This is gunna be hard..........

[GBov]

The buck that had the abscess healed up nicely but is now sneezing. And a cage of grow outs are sneezing and have runny noses.

So I guess they have to go be fertilizer.

And even better is that a few others have been exposed to the sick ones as the kids have been loving and petting the kits that now have runny noses and then petting other rabbits in the herd.

This sucks

So how long after I dispatch all snot nosed rabbits can I call my herd clean? Or in other words, how long do I have to hold my breath hoping for no new cases of pasteurella?

 

[Mary Ann's Rabbitry]

sorry that you are going through with this.. I say 2 months to be on the safe side.

 

[MamaSheepdog]

Oh no.

I know that a lot of people probably think that those of us that cull at the first sign of the dreaded "P word" think that we are hard-hearted and unfairly cull our rabbits without "giving them a chance", or are not dedicated enough to put forth the effort to try to "heal" them- in fact I experienced that reaction first hand from my own family when I culled Black Floyd- but nothing could be further from the truth.

I just had to cull three does and a young kit, and it was terrible, but necessary. Sadly, you are now seeing why we do it.

You can still harvest the meat, just cook it well as you would normally do anyway. Discard the head and lungs, and any organs that look compromised.

Make sure to disinfect the cages as well as you can.

I don't know if any of us can ever call our herds "clean" of Pasteurella. We just need to cull rabbits as symptoms appear, and hope the cases are few and far between.

I hope that you wont see any more cases after you cull the ill ones. Hopefully the others have stronger immune systems and will live long and healthy lives. :clover:

 

[Secuono]

Problem is, all could have it now. So after QT, if you are willing, you can 'gently' stress them and see if anything at all shows.

 

[skysthelimit]

It's been two months since I culled three. But my new Cal Rex had some thing in his eye. He may never make it out of quarantine.

 

[Frosted Rabbits]

Every herd has some variant of pasteurella--the idea is to cull for strong immune systems so that one herds variant does not affect another herd when the two strains meet. TYO produce a line oif rtabbits that does not test positive for any variety is indeed, a very difficult undertaking. Far better to cull for vigor than to try to maintain a sterile herd..

 

[Heritage Homestead]

So sorry you are having this problem. I hope no more get it.

 

[GBov]

Every herd has some variant of pasteurella--the idea is to cull for strong immune systems so that one herds variant does not affect another herd when the two strains meet. TYO produce a line oif rtabbits that does not test positive for any variety is indeed, a very difficult undertaking. Far better to cull for vigor than to try to maintain a sterile herd..

When you say cull for a strong immune system, do you mean cull any animal that shows symptoms or isolate any animal that shows symptoms and keep the ones that "get better"?

 

[Mary Ann's Rabbitry]

no, not get better. .. cull with any signs of it.

 

[Frosted Rabbits]

Some cull for any animal showing signs of ANY illness, others will keep those that recover without treatment I, personally, like a wait and see--If an animal can recover, and continue without loss of condition and future productivity, that means the immune system is working correctly. A properly working immune system responds to a challenge, while a poor one does not, or it becomes overwhelmed and fails to provide future benefit tot he animal.

Remember, symptoms are NOT illness/injury specific-- A sneeze is not always 'snuffles'. A limp is not always a hurt foot.A fever can actually be an allergic reaction..eye boogers- a windy day...
You must decide how to manage your herd for health. I may decide to try saving an animal because of its good physical qualities, while culling another with the same symptoms.

One of the ways to help ensure a herd full of healthy animals is to be alert to the management practices of your source-- If your source indicates very regular wormings, use of miticides and antibiotics- chances are, you are buying an animal with a poor immune system..

 

[GBov]

I had to wait until school started back to cull my sons rabbit but its done now, as well as two does too. One was my suspected carrier and the other was my second favorite doe who's abscess had come back.

But the good news is the cage of sneezing kits turned out to be a windy day and a new cage placement as it cleared up by the next day and no signs of anything bad since then.

I have my fingers crossed for no new occurrences and am watching my favorite doe Honey like a hawk as she has a litter by Rusty (my sons buck)but she went with him right before he showed any major signs of illness and she looks fine so far. Her kits are adorable and its so nice to have a little bit of him still in the rabbitry.

It really sucked to have to shoot three beautiful rabbit friends in the head but it was the right thing to do.

 

[AmysMacdog]

Bless your heart! I'm sorry for your losses. Hoping and praying all stay healthy for you, especially Honey and her babies.

 

[OneAcreFarm]

I had to wait until school started back to cull my sons rabbit but its done now, as well as two does too. One was my suspected carrier and the other was my second favorite doe who's abscess had come back.

But the good news is the cage of sneezing kits turned out to be a windy day and a new cage placement as it cleared up by the next day and no signs of anything bad since then.

I have my fingers crossed for no new occurrences and am watching my favorite doe Honey like a hawk as she has a litter by Rusty (my sons buck)but she went with him right before he showed any major signs of illness and she looks fine so far. Her kits are adorable and its so nice to have a little bit of him still in the rabbitry.

It really sucked to have to shoot three beautiful rabbit friends in the head but it was the right thing to do.

Hard to do, but better to lose three than your whole herd. That is why I like the practice of isolation and quarantine. I don't cull at the first sign of illness usually. I will isolate and quarantine until I am sure one way or the other. Unless I see white snot, which is an immediate ticket to camp.

 

[GBov]

Thanks for the kind words of support and Yes, its better to loose three than all but it still was a bummer. Rusty was feeling bad, you could see it in the way he sat all hunched up - didn't stop the pig eating like a bottomless bin though :roll: - but Patches was acting her usual self, affectionate and curious of anything new but her nose was running with white snot and her abscess had returned so it was an easy call to make, just sad.

Honey and kits still look good, am I right in thinking four more weeks and I can count them clean and safely out of danger? The kits are a week old and she went at day 31.

 

[AnnClaire]

Aww, GBov, what a heart wrenching task :grouphug2:

As for Honey and the kids, I would suggest that if you are planning to use them as meat rabbits, yes, 4 weeks should do it. If you are wanting them to growout as replacements, I would suggest that you keep them quarantined for at least 8 weeks and if ANY of them show signs, cull the whole lot, maybe Honey too :sorry:

 

[GBov]

Aww, GBov, what a heart wrenching task :grouphug2:

As for Honey and the kids, I would suggest that if you are planning to use them as meat rabbits, yes, 4 weeks should do it. If you are wanting them to growout as replacements, I would suggest that you keep them quarantined for at least 8 weeks and if ANY of them show signs, cull the whole lot, maybe Honey too :sorry:

Honey, her daughter Tiger and her other daughter Patches (now dead) were the start on my little breeding project of putting a nice harlequin coat onto a New Zealand rabbit. Rusty was our NZ Red buck that had only just this winter gotten old enough to breed so we got one litter with him and Tiger and one with him and Honey (and a singleton from their first breeding that the dog killed :evil: ) and Patches never took when the two times we tried with her.

So the two litters of kits are his entire contribution to the project. A few of the kits have his deep rich color but the harlequin black hasn't come through so well so much work still to be done but their loss is really felt, both as breeders and as really fun bunnies.

 

[Miss M]

So sorry you had to cull them! Such a difficult and heart-wrenching thing to do, but the right thing, nonetheless.

 

[AmysMacdog]

That is so sad, so sorry you are having to go through this. Bless your heart.

 

[Attal.Rabbits]

:-( that is really sad and frustrating. I am really sorry to hear that, try and keep your head up with postive thoughts, it sounds like you are trying to make some beutiful uniqe rabbits. i would love to see pics of them!

 

[ZRabbits]

So sorry to hear.

Karen