Help!! 4 week old rabbits are dying!!

[dlellis]

one of them has a pretty noticeable belly, but the rest of them seem to have soft bellies

 

[whitetail98]

Do they seem content or do the fidget a lot and constantly squirm?

 

[dlellis]

they seem content. they still sleep a lot. when they are up and moving around, they like to run around the hutch. thats what makes this so strange.. i mean, if they acted lathargic and sick, it wouldn't be such a surprise when they die.. but they seem healthy, until... well, until we find them dead.

 

[whitetail98]

Huh that's really odd.. Well keep me updated!

 

[dlellis]

Will do. i'm going to stat by bleach cleaning their cage.. then i may look for the antibiotics that the other person recommended on here..

Thanks again for all your help!

 

[whitetail98]

You're welcome! I hope this helps and you don't lose any more

 

[EweSheep]

I think it is cocci as well.

 

[3BirdGirlz]

I've raised rabbits most of my life, but I never had babies die from cocci...lucky I guess. I didn't bleach cages everyday. I did bleach water dishes about once a week. I was a kid for most of the bunny raising years, so I'm lucky I didn't have many problems and lucky I cleaned at all! We all start somewhere. Beings she's a first time mom maybe had something to do with it too. Not the cocci (if that's what it is) but with not taking care if her kits as well early on. And just so ya know, I had a doctor want to raise meat rabbits but had the darnedest time getting babies to live! He always asked me questions to find out how to do it better. So even a Dr that can save people's lives had a hard time with rabbits! It came down to having a bad doe. Didn't feed the kits well. Got rid of her and he had babies galore
I hope you keep asking questions and don't let others on this forum hurt your feelings. It just comes with the territory, but most are very willing to give great advice! good luck

 

[BackyardFarmMama]

I am a somewhat experienced rabbit breeder having been breeding them for 2 1/2 years.

First of all there is no need to bleach their cage daily unless you are experiencing a problem. (I only do so before a new litter) At this point you definitely should disinfect but don't feel bad that it is something you should have known all along.

Secondly, about the water, for the first 2 weeks at least they should all be cuddled up in the nest box and won't need anything except mommas milk. They SHOULD NOT be drinking water then.

When they start to come out and you remove the nest box then you should make sure they have access to water and good quality fresh hay (I use an alfalfa/grass mix for babies and nursing mommas) The hay is very important as it helps the transition to beginning solids. Most of their nutrition and fluid should still be coming from momma. (They should not be weaned until 6-8 weeks) Again I stress the importance of hay. The ones who start eating too many pellets too fast without enough hay in their diet may contract diarrhea and die.

And most importantly keep the fresh veggies away from babies. They are bad for the babies' digestion and will contribute to the diarrhea. At a certain point I only hand feed the doe any fresh veggies since 4+ week old bunnies will get into everything and anything.
Again. HAY

 

[3BirdGirlz]

X2 what backyardfarmmama said