Baby rabbits

[MPAT]

Morning all
My rabbits live in a hutch in our shed, one male 5 months. My 2 year old mini lops had 5 babies, we found them in a nest in the hutch on new years eve. When we found them the fur had started to grow on them and their eyes opened few days later. Yesterday morning I went to the hutch and one had passes away, the others looked fine and were eating hay. I took the one that passed away to the vets just in case but was too late. When I got back from the vets the babies were in the nest 1of them wasn't moving much. I picked it up and it slowly passed away. Our local vet doesn't specialise in rabbits. I kept the mum and 3 babies in the house last night but 2 passed away overnight, only 1 left.
Should I take this one to a vet? I read antibiotics cannot be good for rabbits?

 

[InspectorMorse]

Sadly it could be RHD - Rabbit Haemmorhagic Disease

Unfortunately if it is then you are likely to lose most of your Rabbits. Especiallly if none are vaccinated

If the Buck was still with the Doe when she gave birth she is likely to be pregnant again. So another litter would be due about now

The only way to know what has caused the deaths is a PM and to rule out RHD liver biopsies need to be sent off for testing. In the absecnce of a PM/ liver biopsies you need to assume you have an outbreak of RHD. Please read ALL of this information carefully.

Rabbit Viral Haemorrhagic Disease (RVHD)

There are two strands of RVHD and both are lethal to rabbits - Click here now to learn how to protect your rabbits.

rabbitwelfare.co.uk

How to deal with an outbreak of RHD — Frances Harcourt-Brown

www.harcourt-brown.co.uk

There is no way to dress this situation up nicely, it’s very serious. Please do NOT obtain any more Rabbits for at least 3-4 months and follow ALL of the advice on link 2 above.

 

[MPAT]

Sadly it could be RHD - Rabbit Haemmorhagic Disease

Unfortunately if it is then you are likely to lose most of your Rabbits. Especiallly if none are vaccinated

If the Buck was still with the Doe when she gave birth she is likely to be pregnant again. So another litter would be due about now

The only way to know what has caused the deaths is a PM and to rule out RHD liver biopsies need to be sent off for testing. In the absecnce of a PM/ liver biopsies you need to assume you have an outbreak of RHD. Please read ALL of this information carefully.

Rabbit Viral Haemorrhagic Disease (RVHD)

There are two strands of RVHD and both are lethal to rabbits - Click here now to learn how to protect your rabbits.

rabbitwelfare.co.uk

How to deal with an outbreak of RHD — Frances Harcourt-Brown

www.harcourt-brown.co.uk

There is no way to dress this situation up nicely, it’s very serious. Please do NOT obtain any more Rabbits for at least 3-4 months and follow ALL of the advice on link 2 above.

Thank you for your response, the rabbits are in the house will keep them in and plan to give the hutch and shed a good clean. I did read a little about RHF yesterday whilst trying to figure out the cause of the deaths. There is 1 change which I think also could have been the cause is that they were eating one type of hay In the hutch, then the evening before they passed we gave them Pets at Home hay. Could this have been a reason for them passing?
It was also very cold last 2 nights could the cold have caused them to fall ill? We turned the heating on in the shed in the evening so it was warm but did get cold overnight and last night they were in the house.
The remaining one keeps eating hay from the Previous brand. I am hoping that will be fine. I have read alfafa hay is good for baby rabbits but did not see that at any stores do have ordered online. I was told by the breeder I brought from that I don't need to get special baby hay. They did start eating the hay that was left in the hutch for their mum.

 

[InspectorMorse]

Thank you for your response, the rabbits are in the house will keep them in and plan to give the hutch and shed a good clean. I did read a little about RHF yesterday whilst trying to figure out the cause of the deaths. There is 1 change which I think also could have been the cause is that they were eating one type of hay In the hutch, then the evening before they passed we gave them Pets at Home hay. Could this have been a reason for them passing?
It was also very cold last 2 nights could the cold have caused them to fall ill? We turned the heating on in the shed in the evening so it was warm but did get cold overnight and last night they were in the house.
The remaining one keeps eating hay from the Previous brand. I am hoping that will be fine. I have read alfafa hay is good for baby rabbits but did not see that at any stores do have ordered online. I was told by the breeder I brought from that I don't need to get special baby hay. They did start eating the hay that was left in the hutch for their mum.

The different hay is unlikely to be the cause of two sudden deaths. A pathogen is far more likely.

Are the older Rabbits vaccinated ?

Are you prepared for the possibility that the mother might deliver a second litter soon ?

 

[MPAT]

Thank you. The 2 older rabbits are not vaccinated. Yes aware mother could give birth soon, am planning to jeep them all indoors away from the shed/hutch for a while, will prepare somewhere she can give birth to indoors, will line tray with straw and hay.
The mother was sneezing yesterday morning, could have been some kind of bug she passed on to the rabbits.

 

[InspectorMorse]

Thank you. The 2 older rabbits are not vaccinated. Yes aware mother could give birth soon, am planning to jeep them all indoors away from the shed/hutch for a while, will prepare somewhere she can give birth to indoors, will line tray with straw and hay.
The mother was sneezing yesterday morning, could have been some kind of bug she passed on to the rabbits.

Where is the Buck now ?

 

[MPAT]

We are keeping the mother and Buck in separate rooms now but we started separating them too late. The doe has started making another nest today. I hope she still feeds the one baby.

 

[InspectorMorse]

We are keeping the mother and Buck in separate rooms now but we started separating them too late. The doe has started making another nest today. I hope she still feeds the one baby.

Poor girl

Is the remaining kit eating and drinking for him/herself now ? If Mum has another litter you will need to keep the older kit well away from the nest. It might be necessary to separate the older kit completely. But this can only be done if he/she is eating hay/pellets and drinking for him/herself. At 4+ weeks a kit should definitely be doing so.

Depending on the outcome of this situation regarding the possibility of RHD all surviving Rabbits will need vaccinating. The vaccine can be given from the age of 5 weeks

Clinical particulars - Nobivac® Myxo-RHD PLUS lyophilisate and solvent for suspension for injection for rabbits

www.noahcompendium.co.uk

They will all need to be neutered too.

There is a vast amount of information about all aspects of Rabbit care, including the importance of neutering and vaccinating, here

Home

Creating better tomorrows for all pet rabbits The UK’s largest organisation for rabbit lovers!

rabbitwelfare.co.uk

 

[MPAT]

Thank you for your response. I left the baby in the room with the mum hoping mum will feed it during the night. When I came in the room the baby was in the box, quite high not sure how the baby got in and the mum was outside the box and jumped into the box on top of the baby. When mum jumped out again the baby seemed a bit wobbly, worried one of legs injured. The baby is eating lots of hay and drinking water on its own. Am thinking is it best to separate the baby, this afternoon the dad was with the baby and the baby was able to cuddle up next to him. Might just make a nest for him of his own to sleep jn tonight.

 

[InspectorMorse]

Thank you for your response. I left the baby in the room with the mum hoping mum will feed it during the night. When I came in the room the baby was in the box, quite high not sure how the baby got in and the mum was outside the box and jumped into the box on top of the baby. When mum jumped out again the baby seemed a bit wobbly, worried one of legs injured. The baby is eating lots of hay and drinking water on its own. Am thinking is it best to separate the baby, this afternoon the dad was with the baby and the baby was able to cuddle up next to him. Might just make a nest for him of his own to sleep jn tonight.

So the Dad is back with the Mum again ?

Sorry, I am confused as I had thought (hoped) you had separated him from the Doe. If you keep them together and they remain entire you are soon going to end up with numerous litters of baby Rabbits It’s essential that you keep the Buck well away from the Doe at all times.

If you think the baby is injured you need to take him/her to a Vet. But PLEASE warn the Vet that you *might* have a RHD outbreak. The Vet will need to take extreme biosecurity measures to try to minimise the risk of disease transmission to other Rabbits who come to the surgery.

 

[MPAT]

Sorry for the confusion. No the baby was next to the dad yesterday afternoon not the mother. The mother gave birth to another litter yesterday. Dad is kept in a different room so won't be going to the mum for a long time.

 

[InspectorMorse]

Sorry for the confusion. No the baby was next to the dad yesterday afternoon not the mother. The mother gave birth to another litter yesterday. Dad is kept in a different room so won't be going to the mum for a long time.

You need to get him neutered before he ever goes back with Mum.

Have you checked if all the newborns are alive? You need to be certain there are no dead kits in the nest.