I’ve heard a lot of advice over the years about raising animals. Some of it’s golden, and some of it… well, some of it is just plain questionable. Like the time I was told rabbits absolutely must eat constantly or they’d bloat up with air and drop dead on the spot. The way it was explained, it sounded like these fluffy critters were one skipped snack away from total catastrophe. And yet here I am, routinely letting ours go a little longer between meals. Sometimes they’re fed one morning, sometimes it’s the next evening before they see their food pans filled again. Guess what? They’re still here, hopping along just fine.
That got me thinking about fasting for animals—an idea that might make a few folks clutch their feed buckets in horror, but actually makes a lot of sense when you dig into it. Animals in the wild don’t have access to unlimited buffets. They go through cycles of feast and famine all the time, whether it’s due to changing seasons, predator activity, or just not finding enough food that day. And yet, they adapt. They thrive. So what if we embraced that concept and worked a little fasting into our livestock management?
Now, I’m not saying you should starve your animals—that’s not the idea. I’m talking about controlled, intentional pauses in feeding to mimic what happens naturally in the wild. Could skipping a meal here or there actually be good for them? Could it help their systems reset, giving them a break from the constant grind of digesting food?
There’s a story I read about cattle living productive lives well into their twenties and thirties because they were fasted periodically. It made me wonder—what are we missing by assuming animals need constant access to food? After all, we know fasting can be beneficial for humans, giving our bodies time to repair, detox, and recover. Why wouldn’t it work similarly for animals?
Take rabbits as an example. Conventional wisdom says grass is deadly for them, and God forbid they ever touch the ground—but that’s not really the whole truth, is it? Rabbits in the wild live on grass. They’re constantly on the ground. The problem isn’t the grass or the dirt; it’s that modern, domesticated rabbits have been bred to depend on commercial feed and controlled environments. They’ve lost some of their natural resilience. But with careful management, you can start to bring that resilience back.
When we let our rabbits nibble hay and forage, when we don’t rush to fill their pans the moment they’re empty, we’re letting their systems adapt. We’re raising animals that are hardy, well-suited to our environment, and less reliant on the crutches of modern convenience. And honestly? I think there’s a case to be made that fasting could be another piece of that puzzle.
I know this sounds counterintuitive—letting animals go without food feels like a cardinal sin in farming. But if we’re serious about raising animals that are both healthy and resilient, maybe it’s time to think critically about the way we feed them. Are we helping, or are we overfeeding? Are we building adaptability, or are we breeding dependence?
It’s not just about the food; it’s about the philosophy. Raising animals isn’t just about growth charts and production goals—it’s about understanding their natural rhythms and working with them rather than against them. So next time you’re tempted to top off a food pan out of habit, maybe pause and think: does this animal really need it right now? Or are we just clinging to the idea that more is always better?
What do you think? Could fasting have a place in modern livestock management, or is this one step too far? Pull up a chair—let’s hash it out, because challenging old ideas is how we grow.
