Update on the buns...a few new pics

[Jessykah]

So 2 kits died. Second one's belly was VERY bloated. One was very skinny yesterday, and I think it may die as well...I expected 1 or 2 losses, but now I am very concerned. I think she may have mastitis. Her nipples are getting dark red and her mammary glands are hard and swollen. I have had this happen several times, and it's always in a few teats....but with this doe, it is ALL of her teats. What has caused this?!
I don't know what caused it before for me...but they say it is very rare in small rabbitries! Yeah right!!!
This time, I live in a new place, cages were completely sanitized before using. I made her a new nestbox out of new wood. There was no one in the cage beside her. I have no other lactating does, so she can't get it from someone. There is no bacteria, very clean environment. All I feed her is pellets, lots of hay, and the odd small treat from the garden (like carrot tops, etc.), but I don't give her much...and the does that I had that had it in the past never got treats, so it can't be that.
Nothing ever goes right for me!! Every time I get rabbits, something goes wrong with them!!! What do I do, give up?!

 

[OneAcreFarm]

So 2 kits died. Second one's belly was VERY bloated. One was very skinny yesterday, and I think it may die as well...I expected 1 or 2 losses, but now I am very concerned. I think she may have mastitis. Her nipples are getting dark red and her mammary glands are hard and swollen. I have had this happen several times, and it's always in a few teats....but with this doe, it is ALL of her teats. What has caused this?!
I don't know what caused it before for me...but they say it is very rare in small rabbitries! Yeah right!!!
This time, I live in a new place, cages were completely sanitized before using. I made her a new nestbox out of new wood. There was no one in the cage beside her. I have no other lactating does, so she can't get it from someone. There is no bacteria, very clean environment. All I feed her is pellets, lots of hay, and the odd small treat from the garden (like carrot tops, etc.), but I don't give her much...and the does that I had that had it in the past never got treats, so it can't be that.
Nothing ever goes right for me!! Every time I get rabbits, something goes wrong with them!!! What do I do, give up?!

Her nipples are red from being nursed on so much, and are the mammaries hot to the touch or just swollen and firm? Sounds more like congested mammaries to me, like engorgement in women. Try to split the litter into two groups, and rotate the boxes. Let them each feed twice a day. You can try to express some of the milk in her teats as well, but nursing will really help to bring down the engorgement.

 

[Mary Ann's Rabbitry]

If is not fixed soon.. It will turn into mastitis.. She is not letting them suck long enough .. she is building up her milk. and now it is getting harder to release.. I cant really explain it. You have to release all that milk she has.. She is a nervous rabbit so she is NOT letting them nurse long enough.. .. Try to time to see how long she stays in the box for. If you think she is full of milk... put her in the box and lift her back end and let the babies do more sucking for at least 10 minutes if possible.. If now you are going to have to do it or can loose this doe

 

[MamaSheepdog]

I treated a doe with mint and catnip when she was in the beginning stages of mastitis. I gave her a couple of sprigs of mint and catnip to lessen milk production just a bit, and it worked.

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Since she has so many kits to feed, I would be cautious with that approach, and only try it for a couple of days so there is no lasting effect.

Before trying it at all, it might be best to apply warm compresses to the doe's teats prior to trying to get her to nurse. The heat will help her to "let down" her milk, and she may even release some which would help. When the breasts are greatly engorged with milk it can be painful to nurse, so that may be why she is unwilling to let the kits nurse long enough.

Good luck! :clover:

 

[Mary Ann's Rabbitry]

I was wondering how the litter and mommy is doing.

 

[Jessykah]

Here's an update... I tried getting the little runts to nurse more, but it stressed the doe out, I got lots of scratches, I couldn't make her stay in the nestbox to relieve the pressure. I tried to get the kits to nurse while I flipped her over. I tried to nurse her, but this is stressing her out real bad. The 3 weakest kits are gone, so now there's 9 healthy left. I believe these ones will make it. They were strong from the start.
The doe's swelling has gone down in all teats but one. I tried to milk it out but there's crusty blood preventing any milk from coming...so I am going to go out later with a warm wet cloth and loosen the crust off, then milk her out. The kits were probably just avoiding this teat because they can't get any milk, so it stayed swollen. Hopefully they will drink from it and keep the swelling down after I milk it out. I hate how it stresses her out though. She hates me. I am glad it has not turned into mastitis yet like I thought it had.

Well here are some updated pics. There's pictures of the kits and the cali doe...and pics of my new agility dutch buck, just for fun....and a pic of a FREE hutch I just got delivered for free...It's not the greatest, but I will modify it with a wire floor instead of plywood, put babysaver wire on, tin on the roof (and make it overhang), and some other modifications. It came full of used hay that I will just compost.

 

[Mary Ann's Rabbitry]

thanks for the update... looks good.. cute buck.