Feed

[Lordzmercy]

I fed my flock (including the pregnant does) cocoyam leaves, they are it but some of them have fallen sick since then

 

[MaggieJ]

I'm not familiar with the plants that grow in Nigeria, but if you will tell me about the signs of illness you are seeing in the rabbits, I will try to help.

 

[Lordzmercy]

I'm not familiar with the plants that grow in Nigeria, but if you will tell me about the signs of illness you are seeing in the rabbits, I will try to help.

Some of them are not eating while some keep scratching their mouths but the pregnant one has aborted two of her kits already (@ day 20) and she has not been eating for 2 days now

 

[MaggieJ]

I deleted your other post as it was a duplicate of this but without replies.

I suggest checking their mouths for any sign of sores or blisters. Were there other greens fed at the same time? Have you fed cocoyam leaves before?

 

[Lordzmercy]

I deleted your other post as it was a duplicate of this but without replies.

I suggest checking their mouths for any sign of sores or blisters. Were there other greens fed at the same time? Have you fed cocoyam leaves before?

Oh! Thanks, my network wasn't so nice, l didn't know it would load and post the second time.
There are no sores or blisters in their mouths, l fed all the animals, their feed intake dropped while 2 of them (a matured male and the pregnant doe) are not eating at all.
I've not fed them cocoyam leaves before, I just wanted to try a new green with them.

 

[a7736100]

Do rabbits eat Colocasia?


Elephant's ear (colocasia esculenta)– All parts of the elephant's ear plant are toxic to rabbits and can cause oral irritation, pain and swelling of mouth, tongue and lips, excessive drooling, and difficulty swallowing.Sep 7, 2020

BTW raw cocoyam leaves are also toxic to human.

https://rabbitrules.com/plants-toxic-to-rabbits/

 

[MaggieJ]

I've been poking about online trying to get a handle on cocoyam. It appears there are at least two related plants that go by cocoyam as a common name. Common names are often worse than useless since they may refer to completely different plants depending on your location. The only way you can be certain of a plant identity is to research it by botanical (Latin) name.

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A Few Tips for Feeding a New Plant to Rabbits.

1. Identify the plant using Latin name. View pictures and descriptions until you are confident of the identity of the plant. Confirm it is safe for rabbits from a trusted source online, in a rabbit-care book or article, or first hand from a more experienced rabbit caregiver.

2. Because a hungry rabbit may ignore instincts that a plant is unsafe, feed the new food when the rabbit is not too hungry. If you feed grass-hay, let the rabbit fill up on that first. Feed only a small amount of the new plant and watch the rabbit's reaction to it both when it is served and over the next 24-48 hours. Keep detailed notes for future reference. If all indications are encouraging, do a second trial, giving slightly more of the new green along with at least 3-4 known safe plants. Never feed a new food to your rabbits on its own.

3. There is no need to endanger all your rabbits when testing a new food. It may sound heartless, but it is far safer to appoint one or two "test rabbits" -- healthy rabbits who are less valuable to you than some others. Protect your best breeders or most beloved pets until you are certain the new food is safe. This is not an invitation to taking risks or an excuse for carelessness, but it will limit the amount of damage to your herd if you make a mistake.

4. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Do your homework so your rabbits don't pay the price of your inexperience. If this sounds like too much work, green feeding -- at least at present -- may not be for you.

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[Lordzmercy]

I've been poking about online trying to get a handle on cocoyam. It appears there are at least two related plants that go by cocoyam as a common name. Common names are often worse than useless since they may refer to completely different plants depending on your location. The only way you can be certain of a plant identity is to research it by botanical (Latin) name.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A Few Tips for Feeding a New Plant to Rabbits.

1. Identify the plant using Latin name. View pictures and descriptions until you are confident of the identity of the plant. Confirm it is safe for rabbits from a trusted source online, in a rabbit-care book or article, or first hand from a more experienced rabbit caregiver.

2. Because a hungry rabbit may ignore instincts that a plant is unsafe, feed the new food when the rabbit is not too hungry. If you feed grass-hay, let the rabbit fill up on that first. Feed only a small amount of the new plant and watch the rabbit's reaction to it both when it is served and over the next 24-48 hours. Keep detailed notes for future reference. If all indications are encouraging, do a second trial, giving slightly more of the new green along with at least 3-4 known safe plants. Never feed a new food to your rabbits on its own.

3. There is no need to endanger all your rabbits when testing a new food. It may sound heartless, but it is far safer to appoint one or two "test rabbits" -- healthy rabbits who are less valuable to you than some others. Protect your best breeders or most beloved pets until you are certain the new food is safe. This is not an invitation to taking risks or an excuse for carelessness, but it will limit the amount of damage to your herd if you make a mistake.

4. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Do your homework so your rabbits don't pay the price of your inexperience. If this sounds like too much work, green feeding -- at least at present -- may not be for you.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thanks so much, my pregnant doe eventually died yesterday, but others seem fine now.
I feel l should have a first aid system, can you kindly help me with a list of drugs that should be in the first aid box for my rabbits.

 

[MaggieJ]

Thanks so much, my pregnant doe eventually died yesterday, but others seem fine now.
I feel l should have a first aid system, can you kindly help me with a list of drugs that should be in the first aid box for my rabbits.

I'm sorry you lost your doe, but glad to hear that the others seem fine.

There have been many threads about rabbit first aid over the past 12 years. Why not search them out and then -- when you've had a chance to see the patterns of the different approaches -- start a topic to discuss their merits?

Generally speaking, my belief is that the best medicine is in the feed dish, not the medicine chest. Many of the same greens that we feed our buns as nourishment also help prevent health problems from arising. What I know has been posted here -- probably numerous times -- to help others.

As an example, one of the most common rabbit health problems is diarrhea -- anything from "poopy butt" in youngsters to full-blown liquid feces in adults. There are at least five common plants* that combat this effectively. I can step outside and select any one of them at need, confident that it will help without damaging the rabbit's overall health in other ways. I can dry these plants for use when there is snow on the ground. I can make sure to pot up some for indoor growing at the end of the growing season. Even if I lived in a part of the world where these plants are not common, I could go online to a herb dealer and purchase seeds for them.

Wild European rabbits self-medicate by choosing these plants as needed. And since they are safe and palatable foods as well, chances are that the problem of diarrhea will never show up.

I don't think it is fair or realistic to expect others to do your homework for you. I'm always willing to help out with what knowledge I have, but assembling it for easy consumption is hard work and extremely time consuming. I've devoted hours every week to RabbitTalk since its beginnings, but I do have a life beyond rabbits and beyond the scope of this forum. Kindly be considerate in your requests.

~ MaggieJ
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Common safe and effective plants for combatting diarrhea in rabbits.

1. Plantago major (Common plantain and its related species.)
2. Capsella bursa-pastoris (Shepherd's purse)
3. The leaves of blackberry, raspberry, strawberry. (Rubis spp. and Fragaria spp.)