The booming digital economy is a new engine for sustainable agricultural development. However, there are few studies on the impact of digital rural construction on carbon emissions from animal husbandry, and this study utilized China’s provincial panel data from 2011 to 2020 and employed fixed effect models and instrumental variable methods to investigate such effects. Results indicate that digital rural construction significantly inhibits carbon emission intensity in animal husbandry. Further, regional and livestock species heterogeneity exists in terms of how digital rural construction affects local animal husbandry’s carbon emission intensity reduction process; beef cattle, live pigs, and animal husbandry in central regions are more likely to benefit from it. Lastly, promoting technological progress and optimizing agricultural structure are the key paths for digital rural construction to achieve carbon reduction. Therefore, the government needs to emphasize the role of digital rural construction in the green development of agriculture while developing the rural areas according to local conditions.