Weaning at 3wks 3 days?

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Zab

Zab

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Odd title, I know.

Well Ran got mastitis..she's getting warmth treatment, dandelion, parsley and I found some old mastitis antibiotics.. I hope it works, it looks and smells right. You know how dfficult it is with antibiotics in sweden. Anway.. I'm ust keeping my hopes up.

Her kitswere fine, but being so young I let another doe nurse them. Bad idea I guess, that doe stopped eating yesterday. She has 6 kits of her own, Ran has 9 (I let the other doe nurse them once a day to get them off milk slowly). While this saddens me because I relly don't want the rabbits to be in pain and I hate seeing them ill.. the other doe was on a list to freezer camp already. I frankly don't have enough antibiotics for thm both, I only got one tube. She's getting the warmth treatment and herbs, but she's awfully skinny as it is... I'm debating with myself if I should just take her away. She doesn't try to bite me at feeding time anymore, something is wrong. But her kits.. and.. she's the only one with any milk now.. it looks and smells fresh anough... but.. I don't know. Maybe she'll start eating again any day now.. I'm at a loss. This is not how I wanted her last time to be.

The 15 kits.. they're about 3.5 weeks now. They eat hay and nibble on pellets.. not much pellets as far as I can see but usually sits in the hay and munches. The 9 ones are scrawny but hopping around looking healthy untill you touch them and feel their bones.
Will they manage to be cut off milk completely this early? .. I really rather not bottle-feeding 15 kits.. Ive also heard i's very difficukt to bottle rabbits without choking them with the milk..
If/when I give up and bring the other doe to freezer camp, should I let her kits into the colony or keep them in the cage? It would be easier for me to keep them in the colony, but not really a big deal..

Ran. She eats hay a bit and the greens a bit... hasn't touched her pellets today. Avoids lying down fully, hat's understandabe I guess. Two teets are cloggy, but it was 6 to start with... Should she recover? How long does it usually take?

I suspect this happened because I made a poor feed choice. I believed it was good at the time of course, but protein was low and the rabbits didn't eat it so well.. most lost weight. So I changed again after just a week or two, I suppose the changes were bad and lowered their immune system. Now I have a feed recommended to me, 17.4% protein, no soy, no ingredents I can't pronounce the name of etc. It should be good.. if my sick does would start eating any pellets. The other rabbits love it - the tiniest kits seem a bit sceptical (or they might eat when I'm not looking, I have seen them in the bowls) but the older ones and the bucks loves it.

I need Ran to start eating.. she's so thin you can see it on a photo. Happened very fast too, from a tad underweight to.. anorexic looking.. in a few days. Well.. eating hay, pooping normally... at least something.. if we can fight the pain and mastitis first I hope she'll put on weight later..

Will the kits die on me?
 
I do not know and I am so sorry you are going through this. I hope Ran does better and gets well soon. would it be a bad idea for you to soak the pellets in some homemade formula for the kits? Maybe offer rolled oats to them? :(
 
Thank you.

What could that home-made formula concist of? I have oat-cream (because I can't have regular milk), it's basically oats, water and vegetable oil..
 
Thank you :)

Goat milk is hard to come by here, condenced even more so.. but perhaps if I mix an egg-yolk in the oat cream and supplement with that? They are eating afterall.. if I try with one kit carefully first to see if their bellies can take it?

Could I give this to the adult does as well to help them gain weight?
 
Sorry about this. Kits can spread the infection to other does.
When the doe of my litter of 12 died, I only lost one kit. They were three weeks old, and they ate oats, hay and pellets, with some electrolyte solution, and they did fine.

I hope it all goes well with you. <br /><br /> -- Tue Feb 11, 2014 1:13 pm -- <br /><br /> Can you get any cat milk or goat/sheep milk replacer?
 
Thanks.

Yeah.. of course they spread it.. I should have realized that bt. I don't know what my brain was doing.
Glad to hear yours pulled through, it makes me more hopeful.

Will does normally get well from mastitis? I know they can die, but what's the general outcome with moderate treatment?

If Ran does pull through.. how soon can I re-unite her and the kits? Not to let them nurse but because I intend to keep several of them as new breeders in the colony. Is it safe once Ran has dried up?

:_______

I probably could get cat milk replacer. do you think it's necessary? I'm not sure how to feed it to them and it's very expencive. But I will get it if it's necessary.
 
That's right, pedialyte (electrolyte drink) might help if you can get something like that.
I always forget that kits get dehydrated too, and I forgot my 3 week old kits were drinking that along with their mother.
I gave , timothy and alfalfa hay cubes, oats, pedialyte, mashed pumpkin, and pellets to my 3 week olds. All 10 survived.
 
kits can be weaned any time after day 17.

the biggest thing is to keep hay in front of them at all times. Give them some oats and pellets in a low feeder bowl. make it real easy for them.
You may have to supplement with some probiotics any that look weak, but for the most part,... even if they are scrawny they will come around. :)
 
I've put hay on the ground and over twigs and stuff everywhere so they can reach it easier, plus in the hay-bins. I never thought of the water, I'll put extra low bowls in.. though I've seen them drink from the ones there are (I have bricks along them to make for easier access) I'll wet some hay too. :)
 
It doesn't get moldy that fast....? :) We've given wet hay to the horses many times when they've been drinking poorly.
I wouldn't wet all the hay, but the handful I put down for them in the morning, which they eat rather quickly. Then I'd leave the other, dry hay there.
 
Yeah, if it were all day :) Or well.. it's still rather cold here, just a bit above freezing. But it'd turn sour or start fermenting so I wouldn't leave too much in there either way. Thanks for the warning though, I appreciate your concern :)
 
I've had to wean kits as young as 15 days old. Not fun but, it saved the doe. When I have to do it, I get alfalfa cubes (have those around for all the rabbits anyway) Soak 2 cubes per 8 kits in 1/2 cup rice milk with 2 TBS corn syrup, then puree that in my Ninja (food processor will do fine). I put the mush out on a flat tray for an hour, then pick it up, if there is any left. I offer the meal twice a day. Sometimes the kits only want to eat once a day and, that's fine, but I offer it a second time for any that will eat it again that day.

They do fine that way and, rice milk is easy to make at home. Boil 1 C rice in 2 C water, simmer until all the water is absorbed. Add another 1.5 cups boiling water and puree in a blender, Ninja or, food processor then, strain and add 1/4 TSP vanilla and 1 TBS sugar or corn syrup. Good for humans and critters alike. :)
 
I've had does survive. Actually I should say the opposite, I've had two does get caked teats, and neither died nor had it again. The one that died was not mastitis. I injected with tylosin, a general antibiotic, but mostly I massaged the teat and expressed the milk. I can't believe the doe stayed there calmly while I expressed chunky milk.
 
I'm happy yours lived :) Gives me hope if it happens again.

This one didn't. I got up to give her antibiotics one morning and her teeth was a wound large as a dollar coin filled with pus. I treated it and attemptd to give her a chance since she had started eating and such, but then noticed that all her paws - even the front ones, had gotten sores. And she started getting snot as well.. so I culled before it went any worse. :(

Realy sad about it..I liked her.

But the kits are doing fine! :)
skarmavbild-2014-02-22-kl-165914.png
 

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