Oh no! Not now! --- UPDATED WITH PIC

[Jessykah]

I got permission from landlords to have rabbits. I was super excited. I spent hours scrubbing the cages, feeders, and trays with bleach/water. Hosed them off. Let the sun disinfect them some more. Bought new waterers. Then went and got my rabbits from my sister's farm where she was caring for them. Inspected them before I transported them, all 3 seemed healthy and happy. Brought them home, put them in cages, and pretty much as soon as they went in cages, the buck let out a sneeze. White discharge. I freaked. I spent so long cleaning cages, preparing for this, and now he is sick?! It took me soooo long to find californians! I cannot afford to lose him! The does were already exposed to him. One of them was bred to him on the 7th. But I have the 2 does side by side, and the buck under them, so he is kinda quarantined. This soooo upsets me! What do I do? I don't want a sick rabbit, and I don't know if the others are sick, and they are both about to kindle after next weekend. Do I HAVE to cull him? Can I treat him? Does anyone else know of a breeder near Pembroke, Ontario, Canada that I can get another buck from? Sorry for rambling on... :evil:

 

[Frosted Rabbits]

Start hitting all of them with the tetracycline protocol-- get the powdered form, and follow directions for poultry-- move the buck someplace else-- And feed immune boosting foods to them all, as well.

Take care--

 

[Jessykah]

I will check the feed store for it. Thanks.

 

[OneAcreFarm]

I hate to be a bubble buster, but if it is Pasteurella, then tetracycline is not going to do any good. The only thing it WILL do, is give you a false sense of security when it suppresses the symptoms. I would get him MUCH farther away from your does and make sure you tend him last. It could be something else, or it could be pasteurella. Until you know, you should treat it as if it is. White snot after the stress of being transported is highly suspicious to me. It could be that this particular buck has a weaker immune system and the stress of transport allowed the bacteria to take hold and become infective. I would hold off on antibiotics for now and see if he worsens. You need to be able to see what you are dealing with and suppressing the symptoms isn't going to help you. I hope that he is not ill...

 

[Whipple]

:yeahthat:

Sorry you're having to deal with this. Does your sister have rabbits? Or did it come from the breeder?

 

[Jessykah]

my sister has other rabbit that he was beside. So I am going to tell her.

 

[Miss M]

I have to agree with OneAcreFarm...

Hopefully, he just got a piece of hay up his nose, sneezed it out, and that will be the end of it. But you really need to get him as far away from the does as possible, as quickly as possible. Just because they've been around him does not mean they will get sick just because he does (if he does). But you want to give the girls the best chance you can... especially since it took you so long to find them.

Care for the girls first, then the buck, just like she said. Watch the buck for more snot, matting between the front legs resulting from dried snot drying on them, wheezing, and holding his head farther up than normal (to breathe).

Keep him separated for at least a month. If nothing else happens, then he probably did have a piece of hay up his nose.

Some breeders have limited return policies. You need to let your seller know what happened, and find out if they have a return/exchange policy. Find out if the policy will extend over a quarantine period, just in case it turns out to be nothing.

 

[Marinea]

*fingers crossed for a good outcome*

You got great advice here, just wanted to add my good thoughts.

 

[MamaSheepdog]

Oh no!

I hope it isn't what we think it is. :clover:

Keep him quarantined as the others said, and hopefully the issue will resolve. I second OAF's caution against treating with antibiotics.

Perhaps you can find a vet in the area that works with rabbits and see if they will do a culture for you to rule out Pasteurella. If you are lucky they will give you the swabs to collect the sample and do the culture without an office call.

It could be Bordetella, which is treatable with antibiotics- but still not something I would want to keep and breed from because to me it indicates a weak immune system. However, since you have limited options for replacement stock, you may feel differently.

 

[ladysown]

quarantine if you'd like.

me... I'd cull. always breed for health, as much as it kills you to do so.

And yeah, I totally understand.

BUT the does are bred... one of them SHOULD have a buck kit... so not all is lost. You have his genetics...and in about four months (past the heat of summer) you can breed him! (might be six depending on how long he takes to mature).

 

[Jessykah]

Ok, so I have an even bigger problem than I thought. The buck is still sneezing, still white discharge. Now I saw one of the does sneeze, and the other doe had white discharge on her nose when I went out to feed one day. So all three have it, and the 2 does are due next week!
I am unable to get any replacement stock for quite a while, it would be an all day trip and a lot of money.
So what do you think? Can I keep my rabbits, raise as many fryers as I can this spring, summer, and fall, and then kill all stock including bucks and does, send them to the freezer, sanitize everything, and start over fresh next spring? Is this possible? (as long as I visit no one else's rabbitries and I sanitize my hands after dealing with rabbits)
This is so discouraging for me, after it took me soooo long to find californians.
Here is a pic of the temporary set-up. I was planning on building a shed this summer for them to be housed in the winter. Now I don't know what I am going to do. The 2 does are on top, buck is on bottom. I don't like these cages. They are deep holes, so it's hard for me to reach the back. The pans are too large and are hard to move, and the middles sometimes sag. But they are enough for now. Remember the doe that had pink eye, and healed up just fine with treatment? She is the doe on the left. You can see how hot it is today, they just want to stretch out.

 

[MamaSheepdog]

Since you don't really have any options, I would keep them and breed them as you are thinking of doing. Hopefully it is not one of the terribly deadly strains, and they will kindle and raise their litters successfully.

Just in case you are unable to find replacement stock in the spring, I would keep back a trio from the litters that have shown the least signs of illness. That way you have the option of breeding the next generation of (hopefully) healthier stock with stronger immune systems. If you are lucky enough to find good replacement stock, they can be used as roasters.

Pasteurella has a very short lifespan outside of the host animal- only about 24 hours- so even if you just left the cages empty for a couple of days the organism would die off. Of course, I am not recommending that you forego a thorough cleaning, just trying to reassure you that your cages are not forever compromised by housing ill rabbits.

Now... as to your cages. It looks like it would be fairly easy to either remove them from that rack or cut the leg supports in half so that you can hang them and be done with the trays.

The reason the floor is sagging is because of the way the doors were installed with no wire supports across the top and bottom. If you have J-clips or hog rings, you could scab in some wire across the top and bottom. It doesn't even have to be proper cage wire- hardware cloth or field fencing would do the trick.

I am sorry you are going through this. Good luck with your rabbits. :clover:

 

[MaggieJ]

So sorry you're having to deal with this, Jessykah.

Let us know how the does do with their kits. At least with only three rabbits you don't have to worry about infecting others and can afford to wait and see.

 

[akane]

I doubt they'll survive long enough to breed from them. My doe with pastuerella lost weight and had horrible breathing problems within the week. You'll be lucky to get a batch of kits out of them to raise up and breed.

 

[ladysown]

wait it out and see how it goes. How sick they get depends on their immune system and the strain they got. if they get too ill you can cull them, otherwise see how they go. Then when you can afford it, cull the works, and start again fresh (after cleaning and letting the cages sit in full sun for a week or so).

 

[3mina]

Jessykah, I just had to cull a buck I drove six hours round trip to get but I couldn't take the chance he'd infect the rest of my rabbits, he never made it out of quarantine. The breeder was horrified and we've made arrangements for a replacement. I'm very sorry you are dealing with this. (hugs)

 

[Mary Ann's Rabbitry]

You can raise the babies as long you take them around 3 weeks old. They are not with mom to much up till that point.. Also sound like you had this problem happening in your sister barn before you moved them. It could be the weather changing so much that affected them .. Are these cals you got from me last year. ????

 

[Jessykah]

Thanks for the advise and support guys! The buns are due any day now, hopefully they took. (I haven't mastered palpating yet) So now it's the waiting game. I will keep you updated!

3mina: Thanks. I am sorry you had to deal with this too. It is even more of a loss when we try really hard to get a rabbit and it was all for nothing.

Mary Ann: Yes the infection came from my sister's farm. I told her about it, and she is now in the process of culling and sanitizing her whole herd. She is disappointed for sure, as well as me....Yes they are the cals I got from you. My husband and I really like them, so hopefully we can hold onto them until we get replacement stock. I cannot find cals unless I drive really far. Maybe one day I will make the trip. Let me know if you know of somewhere I can get replacements. The closer the better. We really want cals, and we want them to be very good quality.

 

[Mary Ann's Rabbitry]

I will keep my eyes open for you. That is really to bad as they were very good quality bunnies . It is so hard to get good cal in our area as they are always mixed with something. or just not looked after .. i am sorry you are going through with this. I would keep the babies back and try to build from that .. :grouphug:

 

[Jessykah]

So neither of the does kindled. Bummer. One of them pulled fur, but then nothing. I bred one yesterday, and one the day before. Three times each, I hope it works this time.
My friend's mini rex doe has been sneezing lately. Yesterday she asked me to cull her and her wee litter. I said I would. But then at the last minute I decided to take them to my place and raise the kits for meat, then cull the doe, instead of wasting. I thought why not? since I have three sick buns already, and there was a spare cage. Free buns yay. There isn't as much meat on them as a meat breed, but their meat-to-bone ratio is good. Still haven't decided what to do about the herd though. I guess it depends on if they can successfully raise litters. But to keep over winter? I don't know. Hopefully I can find some replacement calis soon....in the meantime, these mini rex kits are sooo cute. Will be hard to butcher.