New Baby Pics and Does diarrhoea

[flipp]

Hey everyone,
I thought you might all like to see my little ones now they are 9 days old. They are very cute. I am concerned about my doe. She exhibited some signs of an upset tummy earlier this week and I with held her greens and cut back a little on her pellets. This really improved her poo and she returned to normal. I gave back her unlimited supply of pellets and she has been fine the last couple of days however just now she has started very wet, runny poo (a lot different than earlier in the week). I have posted a picture for you to see what it is like as she just left one on my carpet as I was changing out her cage and freshening up the nest. I have picked her some strawberry leaves and I think I will cut back her pellets again. Any other ideas and does this look pretty bad?<br /><br />__________ Thu Aug 29, 2013 10:15 pm __________<br /><br />

 

[MamaSheepdog]

The kits are adorable!

The potty doesn't look too bad, but I would give her more strawberry leaves and cut back the pellets again. I would give unlimited hay and also give her some old fashioned rolled oats.

I believe in another thread you mentioned you can't find canned pumpkin? You might offer her some winter squash instead. Butternut, Acorn, or Spaghetti squash may be helpful. You can try giving it raw, but if she doesn't take it that way you could steam it and mash it with a little bit of molasses to encourage her to try it.

 

[Miss M]

Maybe you could give her a ration of pellets and unlimited oats and hay for a few days? Probiotics, maybe?

I'm really not sure, since she's nursing. Hopefully, others will chime in.<br /><br />__________ Thu Aug 29, 2013 10:00 pm __________<br /><br />HA! MSD beat me to it!

 

[MamaSheepdog]

Probiotics, maybe?

YES!!!

Go to a feed store and find a probiotic product marketed for livestock (goats, sheep, horses) and give her some of that.

Good call, Miss M! :clap2:

 

[flipp]

Thanks everyone for your suggestions. Will the oats help firm things up? Do I mix them with water and feed it to her like a porridge mix? I will go and get some probiotics for her now - do I add that to water? I'm pretty sure we don't have canned pumpkin in New Zealand, could I just cook her some normal pumpkin or must it be the squashes?

__________ Fri Aug 30, 2013 4:20 am __________

Just an update, even though you are all sleeping right now on the other side of the world. She has finally stopped her yucky pooping which has gone on all afternoon (it's now 8:00pm here and I just checked her again and she has done some very dark and slightly damp normal shaped, normal sized poop in her litter box). I have taken out her pellets but I'm still not sure about the rolled oats (how to give them) but she has been eating hay and I have been hand feeding her hay as well as strawberry leaves to keep her interest in eating. It is obviously the free feeding of the pellets that is causing this. Should I just give her a measured amount each day? Also, what will I do when the babies are needing free fed pellets as well because I can't stop her from scoffing them and this is the outcome if she just constantly eats them - yet the babies will need them to grow properly. She has often suffered this and I wonder if it is because her breeder fed her greens and fruit and treat pellets all the time from an early age and she never ate hay. When I first got her she didn't know what to do with hay and she suffered from an upset tum and a dirty bottom all the time until I got tough and removed all other options except hay. Now she has a good balance of pellets with hay and some greens (though too much causes upsets too) and weeds but we normally have her sorted, its just with lactating I realise she is meant to be free fed pellets but there is no use doing that if she is ending up sick. How will I control this for her with her babies?

 

[squidpop]

Maybe if you give her lots of pellets she just eats all the pellets and not enough hay because as you said she wasn't raised on hay so is just not into it. - I would just ration her pellets down to what's normal for a non-nursing doe and give her a ration of the oats- and maybe some raw sunflower seeds 1/2 teaspoon for a boost of vitamin E and protein.

 

[Mary Ann's Rabbitry]

give her dry oatmeal.. You don't have to mix with water or anything..

 

[Marinea]

Yes, dry regular rolled oats (not instant). And if the kits snack on it, it won't hurt them.

 

[MamaSheepdog]

I will go and get some probiotics for her now - do I add that to water?

It should come in a paste form in a large syringe. Just squirt a bit into her mouth every day for a week or so.

I also have it in powdered form for my horses, and have used that as a top dressing on the rabbit feed.

could I just cook her some normal pumpkin?

Yes.

Should I just give her a measured amount each day?

Yes. I would free feed hay and give pellets either in the morning or evening.

what will I do when the babies are needing free fed pellets as well because I can't stop her from scoffing them and this is the outcome if she just constantly eats them - yet the babies will need them to grow properly.

I have creep feeders for my kits, but before that I would put their supplements into a cat litter jug.

Creep feeder:



Litter jug:

 

[ladysown]

i have two holland lop does that have issues when the kits hit day 6 - day 17 or so . (give or take a day or two). where their poops are a bit off. I used to worry...I don't any more. Just feed as per normal, with a touch more fibre and they will be just fine.

 

[flipp]

Thanks everyone for all your advice. I gave her a small amount of pellets this morning and she produced excess cecotropes by this afternoon. She also has some oats now but she's not that fussed on them by the looks of it, perhaps she will eat them if she gets hungry enough. Also, she left a pile of cecotropes not in the babies nest but above it on the hay, should I give them to the babies or is it too early for them to eat this? They are 10 days old today, when should I expect their eyes to have opened by?