I have a lop doe that has a litter of 8 that are 10 days old. She is pooping HUGE logs of poop that is between soft and hard and is glossy. All poop berries are smaller than her regular poop, but larger than soft poops. They are stuck together in a long line the length of my fingers. I know, this is gross and graphic, but I am stumped on what it is caused by. She is on full pelleted feed and a handful of hay per day. She gets no treats or greens. Any ideas?
icky
- Thread starter Jessykah
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sometimes when bunnies are lactating their digestive system changes. I have a doe who is very messy when she has kits, and then once the kits hit four weeks she clears right up.
Are they perhaps the cecal poops? The rabbits produce a soft, smelly poop that they reingest, usually straight from the anus as is produced. Now and then, however, they do not eat it all for whatever reason. Typically the cecals are sort of clumped together like a bunch of tiny grapes or slightly melted glossette raisins (sorry, but that's what they look like!). This is no cause for alarm, if that's what they are.
Yes I know what those are, but I'm sure that is not what this is, unless she is producing bigger ones that are really long. And I cleaned out her cage tray yesterday. Today there were like maybe 8-10 of them about the length of my baby finger and index finger. That's a lot. I'm not worried about it, but would sure like to know what is causing it, like her diet or lactating or what? Ladysown you may be correct, as this has never happened before having a litter that I know of. She is a 1st time mom about 1.5 year old.
the doe that did this with me did it for two litters, and then didn't for her third. I then sold her. She did it for the first litter there, and then hasn't done it since.
It's icky and gross to deal with.
My solution so I wasn't constantly scrubbing the wire was to put a piece of cardboard in her cage and turn it over from morning to night and then put in a new piece the next day. An irritation to do, but faster then trying to keep the wire clean.
I knew she wasn't ill.
OH... the other thing I did was to feed more hay to her. That seemed to make the problem less. Didn't go away, but lessened the amount of it.
It's icky and gross to deal with.
My solution so I wasn't constantly scrubbing the wire was to put a piece of cardboard in her cage and turn it over from morning to night and then put in a new piece the next day. An irritation to do, but faster then trying to keep the wire clean.
I knew she wasn't ill.
OH... the other thing I did was to feed more hay to her. That seemed to make the problem less. Didn't go away, but lessened the amount of it.
How funny to find this post tonight, after just noticing this very same thing in one of my does cages when I cleaned today. I noticed some of her newest bunny poops in the tub are tiny little seed like balls, clumped together in one regular size bunny poop ball. I wasn't sure what to think, and now reading this, sounds like I shouldn't really worry about it? She was just newly bred last sunday.
OneAcreFarm
Well-known member
fuzzy9":2ro6yjmi said:
Those are cecal poops, the ones they normally eat.
Cattle Cait
Well-known member
Pepper has been making the same thing, I think its from the change of nice Purina bunny chow to cheap Wal-Mart bunny chow (we're a little broke this month). It should clear up.
no actually they aren't cecal poops. They are abnormal tube shaped poops...makes me think of small goose poops. Rabbits get them when they are getting over an intestine upset as well.
i attribute it, in the one doe I had that does it...to hormonal reactions in the body changing how the body digest things.
Cattle Cait
Well-known member
I think she meant the post from Fuzzy, those ones sound like cecal poops. The initial ones we're talking about definately aren't.
OneAcreFarm
Well-known member
ladysown":3w0uegnw said:
Sorry, I was replying to Fuzzy!
<br /><br />__________ Thu May 05, 2011 1:15 pm __________<br /><br />
ladysown":3w0uegnw said:
Yes I have noticed this a bit with all three of my does that just kindled....
It is a fairly common thing among does with kits. I think maybe it has something to do with the hair the doe ingests when cleaning the kits and rearranging the nest. You will also sometimes see regular fecal pellets strung together on a string of fur fibers. Both the night feces and the regular fecal pellets are usually noticeably larger when a doe is eating a lot for nursing.
tomcatrabbitry":k6eo4y1q said:
Now that you mention it, I did switch to the most inexpensive rabbit pellets, from TSC just before Easter weekend (was the only store I could make it to at the time). Now they are back on Purina. I will see if she stops pooping like that soon. For an experiment, I may switch her back to the TSC pellets and see if that makes her poop like this again (switching gradually of course)....that way, I will know for sure if I want to be permanently putting my herd on TSC, or keeping it on Purina or SurGain. I am also of course observing the condition of my rabbits, and the growout of kits. I don't like doing experiments, but I feel this one is important. Even though she is the only doe that had poop formation like that, there may be others with intestine upsets on that feed as well.
Since I have observed this, I have been feeding more fibrous hay, and giving her a lot. I hope it starts to help soon.
I gave this doe to my niece, so culling her isn't an option yet. I hope to remedy it first.
SatinsRule
Well-known member
A couple of days feeding straight grains like oats or barley will usually clear it up. I know it works when I get home from shows, particularly following trips on warmer days. Normally, it clears within a day or two.
