Feeding rabbit parts to dogs

bjgarlich · #1 05/14/13, 12:58 PM

We (well actually my DH) are butchering our first rabbit today. I am wondering what parts of the rabbit (skin, organs, ears, etc) I can give to my dogs to eat. Also whether they should be cooked or given raw.

I am a little worried because one of my dogs is way too interested in the rabbits already - if I give him raw skin or feet or ears, will that make him more interested in getting at them?

Eventually I want to learn to tan or preserve the skins, but don't have time right now. I read somewhere that I can freeze the skins and later thaw and preserve them. Has anybody done this?

Fat Man · #2 05/14/13, 01:06 PM

Anything that doesn't have lead in it.

jolly rabbit · #3 05/14/13, 01:16 PM

start with the ears and feet, yes you can freeze the hides I have 3 n the box right now. Typically a hide isn't good to work with until 4-6 months but I save the younger hides anway sometimes, good to practice on so you don't mess up the nice ones. If you are interested in feeding raw part-time just start slow as not to upset their bellies. Mine get feet, ears, heart, lung (liver and kidney are for me!) ribcage, trimmed fat, neck and head. I don't personally feed the intestines because of the raunchy smell (my dobie is an inside dog) I am thourohly convinced that dogs can differentiate between living creatures and food given to them. This is my experience and honest opinion (sorry no cold hard facts) if your dog is a killer he is a killer feeding raw isn't gonna change that. Hope this helps, if not smack me with a stick and ask again LOL. Good luck on your first butcher and take your time do it right, speed will come later.

RitzieAnn · #4 05/14/13, 01:58 PM

A friend of mine feeds raw to his great danes, and he is participating in a raw diet project

http://bigolddogs.com/

He took my entire last litter, and I've got a litter in extended growout for him. (yay for free greens to drastically cut down on the food bill!) He said he skins them, pulls the intestines (and other icky insides) out and gives the whole thing whole. However, his dogs are used to fully raw diets.

bluefish · #5 05/14/13, 02:20 PM

I feed mine the whole dead rabbit. The only thing to watch for is that the guts will give them BAD gas. If they're inside dogs, may not wanna do that. If they're outside, no problem. Mine get all excited when I go in the rabbit pen, but they know the difference between one that I kill and feed to them and a loose one. The few that have gotten loose, they've followed closely, but never hurt the rabbit.

Fetherhd · #6 05/14/13, 08:20 PM

Mine get the ears, the feet, the tail, the kidney and the lungs, he also gets the head. I remove the skin but I know others that feed the head with skin on. I feed everything raw and have never had a problem with it. He particularly loves the head!

Fetherhd · #7 05/14/13, 08:21 PM

ehem...my muscovy ducks FIGHT over the intestines and stomach.

Zeet_Cranberry · #8 05/14/13, 09:48 PM

We feed ribs, front legs, heart and lungs. Occasionally they get a foot
Liver is too rich for more than a small treat. Definitely feed raw. Cooked bones will splinter... raw bones don't.

TroutRiver · #9 05/15/13, 09:03 AM

When we butcher rabbits (or anything else, for that matter) we put all unwanted parts (bones, heads, organs (including intestines), meat and fat scraps, even hides sometimes) in a bucket, and dump it someplace out of the way. The dog and cat clean it up, it's always gone within a couple days, and I don't believe that is letting it go to waste. I don't bother skinning heads for the dog, it's a waste of time, she doesn't care.

JoshRonin · #10 05/15/13, 12:57 PM

Don't cook anything. Raw is fine. If you cook the bones, they'll get hard and can break your dogs teeth. I'm wanting a dog and plan on giving it a raw diet. They need both the meat and the raw bones. Organs are like treats. If you think about wild dogs, they can eat pretty much all of an animal.

TroutRiver · #11 05/15/13, 06:41 PM

And yes, it is entirely possible that giving your dog rabbit parts to eat will make him interested in the rabbits. But it's best to keep the dogs away from the rabbits anyway, it stresses the buns out whether the dogs are trying to eat them or not. My dog is not allowed in my rabbitry. But we do have a free range escapee in the yard, and the dog doesn't bother it.

dmbenson · #12 05/20/13, 09:50 AM

We usually butcher 4-6 at time and collect skins, heads, feet and ofal (intestines) in a bucket. This goes to our Pyrs (who live with our goats and Mini-Llamas). Major treat time for them -

If I can set up an outside "pasture" area for the rabbit to reduce the cost of feed, I'll raise litters just for feeding the dogs.

KSALguy · #13 05/20/13, 12:19 PM

raw meat is an ideal food source for dogs, rabbit alone is not a good idea as it is so lean that if their only source of food is rabbit they can slowly starve, you need to add other fatty meats and red meat to keep things ballanced, chicken is good to feed with rabbit, beef scraps, hunting scraps etc.