Until a few days ago I had two healthy and ready to deliver pregnant does. About 3 days before they were to deliver, I put into each nesting box a good supply of new timothy grass purchased the day before in a plastic bag from a local feed store. Less than 2 days later I found one of the does had passed. I went to check on the other doe and she was nearly gone. When I touched her tummy she cried. I noticed each doe had eaten half of the grass in the nesting box and very little or none of their pellet food. Has anyone ever seen this problem before? I've taken this same action in the past a few times and have never had it happen until now. Any advice much appreciated. Thanks in advance.
Can a rabbit die due to eating too much timothy grass?
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No, timothy grass is completely harmless - it's the rabbit's staple food. But there might gave been a problem with the bag your purchased : a poisonous plant mixed with the hay, hay treated with something your rabbits couldn't stand... Some illness and parasits can be transmitted through grass but 2 days sound a bit quick for that kind of problem to become deadly.
Maybe it has nothing to do with the hay and your rabbits were already ill and were hiding it. I would go to the vet with the remaining doe to run tests.
Maybe it has nothing to do with the hay and your rabbits were already ill and were hiding it. I would go to the vet with the remaining doe to run tests.
Pregnant does are more susceptible to illness or conditions because their immune system is being stressed during this time...and there are things that can bring down a doe when she is close to kindling; however, for it to happen to both...I would suspect the hay first. You should get the surviving doe to the vet asap and get the hay checked, too.
Thanks for the answers. I did have the third doe checked and she checked out fine, but she passed too! We've had a very hot spell down here in South Carolina where it has been in the mid nineties all week. I'm thinking the heat at the time of delivery was the cause of the 3 does passing because the third doe had zero timothy grass. Can mid-nineties heat at the time of delivery cause a doe to pass?
Oh yeah, without a doubt. One of the other people who responded said that pregnant rabbits already have a compromised immune system.. Couple that with extreme heat (for a rabbit, that is. Rabbits absolutely cannot tolerate heat well), and I'm surprised any rabbit could live through that.
If you have any other rabbits, I'd suggest going onto Google and looking up info about keeping rabbits outdoors when it's hot. I know a lot if people freeze a bottle of water, so the bun can lay against it, or they put a ceramic tile so the bun can lay on it to keep cool. There are definitely more ideas out there. Good luck, and keep those bunnies cool. ^_^
If you have any other rabbits, I'd suggest going onto Google and looking up info about keeping rabbits outdoors when it's hot. I know a lot if people freeze a bottle of water, so the bun can lay against it, or they put a ceramic tile so the bun can lay on it to keep cool. There are definitely more ideas out there. Good luck, and keep those bunnies cool. ^_^
Without a doubt, that will kill a doe trying to kindle in heat. That's why we stop breeding in May, unless you bring them inside to kindle...but then you can't take them back out til it starts cooling down again.
Usually grass hay doesn't cause digestive problems for most rabbits, but there is the odd instances where it can. Such as if it is contaminated in some way, with harmful pesticides or if it has developed mold. If there are toxic weeds in the hay, those can also present problems. But for hay that is mold free(never been wet and was dried properly before baling) and has no harmful weeds, if that hay is a very rich, leafy, green, early growth hay, then this can have the possibility of leading to digestive problems and bloat. The same thing can occur with rabbits that are let out on the grass in spring with the new early lush growth of the grass. It can be too rich and this can lead to problems. It might be similar to grass sickness in horses, which also occurs with the new grass growth in spring.
But since you had a third doe die that had no hay, heat does sound like the likely cause.
But since you had a third doe die that had no hay, heat does sound like the likely cause.
