Lost a rabbit

[leera]

One of the New Zealand does died from who knows what??

She was fine in the morning,eating,doing normal rabbit stuff,fine later in the day,but the next morning when I went out to feed/water,she was dead....

For safety,the rest of the rabbits are quarantined for a while,but it's been 9 days and none are showing any signs of any problems.

I talked to someone local with much more rabbit experience than I have,and she seems to think something may have sacred the rabbit and she just ran/hopped herself to death...or may have jumped in some weird way in her cage and injured herself somehow....

Has anyone here with rabbits ever had a mystery death?

[momma_to_seven_chi]

I think everyone who raises any animal seems to have a mystery death once in a while. With rabbits, I would wonder about hay Or also that disease that messes up their liver with white spots. I'm sorry I can't remember what it is called. Did you butcher the carcass to look at everything and see what looked unhealthy?

[KarenBC]

It's yuckky to have to butcher an animal that has died like that, but sometimes it can give you an idea of what might have happened. Did it scare itself and start running like crazy and perhaps snap it's spine, or twist a gut. It's hard to tell. If I lose a rabbit I run my hands all over them to see if I can feel anything odd. Rabbits die easy from shock if they are injured.

I started losing young rabbits last year and thought I had a weasel doing it. Turns out the hay I was feeding was really low protein, and I wasn't feeding pellets, but rather oats. Just wasn't enough in their diets.

[leera]

We did not do a necropsy,although it was suggested,but I didn't see anything outwardly odd.it's eyes,ears,and rear were clean,we've been feeding the same pellets and hay since day one,and it's the same diet the breeder we got our buck from uses.

[momma_to_seven_chi]

It seems like hay can mess up rabbits at times. It either shreds their gut or imbeds in it or something. I've heard a lot of people talk about loosing rabbits to hay. It's not even the type of hay so much other than the fact that somehow it didn't go through right. I had never heard about the protein problem, just that people do loose rabbits to hay at times.
And that Tulnaria (Sp)? or whatever the name of the disease is can kill them too. It causes liver failure kind of like a cirrhosis or something. It leaves white spots on the liver where parts of it are infected and die.

[oldtimer]

Originally Posted by momma_to_seven_chi

It seems like hay can mess up rabbits at times. It either shreds their gut or imbeds in it or something. I've heard a lot of people talk about loosing rabbits to hay. It's not even the type of hay so much other than the fact that somehow it didn't go through right. I had never heard about the protein problem, just that people do loose rabbits to hay at times.
And that Tulnaria (Sp)? or whatever the name of the disease is can kill them too. It causes liver failure kind of like a cirrhosis or something. It leaves white spots on the liver where parts of it are infected and die.

You are absolutely right. Hay an be a real killer, been there, done that. The least litttle bit of mold in hay or feed can do them in quickly too.

WE never butcher anything we haven't killed ourself, i.e. things that die its own death or strangles, I consider that like eating roadkill and the idea grosses me out; I am not that hard up yet.

[leera]

I don't think KarenBC was referring to eating it,but opening it up to see if you can tell what killed the critter.In technical terms it's called a necropsy.

We keep the feed in airtight bins,and the hay has no mold,I checked right to the center of the bales.It's a local mixed grass hay.

So far we haven't lost any others,and still plan on breeding the other two does that are old enough.In fact,plan on that today.

[KarenBC]

Good gawd - no I wouldn't eat anything that had died on it's own either! Was definitely referring to having a looksee at why it might have died and then burning the remains.

[oldtimer]

Originally Posted by KarenBC

Good gawd - no I wouldn't eat anything that had died on it's own either! Was definitely referring to having a looksee at why it might have died and then burning the remains.

Then that's not "butchering". That's "Posting" the critter. Butchering is preparing to eat, posting is examining the carcass to see what it croaked from!

[KarenBC]

Ok, good heavens, ya'll can be right and call it what ya want.
If I've got something sharp in my hands and I'm cutting, whether it's fabric, hair, plants or critters - I'm butchering.

[leera]

Originally Posted by KarenBC

Ok, good heavens, ya'll can be right and call it what ya want.
If I've got something sharp in my hands and I'm cutting, whether it's fabric, hair, plants or critters - I'm butchering.

Hehehehe....watch out she's got a blade!!! LOL

Just funnin ya Karen

[oldtimer]

I'd love to watch you butcher a head of cabbage! Maybe a tomato or an ear of corn.

[KarenBC]

It ain't always purdy, but I gets the job done. Now where's that whetstone?