kotapony
Well-known member
Edit: I wrote this a few days ago but couldn't get to the computer to get it posted. So "yesterday" refers to the 15th. I debated rewriting but thought it would remain clearer as is. Everyone in the colony remains healthy as of this morning (the 20th).
I lost one of my does yesterday, and am curious as to what may have happened to her if anyone has any ideas. Some deaths aren't preventable, but if hers had been I'd like to learn from whatever mistakes I might have made.
A quick summary of my situation. I started with two does and a buck. At 5 months old they all moved into a colony space together. 30 days later I had one nest of 11 kits. I never did know for sure if they all belonged to one doe (or which one if they did) or if it was a shared nest. All the kits made it and are now 5.5 weeks old. I returned the buck to the colony 3.5 weeks ago.
Two days before the doe died I remember telling my husband I was pretty sure one doe was pregnant because she looked miserable (grumpy I think would have been a better word). I must have been projecting - I'm 7 months and grumpy myself. But all three adults were still moving around and coming to the feeders for their morning pellets so I didn't think much of it. The day after that she had a big pee stain along her face and down one side. Again, I didn't think too much of it with 11 older kits in there with her. I figured they were just piled and she didn't get out of the way fast enough. In hind sight, while she was still moving around then she was less inclined to do so. Then yesterday morning she made it over to the waterer and was sitting there stiff and kind of sunken into herself. That's when i finally realized something was seriously wrong. She'd rock back, her front feet off the ground just a bit, convulse for a second or two, then drop back down. She did that a couple times. At that point I picked her up to remove her from the colony. She didn't run and just flopped limp as I looked her over. Her eyes/nose were clear, no signs of swollen nipples. Her bum was a little dirty like maybe she'd been a bit runny but what was there was dry, not currently wet. I put her in a tub of her own on a bed of hay, added pellets and water, and left her. She scooted around a bit the rest of the morning but by the time I made it back over for the evening check she was dead - flopped on her back, rear legs splayed open, front together and twisted to the side (not necessarily violent in any way, just describing how she was laying). There was just a drop of blood around her bum. Our (hubby and I) best guess was either she died of some kind of infection or had trouble with kits.
We went ahead and opened her up to see what we could find. To our eyes, all her organs looked healthy. We saw no obvious signs of infection. Most interesting to me was that she wasn't bred. The buck had been back with the does for 3.5 weeks - I'd have thought surely in that time she'd have taken. I caught my still living doe and she seems fine. Dry, clean bum, active, and while I'm terrible at palpating I'd say there's good odds she's bred. Also I should say everyone remaining in the colony still appears healthy so I don't think this was something contagious.
These rabbits are not pets - they're food. I enjoy them and want to do my best to care for them. So while I'm not mourning the doe, I am bummed at the loss of the effort I put into her to get to her production age.
Clearly I misinterpreted signs of illness. So I did catch her being off a few days sooner, I was just too ignorant to realize and do anything about it. I've learned that part of my lesson the hard way. What I'd love to hear is if anyone has any ideas what might have happened to her and what steps I should have taken when I first noticed her acting differently.
I lost one of my does yesterday, and am curious as to what may have happened to her if anyone has any ideas. Some deaths aren't preventable, but if hers had been I'd like to learn from whatever mistakes I might have made.
A quick summary of my situation. I started with two does and a buck. At 5 months old they all moved into a colony space together. 30 days later I had one nest of 11 kits. I never did know for sure if they all belonged to one doe (or which one if they did) or if it was a shared nest. All the kits made it and are now 5.5 weeks old. I returned the buck to the colony 3.5 weeks ago.
Two days before the doe died I remember telling my husband I was pretty sure one doe was pregnant because she looked miserable (grumpy I think would have been a better word). I must have been projecting - I'm 7 months and grumpy myself. But all three adults were still moving around and coming to the feeders for their morning pellets so I didn't think much of it. The day after that she had a big pee stain along her face and down one side. Again, I didn't think too much of it with 11 older kits in there with her. I figured they were just piled and she didn't get out of the way fast enough. In hind sight, while she was still moving around then she was less inclined to do so. Then yesterday morning she made it over to the waterer and was sitting there stiff and kind of sunken into herself. That's when i finally realized something was seriously wrong. She'd rock back, her front feet off the ground just a bit, convulse for a second or two, then drop back down. She did that a couple times. At that point I picked her up to remove her from the colony. She didn't run and just flopped limp as I looked her over. Her eyes/nose were clear, no signs of swollen nipples. Her bum was a little dirty like maybe she'd been a bit runny but what was there was dry, not currently wet. I put her in a tub of her own on a bed of hay, added pellets and water, and left her. She scooted around a bit the rest of the morning but by the time I made it back over for the evening check she was dead - flopped on her back, rear legs splayed open, front together and twisted to the side (not necessarily violent in any way, just describing how she was laying). There was just a drop of blood around her bum. Our (hubby and I) best guess was either she died of some kind of infection or had trouble with kits.
We went ahead and opened her up to see what we could find. To our eyes, all her organs looked healthy. We saw no obvious signs of infection. Most interesting to me was that she wasn't bred. The buck had been back with the does for 3.5 weeks - I'd have thought surely in that time she'd have taken. I caught my still living doe and she seems fine. Dry, clean bum, active, and while I'm terrible at palpating I'd say there's good odds she's bred. Also I should say everyone remaining in the colony still appears healthy so I don't think this was something contagious.
These rabbits are not pets - they're food. I enjoy them and want to do my best to care for them. So while I'm not mourning the doe, I am bummed at the loss of the effort I put into her to get to her production age.
Clearly I misinterpreted signs of illness. So I did catch her being off a few days sooner, I was just too ignorant to realize and do anything about it. I've learned that part of my lesson the hard way. What I'd love to hear is if anyone has any ideas what might have happened to her and what steps I should have taken when I first noticed her acting differently.
