What is wrong with my new kits and 3 weekers???

[GBov]

I posted this over in the meat rabbit section as my buns are all meat rabbits but thought I would pop it in here too as I am starting to really worry!

This afternoon I checked Silver's kits (2 days old) and they were cool to the touch and had fur stuck to their backsides with a greenish sticky substance so I cleaned them up and went to put them into Butterfly's nest as she had her kits yesterday.

Half of Butterfly's kits were dead in her nest box yesterday when I checked for new kits but I thought they died due to not getting into the fur nest fast enough, its cold and damp this week but the surviving kits were nice and warm this morning.

HER kits were cool to the touch TOO! One dead, one very cold but still moving and one warm and full. All of them had fur matted to their hind ends with greenish stickyness.

Got them cleaned up and they are all on a heating pad.

Silver is not a good mother but Butterfly is.

Not only this but another 3 week old kit was almost dead across the isle in Princess's litter. She lost one last week. This one was just barely moving and only just breathing so we put it down. Last night they were all healthy and active.

Its in the low 70s today, last night was low 50s. Lots of rain but the rabbits are in two barns so are nice and dry. Butterfly is in the barn with all the New Zealands and the young poultry and Silver is about 500 feet away in the barn with the Rex and Rex crosses and Florida Whites and Joker the horse.

Should I start to panic now? And what, if anything, can I do?

 

[MaggieJ]

I don't blame you for being worried, but please do not double post. It does no good and it fragments replies, undermining the continuity of the thread. I deleted the post in Meat Rabbits because it is really a problem that should be posted here in Illnesses, Injuries and Parasites.

I've never seen this problem myself. I would take all affected kits indoors and try to get them warm and clean. Since you say they are on a heating pad, it sounds as though you have already done this. Maybe under closer observation you can figure out if the greenish stickiness is diarrhea or something different.

I hope you can figure it out. I am particularly concerned because of the older kit seeming to die of the same thing. Did it also have the green stickiness? If so, it sounds as though it may be contagious and you should put strict quarantine protocols in place immediately. Hopefully someone will recognize the symptoms and be able to offer pertinent advice.

 

[GBov]

I don't blame you for being worried, but please do not double post. It does no good and it fragments replies, undermining the continuity of the thread. I deleted the post in Meat Rabbits because it is really a problem that should be posted here in Illnesses, Injuries and Parasites.

I've never seen this problem myself. I would take all affected kits indoors and try to get them warm and clean. Since you say they are on a heating pad, it sounds as though you have already done this. Maybe under closer observation you can figure out if the greenish stickiness is diarrhea or something different.

I hope you can figure it out. I am particularly concerned because of the older kit seeming to die of the same thing. Did it also have the green stickiness? If so, it sounds as though it may be contagious and you should put strict quarantine protocols in place immediately. Hopefully someone will recognize the symptoms and be able to offer pertinent advice.

Thanks for getting rid of my double post Maggie, I was going to do it as soon as I finished bagging and freezing this weeks rabbits but you beat me to it. :lol:

The 3 weekers dont have any diarrhea, they just go flat like sad little balloons. The eyes are clear, noses clear too. There was a faint crackle when it breathed in but it was very faint, it might have been my imagination.

Am really worried, had an aborted litter three weeks ago but figgured it was just a junior doe new to me thing.

Havnt changed feed, fresh smelling hay, clean boxes, clean cages, no treats, different water systems in each barn. <br /><br /> -- Tue Apr 08, 2014 5:48 pm -- <br /><br /> Checked them on the heating pad, two more gone. The last two were nice and warm so have put them back with the doe.

I am almost to this point! verreaction:

 

[Miss M]

I'm at a loss, GBov!

I hope somebody is able to make some sense of this!

 

[GBov]

I'm at a loss, GBov!

I hope somebody is able to make some sense of this!

Oh MEEEEE TOOOOO!

I have been doing the "what's the same for each doe?" game but, with them in two different barns, very little is the same for them both.

Same feed and hay yes - both are bought weekly for freshness at a feed store with a high stock turnover - and the water comes from the same tap but one has a bowl and the other is on a watering system..................

Am clutching at straws now.

Both remaining kits are alive as of now, one from each litter, and both are with Butterfly as she is the MUCH better doe. Her last litter is still with me, big and healthy, so was looking forward to this one hugely.

Rabbits eh? Talk about ups and downs! :roll:

 

[Homer]

GBov- If it were me I'd be looking these Does over very carefully. Where's that green slime coming from on the kits? It kind if sounds to me like you have some sort of infection running rampant, (respiratory?) You did say it's been pretty wet and cool there.

 

[GBov]

GBov- If it were me I'd be looking these Does over very carefully. Where's that green slime coming from on the kits? It kind if sounds to me like you have some sort of infection running rampant, (respiratory?) You did say it's been pretty wet and cool there.

Done that too and they are fine and dandy! ALL the does (30 of em) seem just fine, good weight, clean eyes/ears/noses and healthy poops and clean bottoms.

The green sticky came from the kits themselves, a kind of diahhrea. The only thing I can think of is SOMETHING the does ate - either the hay, feed or water - went into the milk and did that to the kits and the 3 week olds have something else, perhaps the whateveritis-itis did for them too in a different form. They are transitioning to pellets now too so perhaps a bag of feed was contaminated by something?

Off to check if any survived the night and if any new litters have arrived.

Sunshine today so shall breed the next lot in rotation.

 

[Mary Ann's Rabbitry]

I think your nesting boxes are not cleaned enough between litters.. and damp weather will bring this on more than before.. even if you didn't have it before..

 

[GBov]

I think your nesting boxes are not cleaned enough between litters.. and damp weather will bring this on more than before.. even if you didn't have it before..

Hmmm, perhaps? Most of my nest "boxes" are cages built onto the does cages adn the actual wooden ones get two weeks in the sunshine between uses as I wasnt sure if washing them would cause the plywood to split or warp.

And NOW I have a true quandry!

Matilda (my daughters pet French Angora) has kindled her usual one dead, two alive kits. She is a TERRIBLE MOTHER!!! Even when she gets it all right she runs out of milk at about 14 days. I timed her litter this time to coinside with several GOOD mothers so I could foster her kits right away.

The last two kits from the effected litters were dead this morning.

So, do I clean the nest box really well and give them to Butterfly and hope the whateveritis-itis has run its course? The are 100% dead if left with Matilda and only 50/50 if moved.

Isnt it nice when everything runs smoothly? :roll:

 

[Mary Ann's Rabbitry]

they should be disaffected and then in the sun.. or replace them after so many litters..

 

[GBov]

they should be disaffected and then in the sun.. or replace them after so many litters..

What? They might overthrow the current system?

:lol: sorry, had to laugh, it makes a change from banging my head on the wall!

 

[squidpop]

I just looked up diarrhea in babies and found this: http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/poop.html
If you read through it says e. coli and coccidiosis are the most common cause of diarrhea in baby rabbits. Also, Could you take a fecal sample to a vet? - they should be able to test for cocci.
On the same site there was a link to emergency care for baby rabbits with diarrhea - looks like it could be very helpful also- http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/squirts.pdf
Says if its an emergency situation you can actually give them a dose of imodium AD to stop the diarrhea so they won't dehydrate- and it gives the dosage- but its only for emergencies.

 

[GBov]

Well, Butterfly is fostering Matilda's kits just fine, no green stickyness in sight anywhere.

Its a mystery what caused it in the new kits but it seems to be gone now.

Lost two more of my weaning kits but the rest seem fine. NO diarrhea in them at all, just skin and bones and then dead.

The last one was very thirsty but I discovered this too late to really help it. Can weaning enteritis be caused by the kit not drinking enough?