Mysterious deaths in colony rabbits

[MamaSheepdog]

Baking soda would not be effective for rabbits. Part of it's action is to increase stomach gas so you will burp and hopefully relieve even more gas than you added. Rabbits can't do that.

YIKES!!! I see exploding bunnies!

Thanks for the clarification, Akane. Definitely not something we want to try.

 

[Zass]

Baking soda would not be effective for rabbits. Part of it's action is to increase stomach gas so you will burp and hopefully relieve even more gas than you added. Rabbits can't do that.

YIKES!!! I see exploding bunnies!

Thanks for the clarification, Akane. Definitely not something we want to try.

I have seen a lot of goat owners recommending it over on facebook.

I'd always check their personal pages to kind of get a feel for their experience levels.

And, I very rarely ever saw pictures of ACTUAL LIVE RABBITS on their facebook pages..
(It would usually be filled with pics of goats though)
I know that isn't conclusive, but, I'm still waiting to see someone who has actually run a productive rabbitry for any length of time recommend that, and not just a goat owner who's dabbled a bit with rabbits that they do not feel the need to photograph...

Due to the possible repercussions (which could be unbelievably painful to rabbits) ...I'm feeling more skeptical than average, AND, I'm not willing to risk my own with a test run.

 

[Nika]

Now that you mentioned it.. I told this thing to every rabbit person I saw today - it is said that rabbits can´t throw up. One of mine did and it was the cutest thing I ever seen. I don˙t know if something stuck in his throat or he was ill (he is still alive, but I only have 7 out of 15) but he gagged a few times and the throw up some no-colour liquid.

Feed is practically the same in the last few years, hay from our backyard, grass from our backyard and grains from a friend, but they get like a fist of grains every day and it is certanly not moldy.

Thanky for spliting the topic, at first I thought you deleted me because of my words.. But I have to ask - do I really open a new topic for a problem disscused here in the past? Here with us is that practicaly forbidenn, you must search an entire forum before "speaking" (but, our forum mentality is very low, I am really surprised about everything here on rabbittalk). I am wondering why all of your rabbits have dewlap and none of mine ever did, don`t know where to ask

So my no1 question is: do I let this thing to go through the herd and breed towards resistance or I immediately treat for coccidia, which I think it could be a possibility? I was planning to keep one or two does from this litter.

 

[Zass]

I'd treat for coccida if it's a concern, but since they are on the ground, treatment will never really eradicate the problem (it's caused by a protozoa that can live in soil) So you would be looking at routine treatments in order to keep your herd healthy. Feeding high tannin plants is said to help keep it under control (raspberry, rose, willow, etc), but my copy of Rabbit Production also warns about too much tannin, so balance must be found..

Some have chosen to breed towards resistance to that as well, and overall success seems to have a lot to do with how nasty their particular strain is. The hepatic cocci that hit my colony weanlings years ago was so nasty that I simply butchered what was left of the survivors and found another use for the pen.
To this day I've still never considered putting rabbits in there again. I probably never will.

Others have said that they have never actually had it kill kits, so they could just select from the strongest and go from there. :shrug:


I think, on RT it's most common to post a new topic any time that your rabbits have an illness that requires immediate treatment or action so that everyone knows to respond right away and to keep on eye on that thread. (and please put URGENT or something similar in the title so people know the buns are on a time limit.)