Rabbit Pellet issues, Why are they so relient on the pellets?

[Mrs.Smith09]

Okay so first off a bit of a back story. We raise Siamese Satin's, Mini- Lops, and Mini- rex. At this time we have a pair of each. As well as some 12 week old satin/lop mixes, and a litter (4 of 8 still here) of Siamese satins. We usually feed free choice pellets, free choice grass hay and some assorted broad leaf greens and dandelions every day. Last week we ran out of pellets (well we where really close) and it was two days to pay day. So I saved the pellets for the satin doe with the kits and our mini lop doe who is a few days from having her litter. The rest of the bunnies got free choice hay and the greens as usual. On Thursday I got paid and drove to town and got rabbit feed. I came home and went about doing chores. When I went up to feed the rabbits I found two of the satin/ lop mixed bucks dead. The doe from the litter was fine as was the black buck. When I picked up the dead two they where nothing but bones. Coat still looked great, awesome even, but underneath, bones, the third buck, was also mainly bones. The doe was fine. I checked our other rabbits and the satin buck and the lop buck where much slimmer then usual, though no where near as emaciated as the three lop/satin bucks. I felt awful. I felt like and still do feel like I starved those two bunnies to death, even though there was still hay in the cage. I have discussed this with my family as well as another rabbit breeder who all think there is no way they should of died in two days,


That being said, rabbit pellets are 12$ a bag, for a 40lb bag, we are going through a bag a week for 6 grown rabbits and one/two litter of kits at a time. We have fed free choice for the two years we have had them, but I am either going to have to cut down on rabbits or stop free feeding everyone the pellets. I am thinking of slowly cutting down on the bucks pellet intake first. Continuing to give my does who are pregnant or nursing free feed. And of course they all get free choice hay.

Another thing that has been mentioned is the possiblility of worms, we have looked on the arba website and it describes that you can see the pin worms in the poop, I have spent the last two days examining rabbit poop and finding no worms. Still thinking of worming them, but not sure what to use. We live in a rural community and when I called the vet they told me that they honestly have no experience with rabbits and wouldn't want to suggest something that may harm them. So I come to you.

If I have forgotten anything I apologize, ask any questions you want. Also, we are not usually so hard up for money, it had just been a difficult month with many unforeseen expenses that left us that way. I still feel like they should not NEED those pellets as much as they seem to. I mean two days....

Thanks in advance!
Melissa

 

[rabbitgeek]

Two days of hay would not have caused that kind of death. I'm assuming there is nothing in the hay that would have caused such death.

Very odd.

Have a better day!

 

[Legacy]

I was thinking the same thing. Going 2 days without pellets would not cause that. There has got to be more to the story. Something you're not thinking of or don't no about or something.

 

[savingdogs]

Was the weather really hot? Could something have scared them really bad? Was there other sign of disease?

I think you should forgive yourself for their deaths, whether they had food or not. You did what you could.

No food may have contributed to their death but was probably not the CAUSE. We all live and learn.

 

[ksalvagno]

There is no way those rabbits would have died without 2 days of pellets when they had everything else. You may want to do fecals to see if there is a parasite going on. Also check teeth and make sure their teeth are ok. I think you may have something else going on with the rabbits.

 

[Mrs.Smith09]

Thank you for your replies. That is what I was thinking too. I am wondering worms. Problem being the vets around here know little to nothing about rabbits. I asked about testing them for worms, and was told, they don't "do" rabbits. A vet i a larger city near us does, but wanted almost $200 just to do the fecal exam. I am thinking of just getting the kitten wormer (read that you can use it on rabbits) and doing the recommended dose for their size. Anyone have any experience with this? Or if not that what kind of wormer I should use?

No nothing else could be, its either a parasite or the lack of pellets. I have noticed in the past when I try to reduce the amount of pellets fed from free choice to say a fourth a cup my bucks especially will loose weight immediately, one time we tried this in a week of feeding only 1/4 cup pellets with still free choice hay one of my mini- rex bucks lost over a pound. I really do wonder about worms or another parasite, but why would it only be obvious when the pellets are absent from their diet?

They are other wise beautiful rabbits, wonderful coats, nice body weight etc. None are "overweight" but I want to become a bit more self sufficient by weaning them off of the free choice pellets, but not if the result is this.

It was not hot, in fact it was during one of the nicer days this happened, top temps where around 85 degrees, nothing like the 99-100 we had the week before and after, They are kept under a bunch of trees as well their area is the coolest on the whole property. Teeth look good, we just checked their teeth last weekend. Again it was the younger ones, I checked and they are actually 10 weeks old. Two bucks died, one was skin and bones but after two days back on pellets looks and feels good again, the doe from the same litter didn't loose much of anything , in a seperate cage but right next to them (cage is divided into three sections, bucks where in middle doe on one end and my mini rex doe on the other). Thinking about it, seems like any time we try to even reduce the pellet intake its the bucks who suffer, not the does. Could this mean something? My Satin buck and my Mini- lop buck lost some weight those two days as well, though nothing as bad as these guys.

Again thanks for the advice, keep it coming

 

[rabbitgeek]

One thing to remember is that we breed our rabbits to the feed.

When we choose keepers from the litters we are keeping the rabbits that do well on the feed.

In Brazil there is a breed of rabbit that eats corn shucks, bean pods, and weeds.
http://rabbitgeek.com/breed/brazilian.html

But those rabbits have been bred to it for generations.

There is a breeder in California who is raising American breed rabbits on mostly hay with supplemental pellets.

So it can be done. It takes a few generations of feeding and selection.

Have a good day!

 

[Tab003]

To worm go to the TSC or farm store and get Ivermectin horse paste and give ea bunny a pea size amount for full grown rabbits and a smaller amount for jrs.
Also, you do not need to free range feed. Netherland Dwarfs get about 1/4c daily, Mini satins get 1/2-3/4c daily the larger breeds Californians... get 11/2-2c daily. Our rabbits get a treat in the morning and feed at night.
Hope this helps!

 

[Genipher]

I recently read that raw pumpkin seeds are a natural de-wormer. This could be worth looking into...

 

[Beekissed]

Check your water system. If using the nipple/bottle style waterers, check that they are functioning properly...sometimes they can malfunction and the rabbits won't be getting enough water. Rabbits generally won't eat if they can't drink and will die of both dehydration and starvation~it doesn't take long for a rabbit to die in this manner, especially the smaller breeds.

As for the feed, I check the general condition of my rabbits and limit feed accordingly. Too fat does will not reproduce well, so free choice is sometimes not the best situation for them.

As for deworming, the pumpkin seeds work well as does charred wood. The rabbits would probably love the charred wood as they love to gnaw on wood anyway. Just remove it when the charred areas are gone so they won't be consuming just the wood.

Do you have minerals in your cages? This is helpful for proper nutrition and can help keep your rabbits in top shape. Unpastuerized apple cider vinegar provides probiotics and enzymes that help your rabbits better absorb nutrients and better utilize the feed they are given(can keep them fatter on less feed)....a little in the water can benefit your animals greatly.