Pink Fox: its Raining...IN MY HOUSE! :/

[SSDreamin]

I was very thankful that Ice Cream trained herself! Dufus me left the pen by stepping over the wire to grab something right quick, and she tried to follow me out At least I didn't have to hold her - that hurts!

 

[pinkfox]

lol, im hoping the goats do something similar that way i dont have to be the bad guy coaxing the towards it lol.

whew its toasty out...
got 3 of the gourds scrubbed but its just too hot to sit out there right now...there was a cool bree when i started but it dropped way too quickly....i found myself saying "come back" outload then looking around to see if anyone had heard me LOL.

been changing the water bottles out every 3 hours today and im getting to the smaller bottles before they are fully unfrozen which im hoping will help speed up the re-freeze...got a feeling im going to have to take everything out of the freezer haul it out of its spot defrost it then turn the seting lower, even the little 16oz bottles are having trouble re-freezing overnight...and ive got ice build up neer the top of the freezer, everythign that is froen is staying frzen...but its taking a little too long in my opinion for the water to re-freeze, but i cant pull it out of its spot while its got stuff in it (too heavy) so got to empty it first. this might end up being tomorrow mornings job, tomorrow tems are supposed to be ALOT more condusive to not having to panic about the rabbits, so if i do it imedialty after breakfast, take everything out turn it down and remove all the ice chunks that have formed (got a feeling im going to need a new door gasket for it soon) and get it re-filed...doesnt help that that room is warm...i may need to put in an exhaust fan to add some air flow in there.

in bad news looks like im going to loose all but 1 of Blackberries litter...i lost 1 yeasterday, and 1 today, 2 of the reminaing 3 look REALY skinny and have gunky noses...the last of the remainding 3 though is a chunky huge baby with no signs of distress (least right now) ive been treating momma with a mild antibiotic which they woudl then inturn get through the milk, and i dosed the 2 struggling babies this morning but both have gone down hill REALY quickly...
vet thinks virus...these babies though are so young and with this heat which has seemed to jump from comfortable to upper 90's in the space of only a week...they are probably just too young to fight the stress and a bug has gotten hold of them...
bluebells babies are looking fine...absolutly thithly and slightly soggy...but fine lol (ive got a gallon jug in with bluebell and the litter and they all press against it getting wet from the condensation...silly babbits)
everyone else SEEMS to be doing ok with the frequent bottle changes but im worried my frezer wont be able to keep up refreezing them intime.

anywho. its 4:30 so hopefully the worst of the heat is over for today and things will slowly start dropping...
planning beef for dinner...not yet sure with what as i have no lettuce for salad and thats my usual go to with steak...

 

[Wannabefree]

Pinky, I think the vet may be onto something. I never had any issues with my buns until I got Rowan, and I've had rabbits for a few years and the heat has been worse than this last summer with no issues. Now though...Rowan is still skinny, niecey's rabbit that I gave her shortly after getting Rowan, is getting really skinny, and then DD's bun got really skinny too and died, which even makes sense he wouldn't get over it being he was older anyway it hit him harder. Rowan was moved around in the cages out there a couple times, and seems like ever other rabbit she has had direct contact with has gotten ill. The buns in the taller four cages where she hasn't been, are all fine, healthy as a horse, except DD's who had been in the lower cage where Rowan was at one point. It sounds like something is going around in the bun hutches. Maybe you unknowingly brought something home with some of the buns you've bought? Some may have a slight resistance to it. I dunno, but it does sound viral to me too. I hope you don't lose them I still can't figure it out. I have talked to other folks at the flea markets and such, and nobody else is having the bunny issues we are in this area that I'm aware of It's just a thought. Things like that do happen.

 

[pinkfox]

see i dont know because all my adult buns are doing fine and bluebells babies are fine.

the lops were heat exhautsion, i had the vet do a necropsy on pip and she (and bloodwork) confirmed heat...given he had the exact same symptoms (fine the morning SOAKED wet face and dead by afternoon) as rowans babbits and the 2 other lops shes secure in the heat exhaustion...and today i noticed that the small bank of hutches which is where i had the ops and moved rowans babbits to gets FULL sun for about 4 hours in the afternoon...took the temp out there today IN those hutches and it was 103! Ive had no losses in the other banks that get only 1 hour of sun in the morning...
so ive no doubt that those losses were heat induced, especially since all of rowans bbabits that have gone home already are doing great (and are indoor rabbits...)
Vet says anything over 80 is danger zone for the buns...especially with lops who cant dissipate heat as well because of the floppy ears.

blackberries babies though...
vet says it SOUNDS like snuffles (gooey nose, trouble breathing) but its highly unliely to be because if it were pasturella mommy would be showing symptoms too, since shes not showing symptoms she has immunity so the babies should have maternal immunity, shes never heard of snuffles in babies under 5 weeks so these thinking so shes saying pneumonia...possibly caused by aspiration (inhaling fluid when nursing)
i looked it up and pneumonia (or snuffles) definatly fits in the symptoms with the goopey noses...but wouldnt fit the symptoms your buns are showing...

she did warn me that i should be keeping an eye out for parisite symptoms though (rapid weight loss primarily) as shes seeing a high number of Parisite infections thanks to them ild winter Cocci is aparently a big problem right now (to the point shes suggesting not feeding any harvested grass (or washing things first)) coccidiosis typically shows with rough coat, rapid weight loss, difficulty regaining weight despite eating ect. and it can be transfered through poop, urine, bedding, food and even water...
but sitll doesnt quite fit with all the symptoms your seeing either...

i do have a friend in jackson who is having simlar symptoms to yours though and the vet is having her treat with baytril and ivomec to cover viral/infection AND parisite bases and has them on a strict pellet/hay only diet with a little yogurt once daily , she has some doing better others not on this regime....

its definatly odd and frustrating...was taking alook at average temps for the area this time of year and aparently average right now is around 90...so were definatly "above average" so i highly doubt thats helping, at least in my case...probbaly not in yours either.
id definatly try "bleaching" all your cages (1part bleach 10 parts water) and sun drying same with bowls and bottles ect...

the vet also said try feeding washed blackberry leaves and papaya, theyll both help with tummy issues
....


blackberries babbits are still with us, checked her milk and it looks like shes only producing in 2 mammary right now...no signs of infection though....
their noses arnt looking as gunky tonight...but the 2 little ones are wheezy.

gah, im never trying to raise rabbits in the summer again...and im going colony...


oh well...craving chocolate, and i have none in the house...probably a good thing!

 

[Wannabefree]

I just wish they'd all get better I'm having no luck. Rowan never had babies, and is still very thin. We have quit feeding grass for now.

 

[pinkfox]

when shes doing better we can repeat with bigwig if you want.

Im going to dose everyone with ivomec and do a 7 day tylan50 treatment as a just in case...
cant do any harm...

but nothing makes sense, nothing explains the symptoms your having, cocci or worms sounds right for the weightloss/conditon issue but theyd uslaly have a pot belly to go with it.
and viral would explain why its lasting so long BUT theres no other symptoms, no runny nose or eyes or sneezing?!

Ive decided rabbits are frustrating...and i think if switching to a colony doesnt work i wont be staying in buns, its too frustrating and realy saddening!

 

[Wannabefree]

when shes doing better we can repeat with bigwig if you want.

Im going to dose everyone with ivomec and do a 7 day tylan50 treatment as a just in case...
cant do any harm...

When I get them all better I'm selling out of babbits. I appreciate the offer on the use of bigwig though I have decided to be done with bunnies though. It's not like they're even a food source for us Production and sales have been zero for months....just not worth it anymore for me. I want to focus on my Legbars anyway, and other things, but mainly the chickens.

 

[pinkfox]

i dont blame ya, at this point im thinking the same, there eating ALOT more than there selling...and i just dont want to butcher any at this point. I figure im going to see it through spring next year and see where it goes...if i make enough through fall and spring to support them through the summer it may be worth keeping it going, but if i dont get enough sales in fall/winter/spring to support them and make at least somewhat of a smal profit they will be going bye bye...im not quite ready to let go yet though, got too much invested to give up without a little more of a fight.

raising rabbits in the us is definatly alot different than raising them in the UK though...definatly need to account for the weather related learning curve...i dunno, i knew rabbits were heat sensitive, but i dunno, i want expecting to have this many issues so soon...

incase you didnt see it though...might be worth trying papaya and blackberry leaves. if shes got some lingering GI upset going on they should help soothe any tumy troubles...but im at a loss otherwise...i wish i had answers...expecially since i got a email from my frined with the dutch and she lost 3 buns today from similar symptoms your having issues with...they just started loosing weight and despite everythign they seem fine otherwise and are eating, there just not putting weight back on...she things the heat finnished them off, she has hers in a barn and the fan blew out today...but their condition didnt help...
frustrating but at least its not just us...

 

[Wannabefree]

I still have the nephews bunny here too :/ They never have built a cage for it like they said they were going to. Now their abandoned dogs are sleeping in my chairs on the porch and bringing their fleas with them I'm having a bunch of issues over here lately. I'm about to load those dogs up, and dump them back on them, over at their new place, and FORCE them to tend to the issue We tried to get the male the other day, but he is soooooo skittish now. The dogs are starving, while their owners are going on vacation every other weekend I am losing patience with everything lately

 

[pinkfox]

*hugs* ill pass the word on the dogs, mabe we can get them trapped, right now euthanized is better than starving to death
i hate people who just dump thier pets, its not like there arnt other options...*grr*
I know your as stressed as i am right now so my only real suggestion is to take a deep breath tell yourself "this too shall pass" and know that your a powerful person!

Well lost 1 of the 3remaining blackberry babbits and i now think i know the cause for them at least, his lungs were FILLED with fluid and gung (they were almost completly solid, definatly pneumonia, the question then became what caused it, None of the teltale scaring of pasturella (though on such a tiny thing it was hard to be 100% certain) but he did have a tiny cleft in his pallet...one of the thigns the vet mentoned was aspiration pneumonia, even a tiny bit of fluid in the lungs, combined with stress could do it and a small cleft in the pallet could definatly allow fluid in when suckling...
of the remainding 2 babies, 1 is struggling, he refused to eat this morning though hes not rattling and whezing, the other however is feeding like a demon, eyes open this morning and motoring, it was wizzing round the cage like a little racetrack and "popping" when i touches t (they kinda pop striaght up) eyes are clear, nose has no signs of "gunk" so *fingers crossed* for that little one.

gotta figure out some seriously HIGH calorie supliments for Bluebell, shes looking quite ragged after this litter...shes getting the summer off though, no more breeding untill the end of august so shell be on plenty of hay, clover and weeds. im going to deworm everyone as a just incase too

might have a buyer for the mini rex pair if they dont get bought before sunday...so *fingers crossed* there too, thats 2 more hutches i dont have to worry aboutkeeping cool.

the temperatures outside right now are PERFECT, its 75, i got up leasurely got things done, even did all the litterboxes/rabbit hutch clean out...i think i need to live somewhere where its like 65-85 year round...that would be about right for me in terms of "doing stuff" weather...over 85 i start to get REALY sluggish, under 65 i get chilled too easy...
but yeah right now its lovely out so im finnishing up breakfast going to let that go down a bit and get dressed then head out there with the weed wacker and machettee and try and get this last stretch cleared to the point i can get through and get the corner posts in for this electric fence.
going to make the most of these slightly lower temps while they are here

so yeah...manual labor day...YAY.