Has your buck lost any weight? My buck has terrible sore hocks and has lost a ton of weight. I have been giving him pellets and grass and he eats some of the hay I leave for bedding. I am definitely getting rid of him but, I need him to heal up and gain back the weight. Do you know any good feeds or medicines that could help with sore hocks or to gain weight? He was one of my nice breeders but, now I'm looking for a new one.
When a rabbit has serious sore hocks, it's too miserable to do much of anything, so it will very often lose condition pretty dramatically. And when it goes off its feed, its gut gets upset, which makes it even more uncomfortable, and so it goes... Add to that the above-mentioned tendency to develop urine scald, aka hutch burn, because of the weird way it will hold itself due to the pain, and you have a pretty sad bunny. I am fighting this issue with my Champagne D'Argents at the moment and I expect it will take several generations to shake it out, but I know it can be done.
In the meantime, here's what seems to be giving relief to the poor sore bunnies. All of the Champagnes get a resting mat, whether or not they have sore hocks (yet). That can be a bit of a Catch-22, since it tends to catch dirt and then wetness, so they end up sitting on that, which makes things worse. So, if you put any kind of resting board (wood, plastic or tile), you need to really keep ahead of getting it cleaned or replaced as soon as there's any nastiness on it. But a rabbit that has or tends to have sore hocks
really needs a clean place to get off the wire, whether it's a board or a solid-bottomed cage.
The worst situation I've had was a doe that had just come off a litter, who went from looking uncomfortable to being emaciated (6lbs when she should have been 10) with the most awful case of urine scald I've ever seen, all in the span of 5 days. It was incredible how fast she faltered. I brought her in the house where I could keep a good eye on her and put her in a small cage with a resting mat that took up most of the floor space (she wasn't moving around much anyway). Her hutch burn was so bad that she actually smelled dead
I rinsed her gently with warm water and patted her dry. I had to do this a few times, but I was amazed at how fast she turned around and her skin went back to healthy pink instead of flaming angry red. The sore hocks took quite a lot longer to heal.
To bring the rabbit back up to a good weight, the key is to remedy the problem that caused the weight loss in the first place. In this case it could be the sore hocks, but consider if something else might also be a contributing factor. Once you're satisfied that you've addressed any other problems, doing what you're doing - feeding a quality pellet and lots of grass and hay - is the right start. Giving the rabbit a probiotic like Benebac is something I usually do for any rabbit that has had weight or other digestive issues. Adding BOSS (black oil sunflower seed) is always a good option to put weight on rabbits, and given in reasonable amounts (1 tsp - 1Tbl a day, depending on the size of the rabbit), I've never seen it trigger any new problems. It's pretty easy to find, often sold as wild bird seed. Other supplements that will put on weight are oats/dry oatmeal, and Calf Manna.
As
@eco2pia points out, this tends to be a constant maintenance concern. And as she also points out, it can stem from behavioral traits (thumping at everything), as well as thin fur on the feet, or narrow feet; behavioral tendencies, foot width and fur thickness are all heritable, so I think you'd be wise to avoid keeping his offspring as breeders.
