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kentuckyjeff

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me and wife live in the country on small farm have chick,cats dogs bees and rcently were given 2 american harlequin does. have a nice home for them best food, clean eviornment, have had them about 8wks. wks 1 thru 4 great. so we decide to breed bought nice buck, they breed. time goes by. one doe for some reason doesn't take we don't breed her again. waiting for other rabbit to have her babies, meanwhile rabbit one {dafanie} starts fasting she won't eat hardly anything. starting to starve herself. need some advice, please what should we do????
 
Quarantine was a lesson I learned quickly. When you introduce rabbits from other rabbitries it is a must. They need to be kept separate from your herd at least a month. Rabbits can carry Pasteurella and look completely fine, but under stress it can become apparent. I'd suggest you do more reading on it.

http://www.rabbitnetwork.org/articles/past.shtml

I have yet to work with Harlequins, but Hendricks Hearth on here does. She also has a website you can look up her rabbitry name and find her email. She is very knowledgeable about this breed. It is a larger breed, so I suggest waiting until they are 8 months to breed.

I'd try mixing oats into her food. Other members I'm sure will have more advice for you! Sorry to hear about your rabbit not doing well :(
 
Try to tempt them with oats (oatmeal works if it isn't instant or flavored) and black oil sunflower seeds. The kind sold for birds. These put on weight quick and are usually fairly irresistible. If that doesn't work get some fruit juice (preferably no added sugars) and dilute 50% with water or puree a banana and soak the pellets or oatmeal in it. Too much of certain fruits will increase the problem and most fruit juice is apple based which is bad but if you don't get food down a rabbit and things moving within a couple days the digestive tract can stop altogether and become necrotic. Then you have a dead rabbit.

Do they have hay? Not eating with no other symptoms like snotty noses is usually digestive upset, unless there is a cause for pain, and hay can help prevent that by keeping things moving and not letting gas bubbles build up (bloat). If they don't already have some get them any long stem fiber you can including straw which they should eat if they need it even though straw has no nutritional value except fiber. Hay would be much better though.
 
First thing, check her water. If she has a bottle, make sure it is working well. I suggest giving her a crock of water as well, just for now. If she doesn't drink, she won't eat and will go downhill fast.

Second thing, check her poops. Are they normal? Any sign of diarrhea, bloated gut? Does she seem to be in pain... sitting hunched in a corner, grinding her teeth? She could have a blockage.

Check her teeth. Bad teeth can keep a rabbit from eating.

Offer her some grass hay, some kitchen oatmeal (like Quaker Old Fashioned, not instant). Offer small quantities of fresh greens - dandelion leaves, parsley, romaine lettuce... just to try to interest her in food. If you suspect a blockage, a chunk of fresh pineapple may help.

It is vital to get her drinking. Try offering her water with a bit of apple juice in it, or chamomile tea. Make sure she has plain water as well. She may need an electrolyte solution, such as children's Pedialyte.

Observe her carefully and report back so we can give you advice tailored to the situation. I'm only mentioning some common reasons for a rabbit to quit eating. Oh, perhaps most important... Look for what has changed. New bag of feed, different brand, different bale of hay... that kind of thing. Sniff the feed and examine it for signs of dampness or mould. These things can not only put a rabbit off its feed, they can also make it sick.
 
Sick rabbit ,saw her eating small amounts of grass and hay also we gave her some fresh clover but was not interested. She did drink water. Hope she is on the upsweep. She is a sweetie. We don't know what else to do for her. thanks for advise
 
Would probiotics (yogurt) do any good? If its a stomach issue, could that help to get things back in running order?
 
SMR":2egc1b8h said:
Would probiotics (yogurt) do any good? If its a stomach issue, could that help to get things back in running order?
Click to expand...
They can't hurt... worst case scenario would be if they don't help.
 
SO she is hanging on but she is not any better. She did drink some water with a little juice in it and I got her to eat 1 chunk of pineapple maybe she had a couple of oats. No food, no yogurt and very little water if any. I spent a lot of time with her today and I did not see her munch on any hay.
 
kentuckyjeff":2cbar8pt said:
SO she is hanging on but she is not any better. She did drink some water with a little juice in it and I got her to eat 1 chunk of pineapple maybe she had a couple of oats. No food, no yogurt and very little water if any. I spent a lot of time with her today and I did not see her munch on any hay.
Click to expand...

Get some Probios or Bene Bac paste to give her instead of trying to get her to eat yogurt. Mine seem to know when they need it and they gobble it right out of the tube.
 
She is not well. I think we are going to lose her. Also our other rabit ate her newborn. We read through our books and could not find a reason for it. Do any of you know why she would do that ? She is suppose to be a good mom/breeder. It was a little disturbing.
 
I am so sorry to hear that! I was hoping you would have at least one survive. Please don't give up! I am still struggling with getting my pedigreed EA doe to breed ... 6 months and one still born litter and I am hoping she does better with this litter. The Satin doe (meat rabbit) does amazing! But it takes 20 weeks for hers to make butcher weight!

Jeff, animals can sense when there are unseen problems with the babies. Sometimes they will eat them to recover the lost nutrients ... it is a genetically programmed trait. Other times, they will refuse to nurse those. It is the way of nature.

However, at other times, the birthing can so deplete the mother's minerals that she has to eat the kits. On another forum, it was suggested that the day before or the day of kindling to offer the doe a fruity tums. This will provide an extra calcium boost that kindling depletes. Mine like the cherry better than the grape, but will eat either one just before kindling.
 
Well that is kind of what we figured. Thanks. As for the sick girl she is not pooping. She is not eating or drinking, anything. She is facing the corner and her breathing is shallow and quick.
 
I agree, poor baby. It is time to put her down. It is so sad to loose them when they are this young!
 
I would also put her down. You tried all you could to save her, and now it is the kind thing to do. When they take rapid shallow breaths the end is always near- I have seen it a few times with other animals that we couldn't bring ourselves to put down.

So sorry for you both. :(
 

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