Can we talk Weaning Enteritis?

Ok.... so I have been experiencing problems with Weaning Enteritis since I started in rabbits.....
Now, I consistently loose kits to it. (1-2 a litter, sometimes as many as 50%+)

I have started adding Organic Apple Cider Vinegar to all my rabbit water. (2tsp/3gallons)
My rabbits get copious amounts of timothy hay and a rationed supply of 18% Purina Performance feed. (1cup/rabbit/day)
I pull pans and clean cages once a week. (I have stacker towers with dura-pans and metal pans.)
I've also started dusting kits with Bene-bac after I pull mom and leaving mom in until 6 weeks.
I am still loosing kits ... between 5 and 10 weeks....
I isolate effected kits, dose with Pro-bios and keep on hay and water until it dies or improves.
50% of the kits recover, 50% die... the odds say it is purely luck, not what I am doing.
My rabbits are housed in a horse barn, in two large stalls... the horses spend most of their time outdoors and anytime they are in the barn, they are at the other end of the barn.... the closest is 2 stalls away.... no chickens on site, no other livestock. (Exception of barn cat and dogs)

I'm getting "t"ed off and frustrated with this....
Does anyone have a 100% sure way of treating?
Anyone have a different procedure for keeping rabbits that doesn't have this issue??
Any advice would be greatly appreciated....

Have you tried treating for coccidiosis?

I have treated the herd with corid a few months back when I got a rabbit that couldn't seem to gain condition.... I assumed it was an intestine coccidiosis issue... he has since improved ....

I have also butchered in the past months and had no liver spots.

Alforddm... do you feel another corid treatment would be beneficial?
(I have gotten another rabbit from the same breeder since treating)

It's not something I've dealt with personally (knock on wood). I've heard people say that treating for coccidiosis cured (or at least helped) their enteritis problems. I've also heard people say that Sulmet is more effective than corid but again it's not from personal experience.

You may try reading through this thread. preventing-and-treating-coccidiosis-with-alliums-t30799.html

I do know I have liver coccidiosis around. I occasionally get a few liver spots on my rabbits but never bad enough to really effect things. Some of the wild rabbits I have seen however have been in really bad condition and something has been eating the greens off my onions...and left the carrots right next to them. It's my guess, that some are sick enough that they are braving my dogs (which kill wild rabbits if they catch them) to self medicate on my onions and then skipping town as fast as they can.

Of course this is all theory on my part, I've never actually seen any rabbits in the garden.

SarniaTricia":1s12ioqs said:

Anyone have a different procedure for keeping rabbits that doesn't have this issue??

Click to expand...

Hm, I think it depends a lot on the rabbits, where and how the lines lived.

I have wood hutches, definitly not very clean, let the rabbits run free and dig as much as they want, they are exposed to everytging from day one, never had any issue besides one Myxo outbreak at the very beginning, never any sign of cocci although I was warned that my rabbits will die with this livestyle. In 5 years never lost a kit after 3 days old. They get forage, hay, and a little pellets, bread, growouts also corn. I do not wean before 10-12 weeks, well, it's mostly the doe's decision.

I think that my rabbits are very resistant against cocci, the local farmers never worried about that, what didn't thrive under this conditions didn't get bred - for centuries, I guess. I feed all surplus chives anyway.

So, although I'm quite confident to do the right thing for my rabbits, I'm reluctant to recommend that for someone far away, with different rabbits, where wire cages are common for many generations (they don't exist here). I mean, even in humans scrupulous clenliness is taking it's toll, after just 2 or 3 generations.

Our rabbits are raised in wire cages, but none of the current stock have ever been fed pellets. (We transitioned our original rabbits off pellets soon after we got them in 2014) We feed hay and some whole grain (wheat and oats, fodder from wheat in winter) and lots of green forage in summer, willow fresh when available and dried through the winter. Also feed some roots in winter. We've never lost a kit at weaning or any time after the first week even though many seem to feel that fresh greens can be a cause. Even though the rabbits aren't on the ground I'd expect some cocci exposure since we gather forage wet when we can't get it dry and this land has been farmed for many years. But we haven't had any spotted livers yet. Don't know if that is any help at all, just our experience.
I hope you figure out what is causing the problem with your rabbits. It's so hard to lose any and I think it would be harder somehow once they'd gotten their eyes open and were out and about.

My experience was similar to Rainey's. Never lost kits to weaning enteritis. Didn't even know such a thing existed until I started hanging out in a rabbit forum. I was horrified at what some people considered "acceptable losses."

I had very few instances of liver coccidiosis. An occasional liver with one or two spots and one litter early on in my rabbit keeping -- but they were filthy little beasties, pooping and peeing everywhere. About a third of them had spots on the livers. I culled the whole line, including the doe, and that seemed to stop the problem.

I was still feeding pellets in those days. I saw next to no digestive issues once the rabbits were transitioned to a completely natural diet. I fed alfalfa and grass hay, small amounts of whole grain (usually wheat) and as much fresh food as the season allowed -- mainly foraged weeds and tree branches from certain safe species, root crops, pumpkin. sprouted grain etc. in moderation in winter. Trace mineral salt block was available.

Most of the weeds etc. I fed are listed in the Safe Plants for Rabbits sticky.
safe-plants-for-rabbits-list-t55.html

I know not everyone can feed rabbits this way, but perhaps gradually increasing the amounts of forage could be helpful. I found this study interesting, if not particularly well-written.
http://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=w ... 4Q&cad=rja

Edited to add:
Greens made available to kits from the very beginning do not cause digestive problems. It is the sudden adding of them to their diet later on that is problematic. The best piece of advice about feeding rabbits that I was ever given was "Start off as you mean to continue."

I have had the occasional loss in the past. Weaned kits, but not of age. Read a post by Grumpy about his experience and his very simple advice- alfalfa cubes. I started those, and no losses since. No other changes in the rabbitry. Of course, it may be coincidence, but I will continue.

Kits with coccidiosis sometimes live with it fine, but as soon as they're weaned and their immune systems are down cocci takes over. I might treat them again. If you want, try natural treatment with chives instead of Corid.

I've never lost kits to weaning enteritis, and only one kit(3 weeks old) to mucoid enteritis. I keep mine in wire cages, which naturally keep cocci levels down. Food and water dishes are washed weekly. I disinfect the cages with vinegar-water before the kits are born, and when they leave the nestbox. The weaning cage is disinfected after each litter. The kits are given unlimited hay. During weaning they don't get greens, after a few days or so they have them again. So far this system has worked.