Abnormal kits that survive.

[Wheels]

Just curious about what abnormal kits you've come across and how long they survived. Abnormal features not really coat colors but kits that when you inspected them made you scratch your head and wonder what's going on with them.

I had a kit born that is from a Father/Daughter breeding. The doe had 10 and two were undersized - not so bad that I was worried and within two weeks one of the smallest was only a hair behind the other 8. The other runt is still fairly smaller than its siblings and has what I can only describe as slightly Down Syndrome type facial features. Shortened nose that gives it a cute but slightly bulldog look! Other than that at 7 weeks it seems to get along just fine and is healthy as the rest. I'm not sure what caused it to have such an odd skull shape - maybe a birthing issue? But I'd think if it was physical damage (a broken skull or nose) it would not have survived very long. perhaps the way it was positioned in the womb?

I don't have a photo to show but I can probably get one tonight.

Anyone ever have something like that pop up in your herd?

 

[Zass]

I have one kit who seemed to be normal at birth, but developed abnormally.
She almost perished from not nursing enough around day 10. She was saved by hand feeding, but I didn't intervene until things had already gotten quite bad.

The right eye didn't open on time. (I cleaned the outside and opened it gently for her, but she didn't want to open it herself until much later, like day 18-19, even though the left eye had opened normally. There were never any signs of infection or damage.
She still keeps her right eye half lidded much of the time, and doesn't open that eye as fully as the other. She's also chronically underweight and much smaller than the other kits. I almost lost her again at 5 weeks to diarrhea and the beginnings of gi stasis (it was a herd-wide issue with feed, I believe). She refused pellets for a LONG time. She's survived to 10 weeks so far on a mostly pellet-free diet.

 

[Miss M]

We've had three kits that have seemed normal, but did not feed well. We supplemented, and they furred out and everything, but never actually grew in size. They suddenly grew weak and died. The longest-lived one made it 13 days.

This one, the one that made it that long, was part of that litter that was born at 41 days. These are the two survivors, at several days, up to maybe a week old:

This is those two again, a few days before the smaller one died:

The other two were in a recent litter. Different doe, but descended from the same buck.

Almost all of the other babies we've supplemented have made it. There was something internally wrong with these three.

 

[akane]

This one was born with I think a dislocated hip but kept up with it's siblings and went to a pet home. They said they would amputate the leg when it got bigger.

 

[Wheels]

Zass - were all the kits curly coated or just that one?

Miss M - I suppose that what people mean when they state Failure To Thrive... I kind of dislike hearing that Term when it's used to describe small children by Doctors - most of the kids seem normal enough just small... I guest you can't call your kid runty.

Akane - I'd kind of like to see how it gets along as a tripod

 

[Zass]

All of them were curly. They were also from a father/daughter breeding. The mother/daughter was also curly as a kit, something I didn't find out until after I contacted the original breeder to ask why my kits were curly. :shock:

I was assured by many v-lop breeders that the curl genes are normal for the breed and the kits will grow into smooth rex coats. Oh yeah, I should have mentioned. That kit also had a bald head for a long time. This wasn't when it was at it's worst. At it's worst it was about the size of a quarter.
Many breeders have also had this happen, and claimed it was always outgrown. It's somehow connected to the curl. She has since grown hair back on her head.

I believe that there is also some connection with the curl genes and rabbits with shorter lifespans and failure to thrive.

Velveteens are known for having some rather serious metabolic issues.

My Mucky (the mother) still has a curly bottom after being bathed with plain water and dried with a blow dryer about a month ago.
(pic taken yesterday)

I haven't raised enough "normal" rex coated rabbits to know if it's strange to have a curly bottom for so long after a bath. :?

You can see here, she is otherwise a pretty smooth rex coated rabbit(I think), and the other kits seem to be outgrowing their curls.

Well, :lol: I don't really consider the curls or the balding too unusual, since it happens to others, but the squinty eye is definitely a developmental abnormality.

 

[Miss M]

Miss M - I suppose that what people mean when they state Failure To Thrive... I kind of dislike hearing that Term when it's used to describe small children by Doctors - most of the kids seem normal enough just small... I guest you can't call your kid runty.

Right! :roll: :lol:

 

[BusterHill]

I have a cali/NZ cross kit with a lazy eye... its creepy and adorable lol