Do you think this was a blockage?

[currituckbun]

This was the first young one I have had to kill. He has been off to himself the last few days and I noticed that he was not eating yesterday. I thought it was because his brother was sold and he was now on his own. This morning I smelled a bad smell in the barn. I narrowed it down to his cage and checked him and he had poopy butt. Further investigation revealed a gel slimy discharge in the catch pan. It was clear and mucus like. I immediately moved him to quarantine and he did not poop all day. In fact his eyes looked glazed over and he was grinding his teeth. Earlier I found some old pain killers and dosed him. (darvacet) this pretty much knocked him out and made it easier for me to snap his neck.
If he had pooped at all I was going to give him another day but nothing in 8 hours so I did not want to see him suffer any longer .
I am not sure I have the stomach to see what the cause was. Pretty sure a blockage but not positive . What do you guys think?

 

[MaggieJ]

The poopy butt and the slime in the pan sound like what we used to call mucoid enteritis and now call mucoid enteropathy. There is a good description of it at this site:

http://www.threelittleladiesrabbitry.co ... eritis.php

 

[currituckbun]

Thank you Maggie. This description nailed it. I know I did the right thing culling him. He was also the one who had an eye problem early on and now this cropped up and I just did not want to risk the whole herd over one. He was also one that was supposed to be sold next week. I would rather not sell compromised stock.

 

[MaggieJ]

Hard to do, but in this case I think you made the right decision. Feeding lots of grass hay to youngsters can help prevent these kinds of problems.

 

[Miss M]

Sorry you had to cull him, but it does sound like you did the best thing for him and for your other buns.

 

[AnnClaire]

I am so sorry that you had to put him down, but it sounds like the only option at this time.

As for the enteropathy, I have seen this crop up the past few months here and there and one thing that seems to be a common element is that the babies were not provided grass hay and were on the same high-protein "hot" 18% pellet the mother was.

I am not saying that this is the cause, but it seems that a lower protein feed to start with and access to grass hay at all times is easier on delicate infant systems. Other livestock weaners are treated similarly to help their intestinal flora get established.

Another thing that grazers do is the babies usually consume some of the mother's poops to help establish their own intestinal flora, so if you are one that keeps the nest box "spotless" you may need to leave the mother's poops in the box. I noticed that at about 2 weeks, the doe that hadn't pooped or peed in her nest box, was leaving 4-5 poops in the front of the nest box. I also would not be surprised to find out that a doe produced cecotropes for the babies too.

 

[currituckbun]

I just lost one more from a different litter this evening and another in quarentine .Well who would have thunk it but I see where it could have started. I went through a clean everything including nest boxes when Lucky got mastitis. The SF kits are about the same age. I always have hay available so that is not it. But ultra clean nest boxes and 18 % feed yes. I pulled all the pellets this evening and I plan to get some 16% tomorrow.
Thank you AnnClaire.

 

[Frosted Rabbits]

I understand you can make a cecatrope slurry for the babies-- to help establish the gut flora--

 

[OneAcreFarm]

We have successfully treated this with: 1) lots of water 2) hay only 3) Probios paste twice daily. But, it only works if you catch it early. And, I would only do this if you know for sure that there was something out of the ordinary in their diet that caused it. No need to keep rabbits with subpar immune or digestive systems. We had a doe get this from too much parsley all at once after no greens for a while and a kit that got into mom's Calf Manna and stuffed its face. Both pulled thru fine with no other issues. I feed a 16% pellet and I have had no issues with weaning enteritis.

 

[AnnClaire]

When I started out (and I have EAs) I talked to an old man that runs one of the feed stores here in town as he also used to have a commercial rabbit herd. His comment about the 18% feed is that it does not provide the appropriate nutrients for an angora coat, whereas a 16% feed and supplementing with groats/rolled oats provides the carbs needed for our extreme winters and wool growth. He also had me stop the alfalfa hay and switch to "horse hay" as that is better fiber. BOSS is also a "hot" supplement that provides oils that are good for the coat.

Now, he was also very specific that the oats and BOSS not be included in the pellets, but in a seperate bowl ... I use those clamp cups that come with the pet carriers or old glass ashtrays (they are sturdy enough to take the tossing around :lol