Cause of death

[sEtyler]

We recently acquired 3 meat rabbits, 2 does and a buck.

We're raising them on pasture. Yes, yes, I know, they're going to get cocci. We are preventing this by rotational grazing, giving herbs, and giving lespedeza.

We had some trouble with them getting out of their tractors, but that is mostly squared away now.

Yesterday morning, the younger doe was missing. We looked all over, couldn't find her.

She had escaped the pen somehow.

Last night, we found her a short distance away, hidden in the brush. She was dead.

I would have thought a little bunny could have survived being loose for a day. She didn't seem sick at all the day before.

Any ideas??

 

[Preitler]

Yes, they should have no problem surviving out there, mine get out of the fence frequently, no problem. They never run far, maybe 40, 50 meters, so it's quite easy to find them and herd them (patiently nagging, stepping so close that they just do not bolt away and wait) back.

2 does that escaped me lived for at least 3 years (then I moved away), had offspring with a wild rabbit, but that sure depends where you live.

If there aren't injuries it can still be that a predator scared her to death, happend to my buck 2 years ago, I got between him and the fox, but the shock was too much and he died about 3 hours later.

 

[Happi Bun]

She could have eaten something poisonous. Many domestic rabbits don't really know what is safe to eat (depends on the rabbit really), unlike wild rabbits who are still in touch with all their natural instincts. Heart attack from fear is very likely. Make sure you find how she escaped so it cannot happen again to another rabbit.

 

[sEtyler]

I figured it out and made adjustments to the cage. Thanks

 

[woahlookitsme]

No telling what could have happened to her. As Happi Bun said it definitely could have been trauma or toxicity

 

[Preitler]

Something toxic is very, very unlikely if she was used to pasture, green stuff and forage, although that's a big topic on the internet I do not remember one single case of a poisoned rabbit that is at least partially fed that way.

It may be a topic for pet rabbits that are not used to green stuff eating houseplants, but there isn't much out there (location?) that can knock a rabbit out of it's boots AND what rabbits would eat in critical amounts.

Plant toxicity — Frances Harcourt-Brown