Weaning early - mother doe has snuffles - and one runt

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CanadianRabbit

CanadianRabbit

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Is 4 weeks to early to wean New Zealand Whites? I have a litter of 5 that are now 3 weeks old. 4 buns are growing great and eating hay, trying the water bottle and seemingly eating the pellets. The 5th is a runt. I've tried letting the runt feed alone several times a day with the mother but he is still much smaller. If I try Kitten Meal Replacer or some homemade milk replacer is it possible to get the runt up to size for butcher when he is 10-12 weeks of age?

I plan to wean early because I was told the antibodies in young bunnies will prevent them from getting snuffles from their mother. I want to cull the mother as soon as possible to prevent any risk of snuffles.

I also have a buck (not the father) in a cage next to the mother and bunnies. A month ago he showed signs of snuffles but has since seemed very healthy. I hope to get a new doe to replace my current doe. Should I be fine to breed the new doe with my current buck (or should I cull him too just in case). I may also keep one of my female babies to breed with my buck when she is old enough.

I know this is like 3 posts in one! Thanks so much in advance for the help! I've been absolutely loving raising rabbits so far and look forward to getting a couple more cages and more rabbits!
 
Only wean early if you have been feeding the kits pellets since 2wks. If not, start giving them pellets now and hope they don';t have issues.
Don't think the runt will catch up. Up to you what you do with it.
Up to you to keep the buck or not. If he's not actively snotting or constantly recurring, keep him until you get a replacement out of him.
 
Thanks ChickiesnBunnies -

I've had pellets accessible the entire time. They just started jumping out of their nestbox just after 2 weeks old.

Have you heard of the antibodies protecting the bunnies from snuffles? I can wait to wean till 5 or 6 weeks (or longer)

Thanks!
 
wean at three weeks rather than four if you want to take into account mom's immunity. If they are started on hay they are good to go.

I'd wean as early as you possibly can. They'll look rough for a while, but they'll come around. Cull immediately any that get dirty eyes or start sneezing/snuffling.
 
Thanks ladysown - past 3 weeks does their chance of getting snuffles increase?

THANKS!

__________ Fri Aug 09, 2013 10:09 pm __________

ladysown - if I ween at 3 weeks (which is now - they are 3 weeks and 2 days old) will they still become big enough for meat at 10-12 weeks?

Thanks!<br /><br />__________ Sat Aug 10, 2013 6:30 pm __________<br /><br />As a resource to others I just found this great website:

http://www.dutchrabbit.com/articles/health/howtocombatsnuffles.html

I've also attached a photo of my bunnies from last week.
 

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i'd wean them now.
will they make weight at 10 weeks? depends on how well they were started on feed before removing mom.
and yes, the likelihood of their catching something goes up the more past three weeks you go.
 
I have a litter of 10, including one runt, that were weaned at 4 weeks due to snuffles in the doe. The runt I had been feeding by putting him on the mom myself, until he'd drank his fill. They were all eating pellets just fine when I culled the doe. They are 8 weeks on Monday, are all similar in size, and no sign of snuffles so far.

I do have a question for the more experienced among us: how does the doe impart immunity to the kits, when she doesn't seem to have any immunity herself?
 
I would suppose she has the ability to do that since they are exposed to it at a young age. They are used to it so their bodies see it as a normal occurence.
 
gulien - Thanks for sharing your experience! I see you are also in Ontario! Awesome.

As for the antibodies - as far as my understanding - the Colostrum in the mothers milk contains antibodies and all sorts of ultra healthy things. That's why even if the mother has snuffles it won't necessarily be passed down.
 
I weaned at 4 weeks from a doe with snuffles and all 6 of the kits came down with snuffles. I would wean them immediately if your hoping to keep replacements.
 
DonnerSurvivor - did you do anything to clean the cage after you removed the doe?

Gulien - did you clean your cage after removing your doe?

I planned on putting my four week olds in a box while I gave the cage a good clean (same box I have put them in every time I cleaned their nextbox.)
 
Since the doe was in a quarantine area with her kits I was forced to remove the kits from the cage so they would not be housed in the quarantine area. One of the kits immediately came down with sneezing and it was removed another kit started sneezing a week later and it was removed. A third kit started sneezing at 6 weeks and it was removed and the remaining 3 kits started sneezing soon afterwards. I have read that Pasturella cannot survive more than 24 hours outside the host and it will die in dry conditions so I believe cleaning the cage would not be essential though it probably wouldn't hurt.
 
I didn't clean the hutch, as I had nowhere to move the kits. The doe had sneezed all over them, so I felt like they were either strong enough or not, sneezers would be culled and survivors might live to breed. When I move them to the grow pen this week, I will scrub the hutch and let it dry thoroughly
 
Gullen":3boncepc said:
I do have a question for the more experienced among us: how does the doe impart immunity to the kits, when she doesn't seem to have any immunity herself?
Click to expand...
she will only give the antibodies for the strain of 'P' she comes down with IF she was exposed to it before producing colostrum.

If she was exposed to the disease after she gave birth, the babies will not get any immunity and must fight it on their own. Some may succumb and some, likely with a stronger immune system, will survive.
 
CanadianRabbit":3srxhvwr said:
gulien - Thanks for sharing your experience! I see you are also in Ontario! Awesome.

As for the antibodies - as far as my understanding - the Colostrum in the mothers milk contains antibodies and all sorts of ultra healthy things. That's why even if the mother has snuffles it won't necessarily be passed down.
Click to expand...

Colostrum is only present in the first week or two of nursing. That is why weaning at 2.5 weeks is critical for those wanting to try a "clean litter" protocol, which is what you are describing. If your kits are over 3wks and you have not been giving the doe antibiotics to suppress the bacterial load and make it less likely that the kits will become infected, then they have exposed and are likely already infected. You would need to quarantine them till you butcher them or until they reach breeding age and then breed them to see if the stress of kindling causes the infection to flare up.

__________ Mon Aug 12, 2013 10:42 am __________

CanadianRabbit":3srxhvwr said:
Is 4 weeks to early to wean New Zealand Whites? I have a litter of 5 that are now 3 weeks old. 4 buns are growing great and eating hay, trying the water bottle and seemingly eating the pellets. The 5th is a runt. I've tried letting the runt feed alone several times a day with the mother but he is still much smaller. If I try Kitten Meal Replacer or some homemade milk replacer is it possible to get the runt up to size for butcher when he is 10-12 weeks of age?

I plan to wean early because I was told the antibodies in young bunnies will prevent them from getting snuffles from their mother. I want to cull the mother as soon as possible to prevent any risk of snuffles.

I also have a buck (not the father) in a cage next to the mother and bunnies. A month ago he showed signs of snuffles but has since seemed very healthy. I hope to get a new doe to replace my current doe. Should I be fine to breed the new doe with my current buck (or should I cull him too just in case). I may also keep one of my female babies to breed with my buck when she is old enough.

I know this is like 3 posts in one! Thanks so much in advance for the help! I've been absolutely loving raising rabbits so far and look forward to getting a couple more cages and more rabbits!
Click to expand...

Any signs of pasteurellosis, whether they seem to get "better" or not, means they are infected. If it were me, and it HAS been me, in hindsight, I would have culled the whole lot, disinfected everything and started over. It would have saved me months and months of heartbreak.<br /><br />__________ Mon Aug 12, 2013 10:47 am __________<br /><br />Here is a link to the threads from when we were going thru this same thing... maybe you will find them helpful.

my-pasteurella-journey-t12109.html
 

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