12 week old meat rabbits dying

mysunwolf said:

Yes and yes, treat for cocci. Corid is safe, though some will do a course of liquid B complex vitamins in the water after treatment. Butcher any that are ready now. We have had this happen to our NZs and a good friend who had nice Silver Foxes. We've both lost large portions of litters this way.

Like I ranted about in another thread, cocci can get them even in raised wire. I've suspected that it's flies spreading it from the manure below, to the cages above, but that's just a guess.

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Thank you! We started Corid yesterday, along with a probiotic. Also been feeding small amounts of plantain and blackberry leaves, to try to stave off stomach upset. Lost the SR buck that was looking sickly this morning but hopefully won’t have too many more losses.

One of my breeder does is showing some reluctance to eat so I’m really worried she’s going to be the next big loss. Would there be any benefit to force feeding her a pellet/probiotic slurry to keep her strength up and give the Corid time to work?

Is the meat safe to eat if they have Coccidiosis and treated with Corid? I have eight fryers ready to butcher, so it’d be awesome if I could still use the meat.

I would read the label on the Corid and see if they list a withdrawal time frame. Any medications we have used gives the number of days an animal needs to be off the medication before processing.

As for your doe, you might want to offer her just hay and water, the pellets might be to much for her system right now if she isn't feeling good.

Hopefully you don't lose anymore of your rabbits!

Corid is off label for rabbits as far as I know. A lot of folks say no withdrawal time, some producers say at least 24hr withdrawal is best. Some wait up to 10 days but haven't heard of anyone waiting longer than that. Good luck, hope the rest of the rabbits improve!

I lost one of my best does today. She hasn’t been eating so I knew she wasn’t feeling good, but she was nibbling on a blackberry leaf and some hay yesterday, so I was hoping she was on the mend. I guess it was too little, too late

Also lost another weanling too, so death count is up to 5 weanlings and 2 adults. I just don’t understand why the adults are dying. I’ve read that coccidiosis doesn’t usually kill adults but I’ve lost 2. Both of which were otherwise healthy and didn’t have any unusual other stress in their life.

Fingers crossed the worst of it is over. I thought it was until this morning

so sorry to hear . Do you have a vet in your area that is knowledgeable on rabbits that might be able to help you?

I feel really bad for you, the not knowing why has to be driving you crazy.....we have rabbits here and have not had any problems.....I am truly sorry you are experiencing these losses , i hope you can find a answer.

I would definitely contact a vet, it could be something else killing them, or a strain of cocci resistant to Corid (something I've also seen). Hope you can find a solution soon, so sorry you keep losing them

We contacted a vet in our area that treats rabbits and she said a necropsy would give the most definitive results. Would cost $300 for the necropsy and lab tests though. Just to potentially get a diagnosis. DH and I discussed it and as much as I hate to say it, paying that much just to know what’s wrong isn’t in the cards. As sick as it makes me to even think it, if the worst happened and we lost all of them, it’d cost less than $300 to replace our breeders with better ones than we have now

On a more positive note, the vet did suggest some home remedies for us to try, so we’re doing that in addition to the Corid and probiotics. And one of my other does that seemed reluctant to eat yesterday ate some oatmeal and gobbled down a couple blackberry leaves today, so hopefully she’ll keep fighting.

I don't blame you, i would not of spent the $300 either, if I lost all mine i would be heartbroken....but not wastefull of my money to find a "possible " cause of death....good luck and i hope you don't lose any more

If you have a state lab or college lab that does necropsies, that would be the way to go. Ask your vet if they'd do a fecal and prescribe ponazuril (sp?), sometimes if it's a cocci resistant to Corid this works. Of course it could also be a bacterial infection of some kind. Wish we had more answers for you. Glad to hear that your doe is doing better!