- Thread starter
- #11
help my rabbits are dying
- Thread starter lovemywhatwhat
- Start date
Hens and Roos
Herd Master
how much do you think it weighs? Do you know what breed? It looks small but hard to say as each rabbit is different. Is it eating hay? If it was ours, we would offer just free choice hay and water for a few days and see how it does( it could be stressed out from being weaned and a new environment).
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- #13
lovemywhatwhat
Loving the herd life
it cant weigh more than a pound im not sure on the breed the man told my husband that he had some that he was raising to kill to eat and my wanting to save everything instinct kicked in ... she was eating fine but she is just acting really sleepy now not moving much but I always have the timothy hay in the feeder for them. I have a little bit of goat milk replacer from my bottle fed goat should I offer a few ml of that to her? just in case.
Hens and Roos
Herd Master
not sure on the milk....we didn't have good luck trying to feed a litter of a doe's whose milk never came in.
alsea1
True BYH Addict
My thought is that these young rabbits died of stress. They can be fine and then dead. Not uncommon.
With rabbits any change in housing and food can be hard on them.
It would be best to leave them in the hutch. Moving them back and forth is not good.
The digestive system on these animals can get out of whack easily.
Next time you get new bunnies find out what exactly they are being fed and get some. Do not change the feeding schedule or feed until you can do so very gradually.
If they were meat bunnies then likely they were not accustomed to alot of handling either.
If you do notice the young one bloating, or grinding its teeth the kindest thing to do is put it down. Once rabbits start going downhill they usually die regardless of what a person tries to do.
Another cause of death could be a cocci bloom brought on by stress. There may or may not be diarrhea. I have had limited success treating with corid. The mortality rate is very high.
Weaning is a most difficult time with rabbits. This is a time that their digestive tracts are getting developed and changing from mothers milk to an adult diet. I have experimented with probiotics in attempts to thwart weanling losses. Not sure it was worth the trouble really.
With rabbits any change in housing and food can be hard on them.
It would be best to leave them in the hutch. Moving them back and forth is not good.
The digestive system on these animals can get out of whack easily.
Next time you get new bunnies find out what exactly they are being fed and get some. Do not change the feeding schedule or feed until you can do so very gradually.
If they were meat bunnies then likely they were not accustomed to alot of handling either.
If you do notice the young one bloating, or grinding its teeth the kindest thing to do is put it down. Once rabbits start going downhill they usually die regardless of what a person tries to do.
Another cause of death could be a cocci bloom brought on by stress. There may or may not be diarrhea. I have had limited success treating with corid. The mortality rate is very high.
Weaning is a most difficult time with rabbits. This is a time that their digestive tracts are getting developed and changing from mothers milk to an adult diet. I have experimented with probiotics in attempts to thwart weanling losses. Not sure it was worth the trouble really.
- Thread starter
- #16
lovemywhatwhat
Loving the herd life
@alsea1 thank you for the information unfortunately the last baby rabbit didn't make it so sad I still have the adult rabbit but I don't think that I will ever own rabbits again if something happens to her..
Hens and Roos
Herd Master
sorry that you lost all the babies 
it's never easy no matter how long we've had them.
it's never easy no matter how long we've had them.
alsea1
True BYH Addict
I'm sorry your first experience was so difficult.
The adult rabbit should do better for you.
The adult rabbit should do better for you.
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- #19
lovemywhatwhat
Loving the herd life
thank you all for your help hope she does ok because I do love her and even though I had them for a few day I have grown very attached
Bunnylady
Herd Master
I'm sorry you lost the little ones. If I've heard the story once, I've heard it a hundred times - "we bought a little rabbit but it died." Most of the time, it was sold too young - in a lot of states (mine included), it is now illegal to sell a rabbit that is less than 8 weeks old. The bunny you posted a picture of looked to be maybe 4 weeks old; with all the stress of rehoming, etc, even an experienced rabbit owner might have trouble keeping buns that age alive.
As @alsea1 said, keeping stress to a minimum by changing as little as possible is very important, particularly with bunnies that young. Just being taken off their mother is a huge stress; staying at the same rabbitry with the same feed and routine, there may still be losses. When people buy rabbits from me, I include a zip-lock bag of the feed I use, along with instructions on doing a slow transfer to whatever brand the new owner will be using.
I hope the adult continues to do well for you. Please don't let this one bad experience sour you on rabbit keeping; handled correctly, rabbits can live long (10 years or more), healthy lives.
As @alsea1 said, keeping stress to a minimum by changing as little as possible is very important, particularly with bunnies that young. Just being taken off their mother is a huge stress; staying at the same rabbitry with the same feed and routine, there may still be losses. When people buy rabbits from me, I include a zip-lock bag of the feed I use, along with instructions on doing a slow transfer to whatever brand the new owner will be using.
I hope the adult continues to do well for you. Please don't let this one bad experience sour you on rabbit keeping; handled correctly, rabbits can live long (10 years or more), healthy lives.
