Doe with snuffles and litter--cull or wait?

[cereshill]

I have a first time doe that developed snuffles last week. She was isolated and popped 8 three days ago. Five are left and I am wondering if its worth letting her finish the litter. I was not going to keep her and am concerned that the contamination risk isn't worth saving $60 worth of fryers...
Please pass your pros/cons today.

 

[MaggieJ]

Entirely your call. For me, it would depend on how well I could rely on my isolation protocols.

 

[eco2pia]

$60 is what, net-gain, right? You would have to deduct feed cost, and your time, and there is no guarantee that they will all make it to fryer weight, she has lost 3 so far. Measure that against losing how much of your herd to a snuffles outbreak? Good grief, no contest, she goes. I am a conservative risk taker.

 

[ilovehome]

The first time I had this happen I culled the doe, the litter and the sires. Like you, I did not think it was worth the risk to start my new rabbitry with sick rabbits. I picked up a new rabbit (different breed) about six weeks ago, and it started sneezing last week. She is in isolation now--which is a completely separated from the rabbitry.

I plan to breed her to a buck that will be used for her only, and grow out the kits and see how their health is. Some breeders tell me that snuffles is not so bad, and that rabbits recover from it. I think the symptomless rabbit becomes a carrier and passes it onto some of the kits, so this theory will be tested. I will not sell from this line, and any that display illness will be dispatched immediately. I will replace her with a "healthy" kit, and test again. In the mean time, I get compensated with some meat for the family. Still not sure if it worth the cost of the feed...but I have rare breeds, and they are hard to get and seem more susceptible to illness.

I do not think I would go through the trouble with a more common, easier to get breed.

 

[cereshill]

Eco---along the lines of my thoughts. Just wanted to run it up the flagpole both for readers input, helpful future advice and to confirm my initial thought.

 

[Pickles]

Sorry this has happened to your Doe. Its a tough call... just use your best judgement for the safety of your herd.

 

[cereshill]

I culled her and was amazed to see the physical characteristics of a lactating doe. The mammaries are quite extensive and milk leaked everywhere. It was a very interesting endeavor; I hated to put her down, but overall the decision was obvious...

 

[ottersatin]

cereshill,
I am sorry you had to cull your Doe.
I would have [space allowing] had her raise the litter to
early weaning, watched the offspring closely and any that
showed any signs of illness would be immediately culled.
The ones that did not show any signs of illness would be
the ones with with a stronger immune system. This would be
where you could start you disease resistant herd.
It would require very strict culling and take quite a while
before you develop a disease resistant herd.
If it was easy, everyone would do it!
Ottersatin. ldtimer:

 

[ladysown]

that's what I would have done to with the caveat of culling her at 3 weeks. There is some ancedotal evidence to suggest that weaning early gives the kits some immunity via the milk. But once they are off the milk that they can then get it from momma. Then you keep anything that doesn't sneeze, keeping them isolated till you can see how they perform with Stress and how their kits react. Once you know that then you are well on your way to getting a disease free herd.

 

[OneAcreFarm]

that's what I would have done to with the caveat of culling her at 3 weeks. There is some ancedotal evidence to suggest that weaning early gives the kits some immunity via the milk. But once they are off the milk that they can then get it from momma. Then you keep anything that doesn't sneeze, keeping them isolated till you can see how they perform with Stress and how their kits react. Once you know that then you are well on your way to getting a disease free herd.

Our litter from the doe with Pasteurella just turned 3 weeks today. They have started nibbling greens and eating pellets and Calf Manna and drinking from the bottle. Should I wean them now or wait the extra couple days to 3.5 weeks, which is what I was told to wean them at? Also, we treated the doe with Tylan50, just to try to "knock down" the bacterial load so the kits are less likely to be exposed. I am guessing that we cannot eat her because of this?

 

[ladysown]

if they are eating well I'd pull momma out now. rather a bit early than to do it a bit late.

you could put momma off in a corner somewhere to wait out the withdrawal time. someplace where she can have lots of hay, some pellets/oats type of thing.

 

[ilovehome]

I weaned mine at 4 weeks to try to reduce exposure, but three of them showed signs anyway. I would try the shortest time, too, because of this experience.