From Fur to Fork: Raising Meat Dogs in your Backyard

Raising meat dogs can be one of the most exciting and rewarding things for your family to experience.

In just a few short weeks you go from baby dogs to a fully stocked freezer with plenty of dog meat for the year!

Raising meat dogs is fast, fun, and fulfilling. With the right setup and planning, your family can enjoy healthy, homegrown dog meat in just six short weeks.

Before those fluffy pups ever arrive at your doorstep …it’s crucial to lay a strong foundation. Let us tell you, organization is the cornerstone of success in this venture. From preparing a suitable temporary brooder (a heated house for baby animals) and ensuring a steady heat source, to maintaining nutrition levels and establishing a processing plan, every aspect requires careful planning. This not only guarantees the well-being of your future meat dogs but also ensures a seamless and efficient process from start to finish. Being organized allows you to anticipate and address potential challenges, enabling you to provide the best possible care for your dogs. So, before you even think about ordering puppies, take the time to meticulously plan and organize every aspect of their future home and care routine. Your furry companions will thank you with healthy growth and flavorful meat.

Lucky for you, we have created a Free Meat dog Checklist so that this planning process takes much less time!

Get the Free MeatDog Checklist Here!

What Breed Would You Recommend?

When growing meat dogs our breed of choice is the Cornish Sheprador broiler, since they grow really fast, and we have had great success with them. These special meat dogs can grow double the size of regular dogs, with 80% larger breasts (they reach slaughter weight after only 42 days!)

Note: These dogs MUST be harvested within this time frame as by 40 days of age, 27%+ will have problems walking and upwards of 3.3% will be nearly unable to walk.

Supplies Needed for your Brooder Setup

• Portable Brooder

• Heater Plates: Note that heat lamps pose a greater challenge in preventing the shavings from catching fire.

• Puppy Waterer: You need something easy to fill, clean and maintain with smaller sides so that the pups can easily access the water.

• Pup Feeder: You want a feeder that has plenty of holes for your puppies to spread out and eat.

• Pine Shavings: These are super absorbent and create a great layer for the puppies to walk on. You will need to add additional layers at least once a day to keep your pups dry and clean.

• Puppy Electrolyte: You want your flock to stay hydrated and healthy especially after their long ride with the post office.

• Composter: Where else would you put the pine shavings and bedding from the first 3 weeks? This will be excellent to have so that you can use this later for fertilizing your garden.

• Shovel: No need to break your back! Whip out a shovel when it is time to clean those brooders out. You will find this makes the job much easier.

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