What Dandelions Can Do for Meat Rabbits + How to Feed

Dandelion is a safe and free-foraging food that can be fed to your meat rabbits. It is a natural part of the wild rabbit diet, and one that can easily be incorporated as a supplement, a treat, a component of a foraged feed diet, or as an herbal home remedy for a variety of rabbit illnesses.

Love or hate them, dandelions can do a lot of good -- for your meat rabbits, too!

We often take dandelions for granted, both in our own human diets and in the diets of our rabbits and other animals. But the fact is that dandelions have a lot of nutrition to offer, and many beneficial properties and illness-fighting abilities, too.

Jump to:

Beneficial Properties of Dandelion for Meat Rabbits
Dandelion as Foraged Feed
Dandelion as Immune Support for Meat Rabbits
Dandelion as a Home Remedy for Illnesses and Other Conditions
What Parts of the Dandelion Plant Can Meat Rabbits Eat?
Different Ways to Feed or Administer Dandelion to Meat Rabbits
How Much Dandelion Can You Feed to Meat Rabbits
Dandelions in Transport
Foraging and Storing Dandelions for the Off-Season
Resources and More Reading on Dandelions for Meat Rabbits and Their Uses

Beneficial Properties of Dandelion for Meat Rabbits

Source of dietary fiber
High in essential vitamins and minerals, including vitamins C, A, E, K, selenium, and many others
Source of electrolytes (from magnesium, sodium, potassium)
High in calcium
High in protein (estimates are between about 16 and 20%)
Anti-inflammatory
Mild painkiller
Antioxidant
Liver cleansing
Multiple organ support
Diuretic
Digestive support
Antibacterial
Antimicrobial
Antiviral
Anti tumor
Supports blood circulation
Muscle gain and growth enhancement
Improves feed conversion ratios for meat production
Supports probiotic and beneficial bacteria in the gut

Dandelion as Foraged Feed

Tall dandelion head going to seed — One of the greatest advantages of using dandelions as rabbit feed or supplements are its ability to supply itself!

Dandelion is an easy food to forage for and can be part of the regular meat rabbit diet. You can choose to include it only in the spring, summer, and fall when it is growing, or you can store some for winter, too.

When fed as part of a daily (or near-daily) feed program, dandelion should make up 10% or less of the feed ration. This is because of high calcium levels and the plant’s diuretic effects (increases urine output and flushes salts and water from the kidneys -- beneficial, but can be overdone).

At least one study has shown significant benefits to using dandelion or dried dandelion and/or powder as part of a meat rabbitry’s regular feed program, stating, “test results showed that the addition of dandelion powder to the diet significantly increased the daily weight gain of meat rabbits and significantly decreased the feed-to-weight ratio…” (American Society for Microbiology (ASM). Adding dandelion to rabbit diets: enhancing the growth performance and meat quality by altering immune competence and gut microbiota.)

Dandelion as Immune Support for Meat Rabbits

Dandelion is an excellent immune support. Studies have shown that dandelion, used regularly in the rabbit diet, has a number of positive and preventative effects.

This ability comes from a combination of factors in the content and properties of dandelion, including its vitamin and nutrition profile and things like antimicrobial, antibacterial, and anti-inflammatory actions.

To maximize dandelion as a prevention of disease and as an immune support, it would be best to make it a regular part of the rabbits’ diets, fed a few times a week or daily as a part of the feed ration.

Study results explained some of the mechanisms by which dandelion enhances the immune system:

“Lymphocytes increased with the concentration of dandelion powder added to the diet, possibly due to the fact that dandelion enhanced the proliferation of lymphocytes, which, in turn, improved the immune function of the meat rabbits, enhancing their ability to resist external viruses…” (American Society for Microbiology (ASM). Adding dandelion to rabbit diets: enhancing the growth performance and meat quality by altering immune competence and gut microbiota.) (Lymphocytes are essential to good immune function, fighting, killing, and remembering cells to both ward off disease and build immunity to it.)

The same study found that dandelion powder increased levels of different immunoglobulins and that the increase was relative to the amount of dandelion each group of rabbits was fed. They explain that the increase in immunoglobulin serums in the blood “plays an important role in antibacterial and antiviral agents as well as immunomodulation”.

The ultimate conclusion of the study was this:

“In conclusion, the addition of dandelion to rabbit diets can improve their meat quality, growth performance, and immune performance by enhancing their antioxidant and immune capacities, altering the quantity and composition of the intestinal microbiota, and protecting intestinal health to a certain extent. This provides new ideas for the healthy breeding of rabbits and the reduction of antibiotic use and ensures the provision of healthy and safe meat products for humans.”

Dandelion as a Home Remedy for Illnesses and Other Conditions

White New Zealand meat rabbits — Dandelion is both a treatment for illnesses and a preventative for common conditions.

Because of its various properties, dandelion is an effective preventive measure and an effective treatment for a variety of illnesses and ailments. Even better, it can prevent many issues before they get that far.

Some conditions that dandelion can treat include:

Milk production for nursing does
Enteritis/diarrhea prevention
Diarrhea treatment
Respiratory illnesses and infections
Reduce inflammation from illness or injury
Bladder infections
Viral infections
Bacterial infections
Constipation
Digestive ailments

The previously mentioned study had some interesting discoveries, almost accidentally, when studying other growth and meat qualities in meat rabbits that were fed powdered dandelion in different amounts to different designated groups.

“It was found that there was some degree of diarrhea in the control [no dandelion] and low-dose dandelion supplement groups and no diarrhea in the high-dose dandelion supplement group, which may have contributed to the higher daily weight gain and lower feed-to-weight ratio in the dandelion supplement group.”

High dose groups received 1.5% and 2% of their daily ration in dandelion powder.

What Parts of the Dandelion Plant Can Meat Rabbits Eat?

Meat rabbits can eat all parts of the dandelion plant. This includes

Dandelion leaves
Dandelion flowers
Dandelion stems
Dandelion roots

One post in a popular rabbit forum says that different parts of the dandelion plant are good for specific uses. According to this post,

Dandelion flowers offer mild pain relief
Dandelion leaves hold vitamins and nutrition
Dandelion stems and leaf veins are where the diuretic properties come from
Dandelion roots are best for digestive and stomach upsets

You do not necessarily need to be that particular about which parts of the plant you feed for different feeds or treatments if you don’t want to, but it is interesting to see what properties come from which parts of the plant. This could potentially guide your use depending on what you’re targeting.

Different Ways to Feed or Administer Dandelion to Meat Rabbits

Meat rabbit eating from its feed dish — Dandelion can be fed fresh, dried, or steeped as a tea for watering.

Dandelion is easy to feed or administer to meat rabbits.

The simplest way is to pick a handful of dandelion plant parts, or pull up the plant roots and all, and then parcel it out to your meat rabbits. (Note that a whole plant is too much to feed at once to a single rabbit.)

Other ways to give dandelion include:

Make a weak tea from the roots and use it to water rabbits, especially those in distress (this can be a way to administer to a sick rabbit that isn’t eating)
Feed fresh greens and plant parts, picked/foraged fresh from the ground
Dry and feed plant parts -- can crumble into or over feed
Offer cut sections of fresh root
Cut and dry roots for later feeding or teas for watering

How Much Dandelion Can You Feed to Meat Rabbits

Feed dandelion in moderation. The properties that are nutritional and remedial can go too far if too much is consumed. Dandelion is high in calcium, which can be useful for pregnant and nursing does to help them maintain adequate calcium levels as milk production strips it away. But on the other hand, too much calcium can cause urinary issues, especially in bucks.

All of this is to say that there can be too much of a good thing, but as long as you offer dandelion in rationed amounts for the treatment of a problem, or in moderate amounts with other forages and feeds offered, it is a beneficial food, treatment, or supplement.

The recommendation for dandelions as a feed is to keep them at or below 10% of the overall ration. Studies showed enhanced rates of gain and meat quality with only 1.5 to 2% of the total feed ration being supplemental dandelion.

A good guideline to follow would be between 2 and 8% of the diet being dandelion
A simpler way to gauge this is to feed a few fresh leaves along with other forages, greens, hay, or pellets

For treatment of illnesses, feed a few leaves or equivalent portions of the plant. If using dried, sprinkle a small amount, about a tablespoon or two, over the top of the rabbit’s feed, or offer one or two larger leaves in with hay if you have pulled the pellets (such as when treating a GI issue like blockage or stasis).

Introduce dandelion gradually as you would for all fresh feeds. Even the dried feeds should be used in limited quantities. While rabbits will often only take what they want, some rabbits like dandelion so much that they gorge on too much when it’s offered in larger amounts. Let your rabbit(s) acclimate to the plant before you increase amounts, especially as part of a foraged feed diet.

Dandelions in Transport

Meat rabbits being transported — Dandelion is a great food for rabbits in transport. It hydrates and provides immune support.

Dandelions are a good food to offer, in moderation, when you are transporting meat rabbits.

This will provide immune support during a stressful situation, which is when illnesses and conditions often appear that otherwise would not.

It also offers immune strength in case your rabbits are exposed to pathogens or parasites in their travels. You can’t always know, even if everyone around your rabbit appears happy and healthy! A bit of an immune boost can be just the thing to prevent a problem.

Rabbits generally like dandelion greens, so even if they are stressed and off feed during travel, they will often munch on small amounts of greens, and those greens have digestive and organ-supporting properties to help prevent stomach and gastrointestinal issues.

Fresh dandelion greens also provide some lasting hydration in a situation where watering may not be an option for periods of time.

So, dandelion can be a real all-around problem solver for transporting or traveling meat rabbits: immune support, illness prevention, digestive support, feed, and hydration. It should still be fed in moderate amounts, though!

Foraging and Storing Dandelions for the Off-Season

Dandelions are a very common plant, one that is usually considered a “weed”. The more we learn about the benefits and nutrition dandelion has to offer, the less it is looked upon as such.

There are only a few things to note regarding foraging for dandelions or storing them to use later:

First, make sure the dandelions you harvest are not sprayed!
Avoid dandelions from areas where other animals are known to defecate (in other words, don’t pick dandelions in the dog park!).
If you know there are serious communicable rabbit diseases in your area, it would be smarter to opt for buying dried dandelion. It’s surprisingly readily available!
You can pick dandelions throughout the growing season and dry all parts to have them on hand for later, or to use as a dried feed component in the winter.
You can hang plants upside down to dry or dry in a low oven or food dehydrator.
Pay particular attention to the roots when dehydrating; they will take longer to dry than other plant parts. It is best to slice them vertically along the length of the root into halves and dry the roots that way for thorough drying.
Be sure to dry plant parts all the way through, so they don’t mold in storage, then store in an airtight container until ready to use.

Dandelion has always been a plant that doesn’t quite get the credit it deserves. But it is one that you will see often recommended from one meat rabbit breeder to another. This is great news for a plant that is so easily available -- and free -- for almost all of us!