I think I need to cull but I have a question: Update

[alforddm]

Ok, I think I've gotten to the point where I think I need to cull my favorite doe. Here is the back story. I got this doe on Nov 24. She was 8 or 9 weeks old at the time. Off and on since I've had her she has had a bit of nasal discharge. Just enough for the nose to be a bit wet. When I first got her I didn't realize it could be a problem. Later, the symptoms never got worse and came and went and none of the other rabbits got sick so I thought/hopped it was allergies or something similar. Yesterday she was worse and for the first time had wet forelegs.


Time to cull right?

The problem is she has kits that were 3 weeks old on tuesday. None of the kits are showing any sign of illness. Thoughts?

 

[DBA]

Is she sneezing? Chances are, if she is contagious, the kits are already infected.
We had to cull a gorgeous pregnant doe a couple of weeks ago, I feel for you. It can be a tough choice, but, in my case, it was either cull her, or take the chance of infecting every other rabbit.

 

[alforddm]

She has started sneezing. I'd rather not cull the kits unless they are showing signs of infection. I figure if they make it without getting sick they probably have a high resistance. Can I cull the doe today and expect the kits to make it? Assuming they don't get what the doe has?

 

[DBA]

If they are three weeks old, they should be eating solid food by now, I would think they would make it.

 

[ottersatin]

Hello alforddm,
I would allow the kits to get to the point of eating solid food.
Next step, cull the Dam. DO NOT cull all of the kits, cage them a safe distance
from the rest of the herd. The minute you see any sign of infection: Cull
that or those particular kits. Hold on to any that appear symptom free,
watch them closely as they grow. Cull only those that later show symptoms.
The ones that show no symptoms are the ones that will vastly improve
your chances of producing a resistant herd.
Ottersatin. ldtimer:

 

[grumpy]

Although the doe is now struggling, she "may" have developed antibodies
and passed them along to the kits. Just a thought.

grumpy.

 

[alforddm]

Thanks everyone. Sometimes I just need some confirmation before doing something unpleasant....

I will go ahead and cull the doe today and keep a close watch on the kits. They are already eating solid food so hopefully they will be ok. I'll pick up a bag of rolled oats and start feeding those just to be safe.

If anyone is wondering this is my REW doe that carries broken.

 

[LopLover]

If there is no snot, she is not contagious. Out of curiosity, have you ever used the BunnyVac vaccine?

 

[Susie570]

You may have already culled the doe, but if not... you might wait a bit.

If she has something contagious, the kits are already infected. Might be better to isolate all of them away from the rest of your herd (First Step!!) and then, at the very least, wait a bit to let the kits digestion develop more and give them a better chance at survival.

Do you see any yellow/white colored snot?? Clear could easily be something else... dust... allergy... something stuck in her nose... My doe scared me to death with her sneezing, but I never saw anything aside from clear snot (once) with her and she's remained otherwise healthy. I've seen no sign of infection from her kits (now 8 weeks old) and her sneezing stopped when I got her and the kits all separated out so she's not in a dusty cage anymore.

I mean, obviously take every precaution and isolate those rabbits right away, if you see any yellow or white snot, or if there's obvious sign of decline in health, cull. Otherwise, you may want to let things wait a bit. I've learned this from the wonderful advise of the people here.

 

[alforddm]

Well, I've already culled her. I almost cried when I did it but after I got her opened up I'm glad I culled. Her liver and lungs were very pale. I think she was probably on a downhill slide. As I understand it, the sicker they are the higher amount of disease they shed.

She was just over 8lbs and 6 months old. I really thought she was bigger than that. Just means that my other does are all smaller than I thought :roll:

These are the lungs...

And the Liver...

I had expected to eat her but didn't. I put her whole carcass in the bug box.

 

[Susie570]

I'm no expert but I don't think her lungs look like pasteurella. There may have been something else wrong with her, but on the upside, the kits may be safe if they make the transition well. Good luck with them.

 

[alforddm]

Actually, I got to googling and apparently that is the normal color for lungs right after the rabbit is opened up? There were no lesions on the lungs that I noticed. What about the liver? It should be darker right? I should have paid closer attention to the last batch of fryers I butchered...

 

[LopLover]

Her lungs are good and yes, the liver should be dark red.

 

[alforddm]

I thought I'd post a update on the kits. They all made it and are doing well. I've had a couple with slightly wet noses but not bad enough that there legs were wet. This was right after I removed the doe so they were probably pretty stressed. Right now they all look good. I will probably freezer camp the whole lot when there are bigger. Although I kinda hate the thought. They are really sweet babies. They will be 8 weeks on Tuesday. Not great growth but their sire is on the small side.

There are actually 6 but one was on the other side of the cage.

 

[Susie570]

Could be allergies... but they may not be something you want in your herd anyway.

They look like pretty babies. :/

 

[ladysown]

You don't need to freezer camp them all.

I would seriously keep the best two, raise them away from the rest of the herd if you can. Stress them once in a while, any wet noses after stress, or worse... sneezing, cull them. But if they make it through stress and the hormones of maturity, you can try breeding them. They might be resistant.

You don't know until you try.