Struggling to get going and need some advice.
- Thread starter Gillian
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Hi, I started my rabbitry I'm March and have had one successful litter of 10. I lost my lovely breeding buck to fly strike, and now have 5 of my 10 kits with nasty lumps on their ears. I am feeling quite despondent and could really do with some advice. The lump shown goes right through my rabbits ear. They are due to be processed in 4 weeks, and I'm not sure that are safe to eat. Can anyone help?
Cooked properly, they are safe to eat. There isn't anything that renders rabbits unedible.
Can't comment on that parasite issue, we don't have that over here.
Can't comment on that parasite issue, we don't have that over here.
I've never seen anything like that before. Any ideas on how it started?
Any chance they are fighting and causing damage to each other? How old are they now?
Any chance they are fighting and causing damage to each other? How old are they now?
Hi, the kits are 10 weeks old. Not fighting. I started with one with an ear lump and one with a lip lump at about 3 weeks. Treated the lip lump with antibiotic cream and it went. The ear lump remained even with treatment on the other rabbit. Moved the rabbits onto the tractor at 5 weeks. Now have 5 with fatty ear lumps. One has just started growing and is just a lump under the outer ear fur. The others have all erupted to form scabs over them. The rabbits themselves are well and growing. I'm just not happy to eat them if the are infected with something.
Maybe you could ask some other rabbit breeders in your area if they have run into this and what they did for it. In the meantime, you could try alternating antibiotic ointment with antifungal cream or spray (be sure to research what can be used in rabbits). I had a spider bite a few years ago and the doctor had me alternate the two to heal - antibiotic in the morning, fungal cream at night. The spider had given me a gift of both!
I have looked at ringworm images and dont see the resemblance. Do you have any images that might confirm?
Did your spider bites look like my images? There are spiders in my barn, but half of my kits have this now.
Thanks for the info. I think it might be safest to use anti fungal and antibiotic creams as you suggest. These are my meat rabbits and plan to process in 4 weeks. Did you eat your treated rabbit?
I am going to treat for ringworm with anti fungal and anti biotic cream if it is something else. I am still struggling to find a similar image, but the closest is ringworm on a dog. Thanks for your help.
It wasn't a rabbit, it was myself. The resemblance of the bite on my hand to your rabbits is what made me think of it. It itched and burned horribly, and I would catch myself digging at it at times. It did not heal until I alternated the antibiotic and antifungal as the doctor suggested. I do not know what kind of withdrawal time there would be on topically applied ointments. I did a quick search and it seems to depend on how long the ointment is applied.
bot fly. dealt with those with horses. not sure that is what you have here. Hmmm, would it be wrong to try a little tea tree oil around the area? not sure how rabbits react to oils but I sure like using them on myself and horses. tea tree would be your antifungal. sorry for your troubles.
