Missing fur... but no fur in nestbox?

[Miss M]

Squeak, our chinchilla-colored mutt doe, is missing a patch of fur. It involves the area where her right leg meets her body. I looked all in her nestbox (she's due in about 5 days), around her cage, under her cage... no fur to be found.

To add to it, there are two patches of newly-growing fur in the bald spot. Like she had lost a couple of small patches, they started growing back, and now she lost a bunch around them.

The pictures blow up big if you click on them, and then on the magnifying glass in the upper left corner.

The location:

The whole patch:

You can see around the new fur a slight pink tinge to the skin. It's also slightly rough there. The rest of it is smooth, creamy skin.

Recent change:
On October 15, I began feeding 14% horse feed. It is extremely low in molasses (as an ingredient, it appears last, AFTER the trace minerals), which appears to be added only to cause the minerals and salt to stick to the grains. I supplement sometimes with 17% alfalfa pellets, and an occasional handfull of BOSS.

Since I began feeding the horse feed, all rabbits have appeared to maintain condition and thrive. Fluffy, who had grown a bit thin a few weeks ago due to an enlarged stuck kit which caused her to deliver very late, has recovered quickly. Yuki, who just had her first litter a week and a half ago, is raising 9 fat, rascally little furballs, while maintaining condition herself.

the-great-horse-feed-experiment-t10418.html

Any ideas?

 

[skysthelimit]

That looks like what happened to me this summer, with the fungus thing.

It also looks like the way my JW molt, right down to the skin.

 

[Miss M]

That looks like what happened to me this summer, with the fungus thing.

It also looks like the way my JW molt, right down to the skin.

Do you have a thread about the fungus issue you dealt with?

I didn't think about molting... wow, I've never seen one molt like this. I thought all mine were done with it, but maybe not. Maybe I need to look a little harder for the fallen fur.

 

[Mary Ann's Rabbitry]

Any change in food , can make a rabbit Molt. It looks clean .. Can you go around the rabbit and kinda pluck fur very easy.

 

[skysthelimit]

That looks like what happened to me this summer, with the fungus thing.

It also looks like the way my JW molt, right down to the skin.

Do you have a thread about the fungus issue you dealt with?

I didn't think about molting... wow, I've never seen one molt like this. I thought all mine were done with it, but maybe not. Maybe I need to look a little harder for the fallen fur.

No, I think I explained it on someone else's thread. It started out as wet dewlap on a doe, and I did not notice the small spot. I bred her and she passed it to my herd sire. He in turn, passed it to whatever he bred. It started out by looking like a smooth, clean bald spot on the back of the neck of every doe he bred. Under the belly it scabbed a bit, depending on whether it was in lick reach. If not it just stayed clean. I poured vinegar on it and it cleared up on everyone.

I will have to get picts of the JW. The molt right down to the skin.

 

[Miss M]

Well, I looked and looked, and I cannot find the missing fur anywhere. It is not in her nestbox, on the floor of her cage, on the ground under her cage, or anywhere.

Any change in food , can make a rabbit Molt. It looks clean .. Can you go around the rabbit and kinda pluck fur very easy.

I forgot that a food change could bring that on! I tried, and I can't pluck her fur, though. I have had clumps come out when they've been molting... you can see the line where the old fur meets the new, and you can pull the old fur out easily. I can't do that, not even around the bald spot. She didn't particularly appreciate me trying. :roll: I could get a few hairs each time, but same as you could normally get from a rabbit if you tug on their fur.

Could it still be some sort of molt, if I can't pluck her fur?

It started out as wet dewlap on a doe, and I did not notice the small spot. I bred her and she passed it to my herd sire. He in turn, passed it to whatever he bred. It started out by looking like a smooth, clean bald spot on the back of the neck of every doe he bred. Under the belly it scabbed a bit, depending on whether it was in lick reach. If not it just stayed clean. I poured vinegar on it and it cleared up on everyone.

I'm glad to know that it's so easy to deal with, if that's what it ends up being!

 

[ZRabbits]

My Dobby had something like that. Kind of scared me until I did some research and found out about "full coat blowout" which some bunnies experience. Here's a pic of what occurred.

What I found was that if the skin pigment didn't change (darken) in a few days, there was problem like with mites. He didn't have any mites and I watched as the skin pigment changed and the new hair growth occurred. Also I couldn't pull hair easily in that area.

Hoping your rabbit is OK and that this is just an occurance of "full coat blowout".

Karen

 

[MaggieJ]

There are lots of possible causes for the fur loss and I think any of the ones suggested could be correct.

When chickens start plucking and eating feathers, it is often a sign that they are not getting enough protein. Fur and feathers both are mainly composed of protein. So it is possible that the lower levels of protein in the horse feed are causing this. You could try supplementing their feed with a good protein source and see if it makes a difference.

 

[Miss M]

I have supplemented some with BOSS and alfalfa pellets... she does not like alfalfa pellets, though. Maybe I gave her too much BOSS? Something in my brain tells me somebody said too much BOSS could blow a coat. :thinking:<br /><br />__________ Sun Nov 18, 2012 12:36 pm __________<br /><br />I do still have the issue of the fur being GONE, though... so I suppose the only explanation is that she ate it.

Fluffy ate the fur from her nestbox, but she did that on 16% pellets, too.

 

[Mary Ann's Rabbitry]

sometimes the fur eating is a habit. .. I would give her some flax seed as it also helps with wool block ..

 

[skysthelimit]

sometimes the fur eating is a habit. .. I would give her some flax seed as it also helps with wool block ..

Good point. I assume rabbits can and will chew their skin raw like dogs do.

 

[Miss M]

sometimes the fur eating is a habit

Now that is definitely a counterproductive habit. :angry: