Raising Own "feed"

[APBT]

do any of you raise livestock (ie: chickens, goats, rabbits, etc.) and also use it as your source for the meat and bones of the raw diet you feed your dogs?

[WreckitWhippet]

We used to have sheep that we dogged on a regular basis.

There's nothing wrong with raising your own to dog, however in suburbia you will probably find restrictions apply on what you can keep in your back yard. Killing things is also a sure fire way for a neighbour to send the RSPCA round.

[APBT]

i agree with the neighbours saying something, but unless there in your yard i find it will be hard for them to see anything,

i see no problem with raising and killing your own feed in the fact that its fresher then anything in the shops, and you know how it has been fed and raised with no added hormones ect, not only that its a whole food.

rabbits are the perfect meal, very lean meat.

[Miranda]

When I lived in the country my dogs would catch rabbits (mostly the young ones that can't run quite as fast :rolleyes: ) and eat them, they would consume the whole carcass including the fur which would later appear in their faeces. They wouldn't catch one every day, but usually one or two a week depending on the season and the rabbit would be their dinner on that particular day.

Personally, although I agree that rabbits are their natural prey and a very healthy food for them, I wouldn't be capable of raising rabbits as food for either animals or humans. I am perfectly ok with allowing dogs to hunt for food, but breeding bunnies in captivity just to feed to the dogs is a different thing entirely. I would think that you'd need a lot of rabbits to feed a few large breed dogs, but providing your neighbours don't object and you have the stomach for it then I think it's a good idea. However I wouldn't feed solely rabbit, as you say it's a very lean meat and dogs actually require much more fat in their diets than humans.

[APBT]

the rabbit wouldent be the staple of the diet, just a once every week or so thing,