Flemish Giants loosing weight

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antimonykid

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Tooele, Utah, USA
Our Flemish Giant is loosing weight. He is 3 years old and now is not eating. Same thing happened to his parents. Temperatures are ranging around 80 to 95 degrees. They do have fans on them and are out of the sun. We checked his teeth and did not find spurs or anything. We don't know what to do. They are just under the weight limit and we can't seem to get them over the mark. Please let us know!
 
You might consider giving them frozen bottles to lie against instead of just fans. Also, don't blow the fans directly on them--all that wind can actually stress them out more.

Try to entice them to eat by providing yummier food, like rolled oats and sunflower seeds. If they seem to like it, try mixing it in with their regular food. Or, if those aren't quite enough to get them going, try fresh vegetables or fruits.

What are you feeding them? If he was still growing, I'd say you might still have a chance of getting him to grow up to the weight, but since he's over a year (3 at that!), any weight you add isn't likely to be structural. Make sure that if you're feeding pellets that the protein content isn't too high (16% minimum crude protein is usually the best, and should be that high for any growing Flem).

Flemish are also easily stunted by small cages. I knew a buck that only got to 12 lbs because his cage was only 30x30. Flemish need a minimum of 36x36, and that's with plenty of time in an exercise pen. I've seen recommendations as large as 3'x5' per rabbit.

It's also possible that they are from a smaller line of Flemish. Does he have any kits/siblings that you can compare to? You might do a test breeding with him and another Flemish to see if you can get his kits up to a good weight by how you feed them. If his kits grow big, then he may have just been stunted. If not, then they're not likely to produce high quality kits.
 
Sounds like lack of appitite due to the heat. I agree frozen water bottles. When Thor stops eating I give him Magic Rejuvinator from my breeder. Here is the write up on it if you have any more issues with not eating.

MAGIC REJUVENATOR

brought to you by

Barbi Brown's Bunnies



What is Magic Rejuventor?

It is our version of "Critical Care" with additional ingredients to stimulate appetite and soothe the gut.

We started developing this when we had a bloodline of Flemish Giants that suffered from chronic gut shutdown. We tried all sorts of remedies from the vets, other breeders and anything we found on line and ended up with this combination that has proven to be very successful for us.

MAGIC aids rabbits suffering from GI Stasis, kindling or transport stress.

You can sprinkle the powder over feed or add water, apple juice or Vanodine to make a paste and feed the paste balls. If the rabbit still refuses the paste you can dilute further to syringe feed. If they fight syringe feeding you can put the rabbits front feet in the slurry and they will lick it off their feet

It is nutrient rich and can be fed every few hours for days or even weeks if necessary. Most animals respond in 24 to 48 hours and are back at the dinner table in short order.

Ingredients include alfalfa meal, whole grains, soy powder, vitamins, minerals and for nutrition and to stimulate calcium levels, lactose for appetite stimulation, flax seed and coconut oil to get the gut moving, fruit flavored (for aroma) pectin (to soothe the gut) and willow for pain relief.

It can be fed to rabbits of all ages with equal success.

$5.00 per package plus .44 sales tax in California



Testimonials: This was the first letter we received after Convention. We are most interested to hear your experiences as well, both good and bad. If you have used Critical Care and Magic I would be interested in your comparisons of the two.
 
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