HELP.......PLEASE READ

[Jessykah]

I agree that you should try buying hay cubes. When I can't get good enough hay, or when I am in a hurry, I use alfalfa cubes and timothy cubes interchangeably. Just throw out any that get urinated on; you will notice this when part of the cube is soggy and swollen, it absorbes urine easily. But this usually only happens if you feed too many cubes at once so that they don't clean them up, or if a rabbit isn't fond of them and just pushes them around.
Better than not feeding hay, and better for GI health than just pellets.
Consider adding another cage to your setup and raise the kits in there instead of the stall, until you figure out what works best. You may find that you like raising them in a cage better and maybe they will stop dying. And cages help keep them more clean than a stall, preventing coccidia.
Don't give up.

 

[avdpas77]

I never had much luck with alfalfa cubes. My rabbits didn't seem to like them much, and they were mostly leaves. If one is looking mostly for protein, I guess "mostly leaves" is a good thing, but when I feed hay, I find the rabbits after eating a few leaves, will likely start eating the red clover and alfalfa stems. I am really beginning to love red clover hay. My rabbits seem to love it better than anything. I have some mixed with timothy, and they will save the timothy till last, or more than not it ends up on the floor below the cage. Pure clover hay, however, is not the best, as it tends more towards having mold problems, plus one looses may of the leaves. Purely by chance, I have found that 50% red clover and 50% grass works real well. The grass seems to help the clover dry eliminating any mold problem. The grass holds the clover in a matrix, so not so much of it is lost when they eat it. Also, the rabbits like some grass hay, so the mix is all there.

There is very little "pure clover" hay here so any clover hay found in small bales usually has some grass in it.

The thing about hay cubes, is that you don't know that they came from any different hay than your local bales. They are sort of like pellets, they could have mold or anything compressed in them. At least with baled hay, one can sort of see what one is getting. I have gotten a couple of bales of hay that was moldy on the inside...My neighbors cattle loved them.

 

[Fatboy]

I'm going to build a large pen off the ground this weekend and see if that helps. I want to thank everyone for the advice, I do appreciate it.

 

[AnnClaire]

Fatboy, do any of the feed stores in your area offer bermuda hay? Around here, the farmers generally don't fertilize it with anything and my buns like it a lot better in the winter than the horse hay I usually buy.

Also, even in the cage, I would recommend that you provide some sort of shelter box for the babies to get inside and huddle together. I have found that until 7-8 weeks, the babies don't seem to be able to regulate their heat individually. If you don't want to use hay, can you try shredded newspaper in the box for warmth? And, if you decide you want to try the stall again, shredded newspaper would make a great floor covering and is good for compost piles :lol: