Rabbits are sensitive to Alfalfa Hay

[Amy]

Now that I've been feeding a grain diet for awhile, I bought a bale of good looking alfalfa hay-real leafy and green! I also had some other good hay that someone gave me. It seemed like everytime I fed it to my does they would stop eating their cecal's, and maybe even get a touch of diarrhea. So, naturally I was very careful and for the most part would just give them the other hay w/ maybe just a little alfalfa mixed in. They seemed to do okay w/it mixed in.
I've also done that since they've had their kits, not all the time maybe once/week. The kits are 6 wks. old right now. The other hay ran out the other day, so all I had to give them was alfalfa. I gave them some, not as much as I would with the hay.
They all love it!! Well, today 1 of the litters has poop stuck to their fur-in different places...there's only 1 kit that I can definetly tell must have had diarrhea/loose poop.
Is this the first stage on enteritis?
I won't be giving them anymore alfalfa for now, will have to get more hay as that is their favorite type of food.
Should I switch to just oats for a couple of days?
Anything else I can do to help them recover?
Anything I should watch out for?
It has been in the single digits at nite lately, but it's supposed to start warming up a bit. I've been giving them a dishpan to snuggle inside of.<br /><br />__________ Mon Jan 14, 2013 11:05 am __________<br /><br />I should add that I brought them inside and they seem like normal, happy, playful kits.

 

[MamaSheepdog]

I would suggest pulling the pellets, and substituting oats. If you get another bale of your regular hay they can have that as well.

Probiotic paste (such as Bene Bac for livestock) would be a good idea as well, and is available at feed stores. Give everybunny about a pea sized portion a day for a week or so.

If the diarrhea worsens, give them electrolytes as well. It wouldn't hurt to offer it to them now if you like.

http://www.ehow.com/how_5875270_make-el ... ution.html

 

[Bad Habit]

I think it is all in what they are used to. My rabbits don't have a problem with the alfalfa/grass I feed them, unless they go glutton on it and eat nothing else. Alfalfa is a lot richer than timothy or grass hays, though, so that's probably why your adults don't eat their cecals, they don't need that extra nutrition. It's probably just too rich for the babies to solely feed on.

 

[akane]

Mine mostly live on alfalfa/clover hay but any diet changes can cause upset stomach and alfalfa is rich. If you ever want to introduce the alfalfa permanently you might want to do oats the whole time since your rabbits seem extra sensitive. Mine switch hays with no issue. Every now and then we can't get our usually really rich stuff and buy some grass hay or those ultra compressed feedstore bales of timothy.

 

[Amy]

Yeah, they do seem extra sensitive as I've tried introducing it to them slowly and usually mixed with other hay. The does are also extra sensitive to fresh foods, even after introducing very slowly. I don't know why???
Got 1 poopy butt this morning from the same litter as yesterday. 1 litter seems more sensitive than the other, so they are just on oats (hoping to get more hay that they are used to) I made up the electrolyte solution and gave all the babies ProBios. I'm also marking their ear with an X if they show signs of poopy butt/diarrhea, so I don't keep them. In fact I may not keep any from that litter.