Bunny-kids
Chillin' with the herd
- Joined
- Mar 7, 2012
- Messages
- 81
- Reaction score
- 0
- Points
- 29
I've got something strange going on with one litter of kits.
I've lost 3 from the same litter now, and looks like a 4th may be on its way.
They seem to be fine, and then I discover them outside the box -- stiffening, cold and looking dead. I can massage them, warm them up, and they revive quite a bit. They do tend to gasp for air though. One even looked normal for a short time. Sometimes they arch their backs and paddle their feet during this stage though. As long as I hold them, keep them warm, and rub them, they stay alive. But when I put them down, either in the nest box, or in a warmer, and come back shortly after, even if they seemed fine and were starting to move around, they are dead.
I thought with the first two they were too young to be out of the nest box and had gotten chilled. The first one WAS quite young. The second one was old enough to be out of the box, but I thought he'd gotten stuck behind it and was unable to get out. The third one was old enough to hop in and out. So these deaths are spaced out by a week or two, and have been going on since the kits were about two weeks old.
The one that died last night had some dried poo stuck to it's bottom, and I could feel the ribs just a tiny bit. I never noticed that with the others. He also cried before he died. I gave him a tiny bit of warmed water and molasses in a syringe, which he drank, and then peed. There were just no other signs of illness besides what I've mentioned here.
The one that's out there today looking suspicious is different, I just noticed his fur was a bit ruffled and he had his eyes closed almost every time I checked on them throughout the day. I debated pulling him, but they are not quite weaned yet, and I was afraid I'd stress him and not be able to feed him properly and end up killing him anyway. She only has 3 left. And I'm not so sure it's infectious, since the deaths are so spread out and there was ZERO sign of illness beforehand in the first three deaths (though it could still be).
I've had all my rabbits in the same general area, with cages next to each other, and this doe is in her first year of breeding (this is her first litter). I only separated her from her sister in January or so. Other than a doe with a crusty nose a few years ago, and audible breathing from a few kits over the years, I've never had signs of illness, and I very rarely lose kits. When I do, it's usually first time moms, kits on wire, that sort of thing. I had one die due to heat a few years ago, and one die this year in another litter than I think was stomped on and had it's back broken. Otherwise, they are all healthy, and have always been.
Any ideas?
I'm planning to start the doe and the rest of the kits on antibiotics in case it does help. And I'm also considering breeding her once more to another buck, in case there's some kind of genetic mismatch going on. (I bred her to her father, but there is no relation beyond that.) This is a California doe, and I may breed her to the NZ buck just to make sure, since all my Cali's came from the same rabbitry but the buck was not related to the original does.
Her sister, mother, and aunt have all had healthy kits with the same buck, and no losses.
I know that's not much to go on, but that's what surprises me ... they are FINE and then I find them almost dead, always the same. The first two I thought I knew why, but now I'm thinking I was wrong and something is going on. There was no apparent reason for a kit that old to die in that way, so it must be another cause.
Would appreciate hearing any ideas or suggestions. Thanks so much!
Edited to add: and for the sake of more info, I feed Acco rabbit pellets and grass hay, and I usually pull clover for them - 1 handful per cage - once or twice a week these days. The clover grows in my backyard and has chickens, geese, a llama, and just in the past few days a goat on it, all part-time. Yard is fenced and not very likely to have had wild rabbits in it.
I've lost 3 from the same litter now, and looks like a 4th may be on its way.
They seem to be fine, and then I discover them outside the box -- stiffening, cold and looking dead. I can massage them, warm them up, and they revive quite a bit. They do tend to gasp for air though. One even looked normal for a short time. Sometimes they arch their backs and paddle their feet during this stage though. As long as I hold them, keep them warm, and rub them, they stay alive. But when I put them down, either in the nest box, or in a warmer, and come back shortly after, even if they seemed fine and were starting to move around, they are dead.
I thought with the first two they were too young to be out of the nest box and had gotten chilled. The first one WAS quite young. The second one was old enough to be out of the box, but I thought he'd gotten stuck behind it and was unable to get out. The third one was old enough to hop in and out. So these deaths are spaced out by a week or two, and have been going on since the kits were about two weeks old.
The one that died last night had some dried poo stuck to it's bottom, and I could feel the ribs just a tiny bit. I never noticed that with the others. He also cried before he died. I gave him a tiny bit of warmed water and molasses in a syringe, which he drank, and then peed. There were just no other signs of illness besides what I've mentioned here.
The one that's out there today looking suspicious is different, I just noticed his fur was a bit ruffled and he had his eyes closed almost every time I checked on them throughout the day. I debated pulling him, but they are not quite weaned yet, and I was afraid I'd stress him and not be able to feed him properly and end up killing him anyway. She only has 3 left. And I'm not so sure it's infectious, since the deaths are so spread out and there was ZERO sign of illness beforehand in the first three deaths (though it could still be).
I've had all my rabbits in the same general area, with cages next to each other, and this doe is in her first year of breeding (this is her first litter). I only separated her from her sister in January or so. Other than a doe with a crusty nose a few years ago, and audible breathing from a few kits over the years, I've never had signs of illness, and I very rarely lose kits. When I do, it's usually first time moms, kits on wire, that sort of thing. I had one die due to heat a few years ago, and one die this year in another litter than I think was stomped on and had it's back broken. Otherwise, they are all healthy, and have always been.
Any ideas?
I'm planning to start the doe and the rest of the kits on antibiotics in case it does help. And I'm also considering breeding her once more to another buck, in case there's some kind of genetic mismatch going on. (I bred her to her father, but there is no relation beyond that.) This is a California doe, and I may breed her to the NZ buck just to make sure, since all my Cali's came from the same rabbitry but the buck was not related to the original does.
Her sister, mother, and aunt have all had healthy kits with the same buck, and no losses.
I know that's not much to go on, but that's what surprises me ... they are FINE and then I find them almost dead, always the same. The first two I thought I knew why, but now I'm thinking I was wrong and something is going on. There was no apparent reason for a kit that old to die in that way, so it must be another cause.
Would appreciate hearing any ideas or suggestions. Thanks so much!
Edited to add: and for the sake of more info, I feed Acco rabbit pellets and grass hay, and I usually pull clover for them - 1 handful per cage - once or twice a week these days. The clover grows in my backyard and has chickens, geese, a llama, and just in the past few days a goat on it, all part-time. Yard is fenced and not very likely to have had wild rabbits in it.
