WildWolf
Well-known member
OK, this is really concerning, and kind of embarrassing.
I have 3 SF's. One is in quarantine (we just got him) and I have a doe (a little over a year old) and a buck (19 weeks old). My doe is stunted, and my buck is small. They came from the same breeder, who has normal-sized SF, but different lines.
When I realized my doe was small (she is my first SF), we thought that it might just be her. We had heard that some SF lines abruptly produce stunted rabbits occasionally. I can feel bumps on her spine, but they aren't that spiky. Her fur is not as soft as my other SFs- could that be because she is very, very sun bleached? She used to be slightly underweight (spikey spine) but would that affect her fur now, after her spine is not spikey anymore? She weighs somewhere around 7lbs- she could be 7.5ish, or 7ish; she was really hard to weight because she can't fit directly over my scale (it's a tiny postage scale). Again, she is a little over a year old.
A few weeks ago I realized just how small my buck is, after visiting a rabbitry (different from the one where I got my doe and 1st buck) whose SF's were huge. My buck's fur is extremely soft, and extremely silver. His fur is really really soft and plushy. He might be a carrier for the wool gene; that wouldn't affect how soft his fur is, would it? His spine is not spikey at all, and I can feel the bumps. He weighs around 5.7lbs. He was really wriggly when I weighed him, so that might be off a little. Again, he is 19 weeks old.
They both are naturally fed; I feed them plantain, grass, white clover, wild violets, wild strawberry, and some other weeds, in addition to grain (doe gets wheat, oats, and BOSS since her fur is not that soft, and buck gets oats and wheat) and alfalfa hay cubes. I put tiny chunks of mineral licks in their grain, and they do not lick or anything that would suggest that they have a mineral deficiency. They both toss and nibble on the alfalfa cubes, but they don't eat many. Because of this, I was thinking that maybe they did not get enough protein? Is that possible, even though the buck's coat is super soft, and both their spines are not spikey?
The other thing that I was thinking: I feed them 2 weeds from my yard that are really abundant. I learned the name of the weeds a long time ago, but I've forgotten it now. I feed those weeds- both bunnies eat them just like any other forage food... maybe they are causing the problem? They are plant 1 and 3 on planrt-ids-t17110.html .
I'm going to buy alfalfa hay this weekend. It's hard to find non-compressed alfalfa hay around here, but I think I found a place an hour away. I'm also not going to feed my new buck those 2 weeds, until I figure out the name again. Also, I will hopefully be able to add barley to my doe and buck's grain feed. But I just don't understand how my buck's fur can be so soft, his spine perfectly bumpy, and he is underweight for a SF.
I have 3 SF's. One is in quarantine (we just got him) and I have a doe (a little over a year old) and a buck (19 weeks old). My doe is stunted, and my buck is small. They came from the same breeder, who has normal-sized SF, but different lines.
When I realized my doe was small (she is my first SF), we thought that it might just be her. We had heard that some SF lines abruptly produce stunted rabbits occasionally. I can feel bumps on her spine, but they aren't that spiky. Her fur is not as soft as my other SFs- could that be because she is very, very sun bleached? She used to be slightly underweight (spikey spine) but would that affect her fur now, after her spine is not spikey anymore? She weighs somewhere around 7lbs- she could be 7.5ish, or 7ish; she was really hard to weight because she can't fit directly over my scale (it's a tiny postage scale). Again, she is a little over a year old.
A few weeks ago I realized just how small my buck is, after visiting a rabbitry (different from the one where I got my doe and 1st buck) whose SF's were huge. My buck's fur is extremely soft, and extremely silver. His fur is really really soft and plushy. He might be a carrier for the wool gene; that wouldn't affect how soft his fur is, would it? His spine is not spikey at all, and I can feel the bumps. He weighs around 5.7lbs. He was really wriggly when I weighed him, so that might be off a little. Again, he is 19 weeks old.
They both are naturally fed; I feed them plantain, grass, white clover, wild violets, wild strawberry, and some other weeds, in addition to grain (doe gets wheat, oats, and BOSS since her fur is not that soft, and buck gets oats and wheat) and alfalfa hay cubes. I put tiny chunks of mineral licks in their grain, and they do not lick or anything that would suggest that they have a mineral deficiency. They both toss and nibble on the alfalfa cubes, but they don't eat many. Because of this, I was thinking that maybe they did not get enough protein? Is that possible, even though the buck's coat is super soft, and both their spines are not spikey?
The other thing that I was thinking: I feed them 2 weeds from my yard that are really abundant. I learned the name of the weeds a long time ago, but I've forgotten it now. I feed those weeds- both bunnies eat them just like any other forage food... maybe they are causing the problem? They are plant 1 and 3 on planrt-ids-t17110.html .
I'm going to buy alfalfa hay this weekend. It's hard to find non-compressed alfalfa hay around here, but I think I found a place an hour away. I'm also not going to feed my new buck those 2 weeds, until I figure out the name again. Also, I will hopefully be able to add barley to my doe and buck's grain feed. But I just don't understand how my buck's fur can be so soft, his spine perfectly bumpy, and he is underweight for a SF.
