Okay.... Being a raiser of rabbits, I'm on a yahoogroup called Meat Rabbits, and there's a thread about people feeding their dogs BARF. I found this acronym somewhat confusing and slightly gross, but dug a little deeper and found out that it stands for Biologically Appropriate Raw Food or Bones And Raw Food, depending on who you ask. Apparently, these folks try to feed their dogs a more natural, biologically appropriate feed, including bones, any part of a butchered rabbit that they won't use/eat themselves, veggies, etc.

Is there anyone here that is using this method? If so, how is it working for you? I've got several bunnies to butcher this weekend, and I'm wondering if I should be freezing the parts we usually discard, and feed them to the dogs occasionally? I know one thing for sure.... my DH with bite any dog that tries to get the rabbit liver! That's his favorite part of the bunny! :-)

-- Cheryl in KS (cherylmccoy@rocketmail.com), August 31, 2001

Answers

We have always BARFed before it was called this as this was how my mother raised her dogs. Bones and raw food, though we are not religious about this, as we do allow our dogs free choice dog food. The bulk of their diet is goat milk, meat, oil and vitamins, bones, plus some supplements we use. It is a wonderful opportunity to make some money off of your rabbits. Here dressed goat kids with the bones on sells in Houston to BARFers for $5 a pound. They come to the farm and pick it up, mostly to visit the farm, wanting clean healthy animals and a clean farm as incentive for price. Quail eggs, emu meat, farm eggs and the best is they take alot of internal meats that even our customers don't want. Make you place as attractive as you can with a "martha stewart" eye towards pretty and cleanliness. Remembering that though they want the raw meat and bones for their dogs, they do not want you talking about butchering. Have to admit as they are holding a cute little baby goat, makes you want to tell them that they are feeding her brother to their dog :) Vicki

-- Vicki McGaugh TX (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), August 31, 2001.

Dear Cheryl, My dogs are all BARFer's and as a matter of fact when I changed my bulldog over to this diet, plus added herbs and vitamins and I am "finally" getting her well :) My vet(s) have tried for over 6 months to and couldn't. I limit the liver meat they get 'cause of this being an animals detoxic-organ, but they do eat some. I make sure their BARF is organic raised, sure don't want to go back to chemical use. Results, happy, healthier and healing dogs! If I was in your area I'd be knocking on your door! Oh, yes they LOVE eating BARF! Lots of sucess with your rabbits and BARF is catching on! Debb

-- Debb (fly45@bellsouth.net), August 31, 2001.

Can you give me some more examples of what is fed to the dogs?

-- Cheryl in KS (cherylmccoy@rocketmail.com), August 31, 2001.

We have fed our dogs raw chicken parts (backs, wings, etc.), raw hamburger from our own grass fed beef, beef bones, etc. When we butcher, we save everything. One woman came a took the stomach and tripe (intestine) to feed to her dogs. There is a local company that mixes up a concoction of raw food (meat and vegetables) and sells it in one pound plastic tubs frozen. The brand name is "Feed the Dog in the Raw." Cooked rice, millet, barley and other non-allergen grains are good too. Many dogs are allergic to wheat and corn. Most of your gourmet dog foods now use lamb and rice as the main ingredients. We used to be dealers for Solid Gold dog food. They import USDA choice grade lamb meat from New Zealand (no hormones allowed there) for their dog food. Other ingredients include blueberries, rice, yucca: a long list of natural ingredients. Some dogs eat better than I do.

-- Skip in Western WA (sundaycreek@gnrac.net), August 31, 2001.

Cheryl, if you're asking what part of the rabbit the dog(s) eat...ALL or whatever you can get DH to share LOL. Here is a website that explains a lot of info on the BARF diet http://www.shirleys-wellness-cafe.com/animals.htm Don't forget the veggies! Hope this helps you some. Debb

-- Debb in LA (fly45@bellsouth.net), August 31, 2001.

Here's one companies ingredient list for their dry food. It is vacuum packed in foil so no preservatives.

http://www.solidgoldhealth.com/

Lamb meal, ground millet, ground brown rice, ground barley, amaranth, rice bran oil, canola oil, flaxseed oil, rice bran, fish meal, garlic, blueberries, yucca schidigera extract, taurine, carotene, choline chloride, calcium carbonate, Vitamin E supplement, iron proteinate, Vitamin A supplement, zinc proteinate, niacin supplement, folic acid, thiamine, pyridoxine hydrochloride, manganese proteinate, menadione, copper proteinate, ethylenediamine dihydriodide, natural flavors added. USDA requires they list the meat as Lamb "Meal" because it is imported in jerky form, though it is made from USDA choice grade lamb in New Zealand.

For veggies, we've also fed canned pumpkin and yams. For overweight dogs that love to eat, cut apples and popcorn will fill their tummies with few calories. After their small ration of kibbles or whatever, we would fill a large bowl with plain microwaved popcorn. Makes them think they are getting a lot, but helps get the weight off.

-- Skip in Western WA (sundaycreek@gnrac.net), September 01, 2001.

I do have a question about the practice of feeding any raw meats to anything. I did try to access that website on BARF feeding but it wouldn't come up. I'll try again later. We do know the information on organisms that can be transmitted via raw meats is inadequate at best. Also, what a carnivore gets from wild caught food is very different than what they would get as leftovers from butchering. There was a good point about not forgetting the veggies. So true, one of the first things eaten by carnivores is the stomach with it's contents of grasses and browse. It is also true that wild carnivores eat raw meat(as well as lots of other stuff)but with our domesticated animals they have more and different parasites and other organisims that can be passed on to our pets. I would be interested in knowing more about this(not to feed my dog!, But to just learn). thanks for bringing up an interesting question! :)

-- Little Quacker (carouselxing@juno.com), September 01, 2001.

Hi. Dogs do not live by meat alone. You must add grains and vegetables to the mix. However, because dogs cannot digest such foods readily, the raw vegetables have to be minced and the grains must be cooked in twice the amount of water for twice the amount of time to simulate the condition of being already partially digested by a prey animal. To begin, add small amounts of sweet vegetables such as carrots to the mixture. Many dogs have trouble in adapting there palate to the vegetables, so add more and different types of vegetables gradually. If you feed poultry at all, it's wise to soak the meat in food grade hydrogen peroxide for a bit as a disinfectant. I have fed my dogs in this fashion for almost 25 years and my dogs are much healthier than dogs fed canned or dry food (one is 16 and while showing a little stiffness these days, is still ready to go for anything I might have in mind). Dry dog food is extremely bad for dogs. If you feed them dry, always soak the food in water for a half an hour. In regards to the mixture of meat, vegetables, and grain, I don't measure it out except that there is always much less vegetables than the other two ingredients. Some days there's more grains (a variety of whole grains only!!), but usually there's more meat. A balance is struck somewhere and the dogs get everything they need nutritionally. Hope this helps. Also, in the beginning, grind the meat like hamburger, otherwise the dog will pick the meat out and leave the rest until he adjusts to the new food.

Good Luck, Linda

-- Linda (lcesario@post.com), September 02, 2001.

BARF saved my poor dog's life - I posted here several months ago looking for advice when he got sick. Many vet visits later, all we ever came up with was epilepsy. Vet prescribed phenobarb which did not help much and we were considering putting him down. I gradually changed him over to BARF on advice I received on this forum and from BARF sites. Today he is totally healthy, strong and active. No vet visits, no meds. He is like a pup again. Best thing I ever did for one of my pets. I'm gradually changing over the house dogs and the cats. (I wish I could find someone close by that sells rabbit, you could probably make some extra money by advertising BARF rabbit in your area - I have recently noticed quite a few business selling this type of pet food on the Internet)

-- Linda Al-Sangar (alsangal@brentwood-tn.org), September 02, 2001.