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I’m raising rabbits, but a lot of the new babies (Usually in between 1 and 4 weeks old.) keep dying. It starts with loss of balance, and then lying on their sides pulling their heads back. If any one has any advice as to what I can do to prevent this please contact me.
take a cold wash cloth and rap them up in it to cool them off
What does the mothers diet consist of?
The mothers diet consists of rabbit pellets, only occasionally do give her a little grass or veggies. Should it consist something else? let me know.
That diet is fine just some changes could be made. Rabbits should have plenty of hay every day. I would also advise to give small amounts of veg every other day. Such as carrots and cabbage but please dont give her lettuce.
Also can i ask is it only the one mother that keeps losing her babies?i dont think you should wrap them up in a cold towel for one thing, i think you should make sure that the mother and father are definitely not related and maybe you should just stop breeding them if so many are dying, your doe or buck could be a carrier of a generic disease
Several of my does are losing there bunnies this way. All of the ones that I have now are over four weeks and don’t seem to be having trouble anymore. But I have some does that are due to have bunnies in a few weeks… Hopefully I’ll have a solution by then. Not all the does are bred to the same buck, I own several, and make sure not to breed them to their reletives.
P.S.
What will lettuce do to them?ive talked to a few rabbit breeders and they cant seem to understand why they are dying either. The only other thing i can think of is do you have weather extremes and are they housed outside or inside? Also what are they housed in are they protected from the weather?
Lettuce gives them upset stomachs. Which can lead to de-hydration.I have two of my rabbits in a shed (that’s all that will fit.) the others are housed out side, but with ample shelter via blankets (on windy days or in the cold.) and tarps. The hottest it’s been is ninety, on those days I give them ice bottles. My neighbor, a long time rabbit breeder (retired) suggested I spray my cages down with bleach, and clean them real well. My cages are clean, and clear of debris, but I’m running out of ideas.
PS
I’ve not been feeding them lettuce but thanks for the info, always interested in learning something new to help my animals.I have been breading bunnys for years now and i know a few things about them. some times baby bunnys die do to the age of the mom. the older the mom is, they seem to lose more baby. also if you touch the babys before they have fur the mom might stop takeing care of the babys and the babys will die. just make sure the mom has a good nesting box and lots of hay in the box and let the mom do the rest. she knows what she is doing. there is no need to have are hands in it. and just rember that not always will all the baby will live in a batch of bunnys. my older female just had 7 bunnys and they all died at brith.
Most pregnant does should not have green vegies in their diet during about the last three weeks of pregnancy! Or that is what I have been told by several other breeders with a few more years experience than me.
That may or may not have something to do with it, but that’s just and idea.Did you find out what the problem was cause I have babies between 3-4 weeks that keep doing it
Your rabbits have a parasite called E. Cunniculi. Either your doe or buck has it, and they passed it on through urine (so if your buck has it, he passed it on to your doe while they were mating, and she passed it onto her kits). In my experience it doesn’t affect mature rabbits, only kits between 1 week to weaning age (Though I think I had a few who died shortly after weaning).
Just let me get this straight to everyone. The way you feed your rabbits won’t affect the parasites, though I must admit that lettuce (especially Iceburg) has absolutely NO nutritional value, so I wouldn’t feed it to them. NO DIFFERENCE WILL BE MADE IF YOU CHANGE THEIR FEED, OR FEED THEM HEALTHIER, HEARTIER FOOD.
Here is the only known treatment right now: treat them with a 28-29 day treatment of ORAL Fenbendazole. You can buy this online, or at your local Tractor Supply Co.
Make sure you feed them VERY LITTLE, though. with an oral syringe, that means go to the first line only.
It helped my rabbits tons. Hope I helped, even though this message is a little late for the person who asked.Click on any picture to see full size:
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