Rodent farming is an agricultural process in which rodents are bred and raised with the intent of selling them for their meat. They are often categorised in a sub-category of livestock known as micro-livestock, due to their small size. Rodents have been used as food in a wide range of cultures, including Hawaiian, Vietnamese, French, Indian and Thai.

Rodent farming has been suggested as a solution to the world's increased requirements for food associated with an increasing population as a result of a number of perceived benefits with their production and consumption.

Rodents have been hunted and farmed in a number of cultures. The polynesian rat was hunted and consumed by the common people in pre-contact Hawaii.^[1] Capybaras, agoutis, and guinea pigs have historically been eaten in South America -- guinea pigs were farmed as far back in 2500 BCE in what is now Peru.^[2] Cane rats can grow up to 60 cm in length and weigh up to 10 kg and are hunted as bush meat in western and central Africa.^[2] Rats were commonly eaten during the Tang Dynasty in China; they may have been domesticated as they were called “household deer”.^[2] The Mishmi people in the Lohit district in India traditionally hunted rats.^[3] Dishes with rats captured in wine cellars are described in Larousse Gastronomique and rats are eaten in rural Thailand.^[4]

A perverse incentive led to rat farming in 1902, when rat catchers bred rats in the sewers of Hanoi to collect a reward that the colonial government of French Indochina offered for rat tails.^[5]

In the contemporary era, rodent farming has been suggested as a sustainable agriculture method to address current global malnutrition and to meet the needs of the world's growing population.^[2][6] Rodent farming can be economically efficient, since they can produce a large number of offspring per year, have a limited gestation period, and have a high feed conversion ratio.^[2] They require little space, so could be farmed in urban areas.^[2]

Efforts have been made to develop rat farming among the dalit in the Indian state of Bihar; one obstacle to this is that the animal vehicle of the god Ganesh is a rat.^[7]

In Cameroon, cane rats is encouraged in economic development efforts.^[2][8]

In Australia, a rat farm that provides food for zoos and pet stores was the subject of a 2018 profile.^[9]

Rodents can be kept in sheds or cages, and fed grain, pellets, or scraps.^[2][9] In nations with strict animal cruelty regulations, such as Australia, the animals must be killed humanely, for example by gassing with carbon dioxide.^[9] In nations without these regulations, it is more common for the animals to be killed by drowning or bludgeoning.^[10]

• Cuniculture, farming rabbits (a lagomorph)