Foods for improving condition

[bikegurl]

I have a heavy milker of a doe with a three-week old litter of nine. She has been looking pretty run-down ever since she kindled. I have been feeding her free-choice pellets and hay supplementing with oats and BOSS. Is there anything else I can do to help her regain condition faster?
Thanks!

 

[Rainey]

Don't know if this will be any help since I feed forage, hay and grain with no pellets, but I have an 11 month old doe with 12 4 week old kits (her second litter). Since she kindled she's been on the thin side when we do the weekly hand along the backbone check. She's been getting all the oats or wheat and BOSS she'll eat since she kindled. And I've been watching what she eats from the varied fresh forage she's given 3 times a day. She'll eat borage and dill every time it's fed and willow every day. For a while she seemed to be leaving grass and clover and going for dandelion and chicory so I made sure she got those every feeding. Lately she has gone for the grass--leafy new growth where we several weeks ago--and clover again. And plantain. And she eats up the bramble quickly. Ate up the nettle I gave her at first but has gone off it.
The up side of the forage is that we can make those adjustments. The down side is how long it takes to collect when I'm trying to cater to the preferences of a doe with so many kits.

 

[myrkari]

Do you have access to blackstrap molasses and/or ground wheatgerm? Both are nutrient dense and rabbits seem to find them very tasty. The germ is the super-nutritious part of the wheat kernel, so it packs a lot of punch without taking up a lot of room in the stomach.

Round here, ground wheatgerm is usually only available in healthfood-shop sized bags because it is quite oily and therefore prone to going rancid quicker than flour or the whole grain once the bag is opened - my bags are 375 grams. As it's a fashionable human people healthfood, it's stupid-priced... But I managed to find a supplier who was overstocked and selling boxed packets of 4 bags for 50p (80 cents) so I bought 6 packs as that's all he'd let me have in one go! :lol: 9kg of wheatgerm for £3 suited me fine, especially as it's in individual little bags for freshness.

I sprinkle a good spoonful of the wheatgerm on top of the daily pellets for my pregnant/nursing girls and grow-out kits since I have it available... I'm not sure I'll be able to keep that up if i have to pay full price when I run out though.

If you can get your hands on some at a good price, it's worth it. Everyone here comes running to their doors when they see me go out with my bag o'sprinkles, and I think it helps with condition in my does and growth in my kits.

 

[Zass]

Are her poops healthy?

 

[bikegurl]

Her poops seem okay. I'll occasionally find cecotropes that have fallen through the wire, but not as much as the other doe was dropping.

I do have blackstrap molasses, but not wheat germ. I have wheat bran though...but that is probably mostly fiber.
How would you feed blackstrap? I tried mixing up an electrolyte supplement for a different doe a couple weeks ago. It had blackstrap in it, and I don't believe she touched it. :?

I want to be feeding her more forage....I really should collect greens for her....then I could cater more to her needs/preferences that way.

I am only giving her about a TBSP of BOSS a day, since I was suspecting it of causing my other doe to produce excess cecotropes. Also, it has been pretty warm here, and I had read that BOSS is warming to the rabbits. Would it be okay to feed her more? (and watch for adverse effects, of course...)

 

[myrkari]

You can probably just put the blackstrap into a bowl with a drop of warm water to loosen it a bit, and then mix in some of your BOSS or oats (not the pellets though, I expect they'd go into a gross mush) and it will coat the outside of those things. If she eats them up quickly it won't make a damp mess of anything else.

As you'll only be giving her a tiny spot of it at a time, she might even lick it off a spoon if she likes the taste and isn't skittish, but I've never tried that with any of mine :lol:

(Also re: wheatbran - it does still have plenty of nutrients and some essential fats and protein along with all that dietary fiber, so she might like a bit since you have it? Wikipedia has a handy diagram showing the main nutrient profiles of the various wheaty bits for info: link to picture - not sure why the main numbers don't add up to 100% though, but maybe I'm being stupid!)

 

[Zass]

Comfrey is one of my favorite greens for lactating does. You could offer up to two tablespoons boss if you want. It shouldn't harm her.

Is there a way to post a pic so we can see just how run-down she looks?
I think it's kind of normal for a working doe to trim down some when she's making a lot of milk for a good sized litter, but it's hard to tell if it's a good amount of trim or if she's really rough from your description..

Is her condition interfering with your breed back schedule?

 

[michaels4gardens]

if she does not start to improve , consider worming her. <br /><br /> __________ Wed Jul 01, 2015 5:20 am __________ <br /><br />

You can probably just put the blackstrap into a bowl with a drop of warm water to loosen it a bit, and then mix in some of your BOSS or oats (not the pellets though, I expect they'd go into a gross mush) and it will coat the outside of those things. If she eats them up quickly it won't make a damp mess of anything else.

As you'll only be giving her a tiny spot of it at a time, she might even lick it off a spoon if she likes the taste and isn't skittish, but I've never tried that with any of mine :lol:

(Also re: wheatbran - it does still have plenty of nutrients and some essential fats and protein along with all that dietary fiber, so she might like a bit since you have it? Wikipedia has a handy diagram showing the main nutrient profiles of the various wheaty bits for info: link to picture - not sure why the main numbers don't add up to 100% though, but maybe I'm being stupid!)

sometimes animal feed suppliers can order you some bran, at a much more palatable price, [but-- as just mentioned] if you just have a couple of rabbits, freshness is a concern, so-- if you order a 25 lb. bag, make sure you have room in your freezer to store it.

 

[ottersatin]

You might want to purchase some Sweet-feed, found where the Horse feed is sold.
Many Rabbit breeders will top dress the rabbit feed on occasion with Sweet-feed.
Use sparingly, as too much sugar is a BAD thing for Rabbits.
As always, JMPO.
Ottersatin. ldtimer:

 

[bikegurl]

Thanks everyone!

Here are a couple pictures of her...
[album]3340[/album]
[album]3339[/album]

And one of a kit using her as a playground... :lol:
[album]3336[/album]

I don't really have a breed back 'schedule' yet, as I'm just starting to get a feel for how I want to do things. That said, I am hoping to breed her back when her kits are between 8 and 10 weeks...so she is due the third or fourth week of Sept. If she isn't looking better by then, I'll wait.

 

[Zass]

Yeah, she looks rough. Like she's molting heavily too. The boss might actually be contributing to that, but now that she's molting like that, she should keep getting it.

I've been breeding her back at 6 weeks for over a year. She usually gets a little thinner with a new litter, but is plump and healthy again by 6 weeks. If you are worried about her, you could try weaning the kits earlier, like in the 4-5 week range. She shouldn't need it though.
It is possible for parasites to be a factor...

Have you considered substituting pumpkin seed for the boss? I've used raw organic ones from wegmans, for pin worms successfully, with a different rabbit.
High tannin plants for cocci.

I've never used any over the counter drugs for parasites, but they are highly recommended by some.
I just don't know what they are or the dosages because I was determined to do the whole rabbit thing with as few drugs as possible, and it's worked for me. :blush:

__________ Wed Jul 01, 2015 4:39 pm __________

Also...could she be suffering a lot from the heat?
Looks like those babies are growing well.

 

[bikegurl]

The babies are doing great! There was a real thin one in the beginning, but I took out a few of the fattest ones overnight so he could get in a feeding....He was about to pop the next morning!! After that, I couldn't even tell which one had been thin... Later, there was another lagging a little behind in growth, but as soon as they were out of the nestbox and eating their mom's food, it pretty much caught up to the others. At 5 weeks I'm going to weigh them all...

This morning I fed Dovetuft some Blackstrap molasses (about 1/2 tsp) mixed in some pumpkin seeds and oats. I also took the kits away for about 15 min, so she could get a break and eat her goodies in peace. She also got plantain (which she loved!), dock, ragweed, clover, lamb's quarters (which I had noticed Heather preferring over clover), dandelions, and clover. She cleaned it all up in about 30 minutes.

__________ Tue Jul 07, 2015 9:59 am __________

She is continuing to get thinner.
I have been daily feeding her molasses with pumpkin seeds or BOSS and oats. She gets weeds ( comfrey, borage, Queen Anne's Lace, plantain, rose, raspberry, clover, lamb's quarters and some apple branches), free choice alfalfa hay, free choice pellets, and water with ACV in it. Today I gave her a little wheat bran and a mineral block. I also separated her kits for the day and gave her a dish of water instead of the bottle. She drank a bunch when I gave it to her, so maybe she was having a hard time getting enough water? :?
I'll put the kits back in with her tonight, and separate them during the day again tomorrow.

I think sweet feed is basically molasses sweetened corn, oats and some sort of pellet, right? So wouldn't mixing molasses with oats and pumpkin seed sort of be the same? I do have cracked corn too, but I was under the impression it wasn't greatly beneficial.
Oh, by the way, I am feeding Blue Seal Bunny16 pellets...if that is useful for solving the mystery... <br /><br /> __________ Thu Jul 30, 2015 11:11 am __________ <br /><br /> Dovetuft is finally improving!

I weaned all but three of the kits, and left those with her to keep her from getting mastitis.
I'll wean them soon.

Her fur is looking lots better, but she is still kinda thin. I'm going to wait to breed her back until mid August anyway...so she is due shortly after we return from vacation in Sept.
Hopefully such a long break will be sufficient for her to be ready to breed again.