# Need help to prevent pink eye in kits



## Jesusfreak101 (Feb 9, 2018)

Ok we had three does and one buck we end up with two litters. I lost all the kits two what looked like pink eye (a few to predators). We lost the buck and a doe to a dog attack. We about to get another buck and I want to breed them again but I don't want to lose all the kits again. So I need to know what to do. We are about to build a new pen for the rabbits so I am thinking of putting removable nesting boxes that I can take out and put back in for the rabbits so I can remove the kits then take them back for feedings. What are y'all thoughts.


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## Baymule (Feb 9, 2018)

What is your cage set up, is it fenced off to keep dogs away? If you don't have their cages predator proof, it would be a bad idea to get more rabbits.  Taking the nest box in and out does not sound like a good idea. Some does get upset if you mess with their kits and I can only imagine what taking the whole nest box would do to them.


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## Tale of Tails Rabbitry (Feb 9, 2018)

I am assuming you are referring to nest box eye...? I have not ever had a kit with it in the seven years I have had rabbits. I have used homemade nesting boxes that can be removed but now I use them for two week old and over kits or a rabbit that needs one for other reasons. I particularly like the drop nesting box these days for kindling and keeping kits until their eyes open, because I have not yet lost a kit to hypothermia since we made it.

I have heard that sometimes the materials used in the nesting box can cause/contribute to nest box eye. Moisture is a big factor, some say dust also. All the kits basically pee and poo on each other until they are getting in and out of the nest on their own (when they are about two weeks old), so the main thing is just that they have somewhat absorbent and dry materials in the nest. I handle every kit at least once a day from birth, just to look them over to be sure they and the nest are in good condition and that they all are getting cleaned them up as the doe should do. The smaller, weaker ones sometimes do not get that attention, because the larger, stronger ones push them away.

@Bunnylady has mentioned that she removes the nesting box to place inside during the winter and takes it out to allow the kits to nurse twice a day. I have removed the nesting box with kits in it for up to 12 hours at a time when it was cold before we fine tuned our set up with warming pads.

However, I also agree with @Baymule about protection from predators. We have our cages in a pen area that is inside a fenced area.


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## Jesusfreak101 (Feb 9, 2018)

They where in a colony on the ground style kennel and the problem we had was them climbing ego making a new pen. The kits we had were a month old when pink eye started I treated it with eye cream but to no avail. I hoping this time it doesn't happen.


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## Tale of Tails Rabbitry (Feb 9, 2018)

@Jesusfreak101 I am sorry, but when domestic rabbits are on the ground, they are susceptible to all the diseases to which wild rabbits have a higher immunity because they have had exposure for the hundred years that many domestic rabbits have not had. There is more moisture on the ground, so there are going more diseases and parasites as well as  predator issues than if they are in cages off the ground. Recently, there was a post about kits drowning in the nest on the ground. I will not even buy a rabbit that has been on the ground.

If you are determined to raise your rabbits on the ground, it might help them to add small amounts of food grade hydrogen peroxide to their water. It can help their immune system to fight off illnesses and some parasites. I have done that for all the years we have had rabbits. I would also use diatomaceous earth on the ground to cut down the parasites.


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## Jesusfreak101 (Feb 9, 2018)

I am not sure what kind of pen my husband has in mind to build for them but this was the first time I have en had a rabbit lol. The place I got them from had a similar set up for them. So I just kept with it.


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## Tale of Tails Rabbitry (Feb 9, 2018)

When my husband started talking about keeping rabbits, I thought colony style would be the kinder, more natural way to do things until I began to read about real experiences from people who tried it and were honest with the downside. All I can say is that most of the people I have read about that try colony style are new with rabbits OR are satisfied with a hands-off approach to raising rabbits and what happens in the colony, stays in the colony, _so to speak_. 

That is just not my approach. My priority for healthy, docile-temperament rabbits trumps my ideology of raising them naturally.


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## Jesusfreak101 (Feb 9, 2018)

For me they going to be meat rabbits so I not really ideal on using medicine I would like for them to have access to grass honestly...(less feeding bill) but I not really a fan to lose all of them.


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## Tale of Tails Rabbitry (Feb 9, 2018)

@Jesusfreak101 If I had the land, I would grow my own hay. Rabbits will still need supplemental pellets to get the best nutrition.


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## Jesusfreak101 (Feb 9, 2018)

I was feeding them alfallfa and a grain mixture I made along with allowing them to free range in their pen before winter hit. I tend to want them fat lol so the feeding would still be there just the grazing would help.


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## Bossroo (Feb 10, 2018)

Jesusfreak101 said:


> I was feeding them alfallfa and a grain mixture I made along with allowing them to free range in their pen before winter hit. I tend to want them fat lol so the feeding would still be there just the grazing would help.


The grazing part is a false premise as it will take much longer time and make the growth slower and the meat tougher.


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## Suz (Feb 16, 2018)

Taking the nestbox inside overnight when its real cold works.
I use warm wet tea bags on kits eyes. I have used Terramycin, but there was a time when I couldn't purchase it. TSC has it.


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## Bunnylady (Feb 16, 2018)

Eye infections that don't even show up until the kits are a month old technically are not "nest box eye;" the kits have had their eyes open and should have been wandering outside the box for weeks by that time. Clearly, something else is going on here - this many infected eyes is not normal. 

I'm thinking about something environmental, besides the nest box - filthy living conditions, poor health due to nutritional deficiencies, that kind of thing. It's also possible these animals have an issue like entropion (an eyelid that turns inward, allowing the eyelashes to rub on and irritate the eye). Entropion can be inherited.


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