Two kits sneezing

[ColdBrook]

Uhoh...Two of my young bucks are sneezing/coughing. They have no runny noses, eyes are bright, and they are active and eating. What to do? Do I isolate them together or separately away from the rest of the kits? Could this just be from dusty hay maybe? What other signs do I watch for and when do I cull? One of them is the keeper buck who got to 5 pounds by 10 weeks and I was planning on retaining him for breeding. I'm not sure what to do but I don't want to risk losing everyone if this is a pneumonia/pasteurella outbreak!

 

[3mina]

It possible it's just hay. How long have they been sneezing and does it stop? I mean, do they only sneeze once or twice or is it throughout the day? If it's throughout the day, separate them from the rest. Together or not depends on the amount of room you have.

 

[ColdBrook]

It's very intermittent and not "wet" sounding at all so I'm hoping it is a hay thing, not an illness. They just started 3 days ago, at least that I know of. I was in the hospital for two days and hubby was taking care of them, so I missed a couple days (Y'all be careful shoveling snow in the mornings. It can really stress a heart, even a 40 year old one like mine). I just would rather be safe than sorry. I'll put them together in a cage on the far side of the barn and keep an eye on them though. If they start to get runny noses or other symptoms I'll worry a bit more, but I do want to take precautions here just in case it's the start of something ugly.

 

[MaggieJ]

I'd isolate them together, unless they are at the stage where they may fight. If it is disease, they both have it and they may be more comfortable with companionship. Think hard about anything that might have changed. A new bale of hay that is dusty? Perfume, tobacco smoke, different cleanser, air freshener etc.? Any of these can trigger allergies. If they start showing signs of white discharge from the eyes or nose, I would think about euthanizing them.

 

[ColdBrook]

I think the runt of the litter is sick. I'm probably going to cull him today because I don't want to take any chances and he's 11 weeks old and ready for freezer camp anyway. Little Black is isolated from the rest and his sneezing/gurgling is getting worse and his nose is getting runny but it's clear discharge, not white.

Big Zakk seems to be okay though - not another sneeze out of him and he's clear eyed and breathing fine so I think he's okay. I've never butchered a rabbit before and am really nervous about it. Is Little Black going to be safe to eat if he's ill? Does it depend on what I find when I open him up?

 

[OneAcreFarm]

If it were me, I would dispatch the runt and Little Blacky. He sounds very ill. Discard the lungs, but the meat should be fine to eat if you cook it well. I would quarantine any that you keep for at least a month before re-introducing them to the herd.