits as dog food?


I wondered that too. When I was little our nieghbors raised them to eat, they were from holland and it was normal, we had cows so I thought it was odd, but rabbit meat is very good for you. But for dogs?? I dont know.

Enlighten us Toman :)

[toman]

:D I suppose it might sound a little odd to someone who's not into the whole dog thing... Anyway, I (and many other people) have realized that commercial processed kibble dog foods are far from appropriate, and in fact contribute to many of the health and behavioural problems we see in dogs today. As an alternative, there are a number of alternative diets based on *gasp* real food, like what a wild dog or wolf would eat left to his own devices. The primary source of nutrition is a variety of raw meats and bones, chosen so as to best approximate the ratios of lean muscle, rich organ meat, and bone that would be found in a natural diet featuring a variety of small animals. Common sources are chicken, rabbit, beef, lamb, and goat. A smaller portion of the diet consists of fruits and vegetables, to approximate the small amounts a wild dog would normally eat, in addition to the stomach contents of his prey. One great way of getting this stuff is by feeding green tripe, which is the semi-digested stomach content of cows, consisting mostly of grass, but also containing many enzymes that aid in the digestive system. Finally, most people finish off the diet with a few carefully chosen suppliments, such as Vit. C, Vit. E, Flax or fish oil, kelp, and MSM/Glucosomine Chondroitin.

The results of this type of diet are many, and include increased energy and mental function, more willingness to learn, far fewer health problems, improved coat and reduced shedding, longer life, smaller more controlled stools, no allergies, and fewer behavioural problems.

You might notice I have a huge surplus of info on the subject; if you'd like to know more please just post or PM me... I'm always stoked to talk about anything dog related. :cheers:

[LIBRA]

Im completely enlightened now, thanks, lol.

I knew you'd come through!!


Ya know I feed my dog Iam's I wonder if that is ok?? I mena it says it on the bag but, they can probably say whatever.

I had 2 dogs but no I only have 1. I gave sophie away, I didnt have the time or energy or $ for her to live right so I gave her to an awesome family they love her!! I felt bad though, but i am sure she is happy.

[toman]

Honestly, there are very few kibble type foods I would feed a dog. Iams, Science Diet, and your other more expensive foods are really no better than the other department store stuff. The only relatively low dollar food I would reccomend would be Kirkland lamb and rice formula from Costco, and while that's not bad stuff I certainly wouldn't feed it. A couple of foods I would feed if for some reason I couldn't do raw are Timberwolf Organics or possibly one of the Innova products. They have one food in particular called Evo that is a good way to go, particulary for dogs with allergies. These are more expensive to feed than real, raw food, and are hard to find, but your local specialty pet store might have them, or you can order online. Like I say, feeding raw food only costs about $50 a month or less, these higher end bagged foods will cost you more than that.

I know all this flys in the face of what americans have been feeding their pets for years, but the way I see it is this: If a person were to eat a steady diet of nothing but a dry, pellet food, how healthy could they be? Even if that was the most expensive, high quality pellet you could get, would it still constitute a balanced, nuticious diet? I don't think so, and that's why I'll only feed my dogs real, raw food the way they were designed to eat. :p

[shellbug]

i raise large breed rabbits for my family - we only breed in months with an R in their name (not may, june july or aug) - too hot - hard on the mamas---- look on homesteadingtoday.com - the issue of rabbits for dogfood was raised on there and after a lot of figuring (these folks know rabbits!) i believe the conclusion was that it would not be profitable and it would be very time-consuming - rabbit feed isn't cheap either - we spend about $10 a month to keep 5 adults well-fed - more when does are pregnant or nursing and lots more when they have babies that are starting to eat food

[toman]

Cool, I'll take a look at that. It's kind of looking like even if the cost were to break even or come out a little ahead, the hassle is probably not something I'd be willing to undertake. Rather spend more time working with the dogs! :D

[CowboyHippy]

rabbit's have no body fat
there meat is said to be 100 percent lean, if you eat rabbits all the time you can give yourself protein poisioning.

some old dude down the road died and they were chucking stuff into a dumpster, i stopped and pawed through the piles with permission and got some goodies, but i did notice a whole bunch of rabbit hutches, probably 20-30, but the dumpster has been gone for a few weeks, course shipping would probably kill ya. anyway
gotta crash

[UnderTheRainbow]

One of my friends raises/grows all of her own food for her family and animals. Her rabbits were kept in a fair sized pen, where they were allowed to burrow and everything, with plenty of plants growing inside it so they could eat "naturally". She never really had problems with that setup (she likes keeping it all as natural as possible) except when it rained really bad one night, and the rabbits weren't covered or anything. The adults just had babies, and the burrows flooded. She had to go in, dig out all of the babies, and some of them were already dead.
So, if you're thinking of doing it as naturally as possible, just keep those problems in mind... flooding, lack of food (if you don't grow plants for them, or if the plants don't do very well, etc), not being able to easily get to the rabbits, etc.
But, if you're planning on using cages with no space for them to burrow or anything, no plants for them to eat from, etc... why bother? It'll probably end up costing around the same for the rabbits (cage repaire and maintenance, bedding, etc.) and be a lot of work (cleaning the cages, keeping the rabbits clean, watching babies closely until they're old enough to make it on their own, watching out for fleas, infections, viruses and diseases that can easily take over an entire rabbit-community, etc.)
You might end up realizing that buying the meat for your dogs is much easier and cheaper, anyway. And if the dogs ever somehow get into the rabbit pen/cages... as my friend's dogs managed to do... well, there goes the entire idea.

[UnderTheRainbow]

Kodos gets lots of "real" food, too. (I hate when people say "human" food... "human" food is stuff like cake, pie, potato chips, etc. Meat/veggies/grains/etc. are MAMMAL food.)
I basically try to feed him *about* the same as I feed myself. He gets a decent amount of meat or kibble (I can be damn picky about what kibble I'll feed him, too) but he also gets quite a bit of other stuff. He LOVES veggies like no other dog I've ever seen, he'll gladly sit there and share a salad with me, or eat an entire bowl of mixed veggies, broccoli and cauliflower, sliced raw veggies (he goes CRAZY when he sees carrots, haha, silly pup)... he loves ANY veggies, except for cucumber. So, he gets quite a bit of vegies, and a fair amount of potatoes, pasta or rice. He loves bread, and we only buy 12-18 grain. He also loves sharing dry shredded wheat or whole wheat crackers with us. He also gets a fair bit of dairy - mostly cheese, because we always have cheddar, mozzarella, and feta... if not other random cheeses, as well. Fruit? Ohh, he's ALL over that. Ever see a dog sit there with an apple in it's paws and actually take BITES out of it? Oh yeah. He does. I'll be eating an apple and hold it out for him, and he'll come up, take a bite, and then wait for me to take another bite, because he knows we take turns.

Maybe I treat him a bit *TOO* much like a human, haha. Either way, it's nice to hear about other people feeding their dogs real food, too. They're family, and should be treated as such.

[toman]

Yeah, real food is the way to go. One note about feeding real food, particularly raw meat, in addition to kibble: Kibble takes much longer (as long as 12 hours) to digest, and so remains in the digestive system much longer than real food, which can take only a couple hours to go all the way through. If a dog eats kibble and then eats raw meat before the kibble goes all the way through, the meat can get backed up. This is where you get problems with bacteria and whatnot, because the meat just sits there and and up basically rotting. So the basic rule of thumb is that if you feed both real food and kibble, you should probably wait 12 hours after the kibble to feed anything else, so as not to have problems. Naturaly, kibble can be fed directly after raw food, because the raw just goes right through. Safety first! :D

[morningsunshine]

One note about feeding real food, particularly raw meat, in addition to kibble: Kibble takes much longer (as long as 12 hours) to digest

That's pretty gross...
I don't think anything should really take that long to go the two and a half feet or so from one end to the other...

[orchid]

Yeah, real food is the way to go. One note about feeding real food, particularly raw meat, in addition to kibble: Kibble takes much longer (as long as 12 hours) to digest, and so remains in the digestive system much longer than real food, which can take only a couple hours to go all the way through. If a dog eats kibble and then eats raw meat before the kibble goes all the way through, the meat can get backed up. This is where you get problems with bacteria and whatnot, because the meat just sits there and and up basically rotting. So the basic rule of thumb is that if you feed both real food and kibble, you should probably wait 12 hours after the kibble to feed anything else, so as not to have problems. Naturaly, kibble can be fed directly after raw food, because the raw just goes right through. Safety first! :D

Toman, you seem really informed about the raw food diet for dogs... Do you use this diet exclusively for your dog?

I've been researching it lately because one of my dogs has really bad breath, yellowing teeth, allergies and what seems to be over-stimulated immune system. He's 4 years old, very active and just seems to be more prone to illnes than my other dog... Intuitively, I feel that his health issues are food related. According to what I've read, the live enzymes in the raw diet will help him with many of these issues.

I do have some reservations, so I guess this is where my question comes in (if infact, you do feed your dog according to a bones and raw food type diet):

Is there any difference in your dogs temperment or general demeanor?

My dogs are a siberian husky, german shephard mix. They're also rumored (according to the person we rescued them from) to be low content hybrid wolf dogs. Although they're extremely well trained, it's obvious to me that their predatory instict is still very intact.

In feeding your dog a raw diet, do you find that he exhibits a more awakened instinct to hunt?

Just Wondering.

[toman]

Feeding dogs raw food does not increase their prey drive or cause aggresive behavior toward other animals, or change their temperment or personality; that's just an urban legend. I'd say feeding a raw diet would most likely help solve most of the problems you're having, and from everything I've seen, there is no downside to feeding raw, unless you just don't have the time or have a problem handling raw meat, organs, etc., allthough it really doesn't take much extra time or effort once you get into the routine.

Just as a side note, even if you don't feed your dog a raw diet, the answer to yellow teeth and bad breath is bones. Only raw, uncooked bones, mind you, cooked ones will splinter and either choke your dog or puncture something down the line. Raw uncooked bones are great for keeping the teeth and gums clean and healthy; I give a big beef bone every other week or so and it keeps the dog entertained for a couple hours and the teeth and breath are always awesome. Same rules apply for feeding bones along with kibble though, wait at least 12 hours after kibble before giving bones. Oh, and I get the bones from my butcher; he gives me nice joints and things with lots of junk still attatched for like a buck or two.

[orchid]

Thanks, Toman.

I kinda had a feeling the idea about dogs becoming more aggressive on a raw diet was crap... In my research, I haven't found much information on the subject. I was just a little wigged out because recently when mentioning the whole BARF diet thing to a family member, I was told something to the effect of: "Your dogs will become blood thirsty killers if you feed them raw meat."

I should have known... I come from a long line of alarmists :D


Will definitely go to the butcher for bones.

Peace.

[UnderTheRainbow]

Kodos only gets cooked meat, but that's because, being a large mixed-breed dog, and still just a puppy at 8 months, he still has a few "puppy tummy problems" when he eats certain things. He JUST got out of the stage of waking us up at 2-4AM almost every night to let him outside to potty, but even now that he's learned to hold it, he'll run around and do everything possible to get in our way every morning, so we'll let him outside sooner. He still gets a bit car sick on curvy rides (we live in mountains, EVERYTHING is curved, haha) but the last few times, it was mostly just water and tiny bits of food. So, he isn't on raw meat yet, because I fed him a bit once and it seemed to upset his tummy more than anything.
He doesn't have a problem with cooked bones, either, though. I gave him a ham bone that still had a fair bit of ham on it (thanks, mom! Haha) and it was gone within an hour. He gets bones from roast, steak... anything but chicken. My old dog got nothing but real food, chicken bones and all. I'd have turkey and go out and hand him the entire carcass, and he'd take it in his mouth and happily walk off... but then, he was a natural-born bird hunter. I couldn't see Kodos ever killing a bird, though he could probably take down a hog or cow if he wanted to, haha.

I kinda can't wait until he IS on raw meat, because we want other dogs (mainly pit bulls and mastiffs, the fiance has a problem with the idea of living with a purebred rottie 'cause he was attacked once, though he seems fine around them... as long as I'm between him and the dog, haha) and I know it'll be a lot cheaper to raise a couple extra cows/pigs/rabbits/whatever else every year, than to buy lots of extra groceries and kibble that won't hurt his tummy.