Weight Problem?

[Heritage Homestead]

Whew! I have been so busy I have a list an arm long of things I need to do on the computer!

Anyway...
My little buns are 9 1/2 weeks old and are incredibly small. The eight range from 1 1/2# to 2 1/2#. I have them on grass all day as well as all the feed they want. They are New Zeland/Californian crosses. It was the does first litter and it has been kinda hot here (80-90). I don't know if those things have anything to do with it.
Any advice?

 

[MamaSheepdog]

What kind of feed are they getting, and how many in the litter? BOSS might put weight on them.

 

[Heritage Homestead]

I don't know the name of the feed. We dump the bag into a tote, and so I don't have the bag to look at. I did check it when we first started getting it from the feed store and the percentages seemed right. There are 8 in the litter.

Could there be something wrong with Mama's milk? They were weaned at 6 weeks. At 7 weeks they weighed between 1 1/4 to 2 lbs.. Since they were small, we weigh them more often, and at times they have even lost an once.

I am not familiar with BOSS. What exactly is it?

Thsnks

 

[MamaSheepdog]

8 is a good sized litter, and unless the doe is a really good milk producer, I have found larger litters are a little smaller overall.

BOSS is Black Oil Sunflower Seeds- they sell it for feeding wild birds. It has a high fat content. In addition to the pellets and BOSS, you can also give them oats, barley, or wheat, or a combination of all of those. If you don't plan to continue feeding grains for a long period, regular old-fashioned oatmeal is fine. It gets expensive to buy that way, so I buy mine at the feed store in 50lb or larger bags.

Make sure they are drinking enough water too- you might want to give them a crock of water in case they are having a hard time with the watering system you have available to them.

 

[toastedoat37]

how much does mom and pop weigh?

 

[MaggieJ]

It's possible that given the heat, the rabbits have less appetite and it is satisfied by the grass for the most part. They will grow very slowly if that is the case. When you say grass, do you mean mainly grass and a few weeds or mainly weeds with some grass? It makes a difference.

Do they eat the pellets with any enthusiasm? Are they cleaning up the ration or do they just nibble a bit from time to time? It's a bit difficult to get a picture of what is happening.

Internal parasites are a possibility, since your rabbits spend time on the ground. If you can get raw pumpkin seeds, they may help and they are very nutritious as well. Plants like chicory, lamb's quarters and willow are also helpful in controlling parasites.

 

[Heritage Homestead]

Okay, let me see if I can get all the return questions answered.
I'm not sure how much Dad weighed. He sadly came down sick and we had to get rid of him. Mom is a good size (though doesn't like being handled) and I would say she weighs around 8 or 9#.
MaggieJ, where I have been putting them is mostly grass. They enjoy their pellets very much. They just nibble during the day, but as soon as it cools down in the evening they are right back up there chowing down. I think they clean up about 4 cups of feed a day more or less.
MSD, you said BOSS. The only thing with that is I don't want my buns fatty since they are for meat. Would BOSS help with meat?
I think that is all the info I can thik of. With internal parasites would there be any other outward signs I could look for?
Thanks everyone!

 

[MamaSheepdog]

I raise my rabbits for meat too. When a rabbit has fat, it is in the abdominal cavity- it doesn't "marble" the meat as happens with beef.

Animals with a heavy parasite load usually have a dry, lusterless coat, and may even be lethargic. If your rabbits don't appear thin, but are simply a bit small, they are probably okay. Run your hand over their backbones- you should feel smooth bumps. Spiky=thin, can't feel the spine=fat.

 

[Heritage Homestead]

Okay, I'll check them. They don'y appear thin and they are not lethargic. At least not in the evening. It was in the low 90s today and anything would be lethargic in this heat (and we don't have AC in our house either!). Their coats are also nice. Rabbit hair is so soft! I love to cuddle them! Sadly I have two who HATE to be picked up and scratch away. Sadly again those are my two out of three girls in the litter and I might possibly be keeping all the girls (if I can get them bigger). I was ssoo hoping those would be boys! But that is all pretty off topic!

 

[AnnClaire]

HH, you say they are out on grass ... along with the other suggestions, you are aware that a heavy-grass diet does slow the growth rate compared to the pellet/hay diet?

I have my 6-wk old litters in a runout pen during the day. I supply them with hay, fresh bermuda grass, ragweed, american elm leaves, a thistle variety, 2 bowls of rolled oats, and pellets, along with various garden greens occassionally. While they are not setting any growth records, they are growing steadily. They will not make the 5# weight at 16 weeks unless I keep them exclusively on hay/pellets.

As long as your babys are continuing to gain weight and grow in size, I would not worry. I also wean by the end of the 3rd week (or rather, the does insist on it LOL)

 

[Heritage Homestead]

MSD, I checked and they aren't thin.
AnnClaire, no I did not know that. I have only had rabbits for about 4 months now and this is my first litter (litter #2 is actually due here in 1 1/2 weeks. Ya!). I put them out on the grass at about 7 1/2 weeks. Before that they were on just pellets with the hay I would give the mama and babies (we have about an acre of hay on our property). And at 7 weeks they ranged from 1 1/4# to 2#. I still thought that was kinda small. What is the normal weight for 7 week olds?

 

[AnnClaire]

Mine are at 6 weeks now and they weigh between 1.25 and 1.75 ... these are a cross between a Satin Doe, don't have her weight right now, and my EA buck that is 7# in the winter ... probably a little less during this summer heat wave