hay killing rabbits

Advertise with us
Love your rabbit
Shop deals on ebay
shop deals on amazon
Rabbits Online Forum

Help Support Rabbits Online Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
SnowyShiloh

SnowyShiloh

Well-Known Member
Joined
Oct 3, 2007
Messages
6,033
Reaction score
51
Location
Alaska, USA
I don't remember where I read this or who was talking about it, but recently someone was talking about how at a certain time of year they have had their rabbits all get sick and many die. The same thing happened the next year with their rabbits at the same time and they came to the conclusion that it was something in the hay. There was some kind of bacteria growing in it from when it was baled and you couldn't tell by looking at it or smelling it. They said it should be a big concern to rabbit owners.

Does anyone know what I'm talking about? It really concerns me and I'd like more information about this! I know hay is very important for bunnies, but I don't want my buns to die! :shock:
 
Thanks for posting this Snowy, since I live close to you (not in Alaska, washington) then this could be concerning for me too! I haven't heard about this before, though, it's a good thing to do some research about. :(

Emily
 
You are probably thinking mycotoxins. At one time, it was thought this toxin was quite rare..but it seems it's not. For those of you that know of Morfz, Cristina Forbes is one of the main folks on there and she has done extensive research on mycotoxins and her findings might surprise everyone. We had a long and personal conversation (she is also a licensed wildlife rehabber here in NC) after we got hit with mycotoxin issues for three years in a row....until we wised up and put the pieces together. Some of her research showed some surprising results and she mentioned several things that I knew but had not mentioned to her. She mentioned particular brands of both pellets (which are hay products) and hay and I think you would be shocked by her findings. Here is a link to an article she published.

http://homepage.mac.com/mattocks/morfz/myco.html

The best defense is education. That is one of the reasons I have brought this subject up in several threads. The times we had mycotoxin poisoning here....basically in late April and May....were very stressful and expensive events. We had 18 of our then 19 rabbits become ill...some seriously and we did lose a beautiful Hotot as I watched his gut bloat as I held him. The only rabbit that did not show some ill effects had his own special blend of food and hay that was totally different from the others.

I think this subject will be very important in the coming months....and this is one time that I hope I amgrossly wrong. I have already found hay that was moldy. I just heard from someone else tonight that hasa rabbit showing signs of mycotoxin poisioning. This is one of those prepare for the worst and hope for the best scenarios.

Randy
 
Randy, do you know what the brands were or does it not really matter? I read the article (both you and Pam posted it :D), how scary! I really hope this doesn't become a problem. The article mentioned alfalfa and timothy, what about orchard grass? Would it be reasonable to only feed the bunnies orchard grass during the danger period you mentioned and for a while afterwards? Would a diet of just orchard grass and lots of veggies be okay for Rory, no pellets? Tallulah is only 12 weeks old so she can't have veggies, which means she needs pellets :(

Thank you everyone for your input! And Randy, I'm so sorry to hear about your sick bunnies. You were the person I was remembering when I started the thread.
 
Well....the brands really don't matter. Mycotoxins can and doaffect any brand of pellet or hay. I was really suprised by the info that Cristina presented....shocked maybe a better term. The type of hay makes no difference either. The problem starts if the hay gets wet and then baled. Farmers try to watch the weather and look for several days of sun to dry to hay. But Mother Nature doesn't always cooperate. We just have to be educated and observant.
 
Just a quick thought here....notice we are seeing an increase in gut issues. Mycotoxins mimic stasis in the event's infancy. We need to be "on guard" as I see bad things a comin'. I have already discarded a nearly full bag of pellets and six bales of hay that I found mold. Get educated about this problem and know what to look for.

Randy
 
Also remember that weather changes can bring on viral infections that may decrease gut motility. "Tis the season" as we enter spring and major weather fluxes (notice all the people getting sick?)



Pam
 
Also, Ive noticed that the times of year where rabbits tend to shed the most seem to bring about gut/gas issues as well. I dont know if maybe the ingested hair causes an upset, even if its not a true blockage.
 
I am worried this might be the case of upset tummies in 3 out of 9 of my house rabbits. I am planning on tossing the pellets and hay as soon as I get home tonight.

Can anyone tell me if there is any way of telling whether the hay is bad? So in the future I can check each bale more carefully.

Also, if you think the pellets are bad, is there somewhere we should contact? Somewhere they can test it or? ? ?

All my feeds are kept indoors in my home, so they don't get wet or have other animals crawling on/in them.


 
There is less risk if you are feeding hay/pellets that are not dusty or moldy and that are properly stored and smell fresh. Unfortunately, it is not cost effective to test all of the food we give to our rabbits, just as it is not cost effective to test our own family's food before eating it.

Animals most at risk are those with compromised immune systems, so good basic rabbit maintenance and good ventilationare important for in maintaining a healthy rabbit.

Pam
 
Andrea wrote:
I am worried this might be the case of upset tummies in 3 out of 9 of my house rabbits. I am planning on tossing the pellets and hay as soon as I get home tonight.

Can anyone tell me if there is any way of telling whether the hay is bad? So in the future I can check each bale more carefully.

Also, if you think the pellets are bad, is there somewhere we should contact? Somewhere they can test it or? ? ?

All my feeds are kept indoors in my home, so they don't get wet or have other animals crawling on/in them.
Click to expand...


Andrea, I was always worried about missing bits of mould in hay until I had a bit go mouldy and discovered it's very apparent. It really smells mouldy, hard to miss.

Were your three bunnies moulting?

Like Randy, I'vepersonally never trusteda lot of pellets,I've read the Forbes article,but I do trust Pam Nock, and as noted, she points out the virus issues (and she's also pointed outthe fact that bunny pellets don't contain a lot of corn -- the usual cultprit) so I'm not as worried as I once was. My personal experience has most GI issues going hand-in-hand with moults.

That said, I alsowonder about a bit of mould in the hay being mixed in, seeing asnot much morethan a pinhead can cause problems. If a fist full of mouldy hay gets mixed into a bigvatto make the pellets, wouldn't it stand to reason that a fewpellets in eachbag are affected? So six bunnies are fine, three are not? Or even one in 10?

At one point I thought I'd start feeding veggies over pellets, but then the e-coli in organic spinach surfaced, and I realized there are hidden dangers everywhere. :sigh:


Unfortunately,it's very unlikely we'll ever know. The mycotoxins cause such a huge variety of symptoms that mimic (or cause) other health issues, ittakes extensive hard-to-get testing to determine any problems, and more often than not, they're inconclusive.


Hope everybunny is feeling better over there.



sas :bunnydance:

 
One reason that rabbits can become ill during moults is that not only is moulting related to temperature changes, but it is also very stressful to the animal's system (something that bird owners recognize and give supplements for).

I recently spoke to a friend that lost all her rabbits over a period of about a year when she moved. She had them in the garage. A necropsy at Ohio State University revealed mold in the lungs of one of the rabbits. OSU said that the mold was most likely in the environment (not feed related). However, still not conclusive. Mold is very common in environments, and generally only immune compromised individuals are at risk for serious infection. So, it is not certain that the mold found in the lungs of one rabbit was the cause of death in all the cases (or even in the necropsied rabbit).

I've seena lot of cases of animals eating moldy feed without ill effects. In fact, we eat moldy feed all the time in many of our foods (such as cheeses and meats) and many medicines are made of types of molds. (Of course, there are many different types of molds, and some are very toxic).

Pam

 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Back
Top