5 day old kits dying rapidly from bloody discharge.

[goatsrulemymorning]

Okay, so my neighbors doe kitted about 5 days ago, healthy chubby fat kits, all looked good, then yesterday, she found them cold wet and shivering from the doe urinating on them In the nest, I took a look at them for her, dried them,she disinfected the box, changed the nest material, and put them back in, today at noon, she asked me to look at them again, they were dry, but slightly lethargic, it was 95° here today, ....at 5 pm she called crying, out of 9 kits, 6 were dead in the nest with bloody, watery, discharge from their rears...
The other 3 passed within an hour of the same thing, her cages are all wire, very clean on concrete, under a carport, and she cleans with disinfectant daily, i helped her isolate and sanitize the rest of her rabbits, upon seeing the kits condition, has anyone ever have this happen, possibly cocci?...the doe was a new addition to her group.

 

[BlessedWithGoats]

@Hens and Roos, @Samantha drawz, @GLENMAR
Just tagging some people that I believe have rabbits... they might be able to help you, among others. Sorry I can't be of any help! I've only experienced one litter of kits so far, so I don't have a whole lot of experience with them.

 

[goatsrulemymorning]

No problem, appreciate any ideas, we've lost a few of our own, it just happens sometimes, change of diet, heat, cold, fear...but never seen bloody discharge in 2-3 hrs and death.
These were from does on site for 2 yrs, and a lady who vaccums her patio...a clean freak...thought maybe too hot?, but cocci sounds likely, froze one kit in case of need to test it.

 

[BlessedWithGoats]

No problem, appreciate any ideas, we've lost a few of our own, it just happens sometimes, change of diet, heat, cold, fear...but never seen bloody discharge in 2-3 hrs and death.
These were from does on site for 2 yrs, and a lady who vaccums her patio...a clean freak...thought maybe too hot?, but cocci sounds likely, froze one kit in case of need to test it.

I'm so sorry! I lost 5 out of 7 of mine, but she was a first time momma, so that might have had something to do with it?
There was nothing in their cage that they could've gotten into, correct? What kind of bedding did she have them on?

 

[Hens and Roos]

so sorry to hear of the loss - not sure what might have happened. What condition is the doe in- does she have any bloody discharge yet(rabbits usually stop bleeding pretty quick after birth from what we've seen) is the doe eating and drinking okay- just wondering if the doe possible not feeling good(an infection of such) that would be passed to the kits in the milk.

 

[samssimonsays]

I am so sorry this happened. I am not completely sure what it was but I do know most kits once urinated on and if they have been chilled at all do not pull through. The mom most likely did not want them and may have stepped just hard enough to kill them. My doe has done this and it can cause them to do things we don't wish to see. They may have over heated as well. Sadly, there is usually no cut and dry reason.

 

[Ridgetop]

My first thought when reading about bloody discharge was cocci. But how did they get it when the doe is in a wire cage on concrete floor? Death could have been due to heat, but not with a bloody disharge. How does the doe look? Any signs of lethargy or bloody discharge? Your friend might want to isolate the doe for a few weeks.

I have had does pee and poo in their boxes when I put them in the wrong place in the cage, but the kits have pulled through after cleaning the box, and drying and warming kits. Changing the location of the box stopped the doe from dirtying on the litter again.

If the kits were lethargic from heat (I've seen that since here in southern California the spring weather can go from 55 to 105 in a day) and then died from heat, could the mother stepping on them have caused their internal organs to rupture and bleed through the anus? Did all of the kits have bloody discharge or just some? I have never seen this although we have occasionally lost kits and even entire litters without an obvious cause. We have been breeding rabbits for over 35 years.

Worms? In kittens worms can cause bloody stool, but usually in 4-6 week kittens. You might check for fleas on the mother. I have never seen fleas on a rabbit but if you have possums or racoons in your area and they have access to the rabbitry, they might have brought some in. The dbabies will pick up eggs nursing on mom. But the timing doesn't make sense for worms, the 5 day old kits couldn't have had worms long enough to get to the stage of killing them.

Sorry I wasn't any help. This is a real puzzle. If anyone has any ideas I hope they will post them.

 

[goatsrulemymorning]

Her doe is acting normal, she had a second doe with 7 kits that showed the same signs, runny bloody fluid from the rear, so I hit them with a corid/goatmilk cocktail via eyedropper....
All kits have survived and passing normal droppings... so without having the necropsy results, I'm guessing cocci....
She steam cleaned everything with dairy disinfectant, really clueless as to how cocci got in there...it's the cleanest setup I've ever seen, raised wire cages over concrete, under a carport roof, and this gal vaccums and cleans her garage and patio daily....can you say ocd?...
The only thing I can figure is maybe windblown dust carrying cocci spores?from her chicken tractor, we had a few days of 50mph winds...so she's going to relocate her tractor elsewhere...
Thanks for the info...
Now back to goat birthing.

 

[BlessedWithGoats]

Glad everyone is doing well!

 

[Bossroo]

Okay, so my neighbors doe kitted about 5 days ago, healthy chubby fat kits, all looked good, then yesterday, she found them cold wet and shivering from the doe urinating on them In the nest, I took a look at them for her, dried them,she disinfected the box, changed the nest material, and put them back in, today at noon, she asked me to look at them again, they were dry, but slightly lethargic, it was 95° here today, ....at 5 pm she called crying, out of 9 kits, 6 were dead in the nest with bloody, watery, discharge from their rears...
The other 3 passed within an hour of the same thing, her cages are all wire, very clean on concrete, under a carport, and she cleans with disinfectant daily, i helped her isolate and sanitize the rest of her rabbits, upon seeing the kits condition, has anyone ever have this happen, possibly cocci?...the doe was a new addition to her group.

The key words here are " ... 6 dead in the nest with bloody, watery, discharge from their EARS ..." In this case... This doe being a new addition to the owner's ownership ... the doe got upset due to the new smells of disinfectant, nest material or ? and when any rabbit that gets upset the first thing it does is stomp it's hind leg.... she stomped on her kits and fractured their skulls ... evidence ... bloody, watery, discharge from their ears.