My doe too old?

[Kez-bunniemom]

Honey, my doe has been a faithful breedingrabbit for almost 3 years now. Not her last litter, but the one before,were all fine except one who died completely out of the blue.
Her last litter, grew to 5 weeks old and then, one by one, they alldied of some mystery illness. Two of the babies, I managed to catchearly enough to take to the vet. They both sadly died at the vetsovernight. All five beautiful, pure black bunnies died

This was shock for us, as we have luckily not had any deaths at allbefore her last two litters. The Vet said that the bunnies contractedwhat was possibly a small bacterial infection, it hit the bunnies hardbut wouldn't have affected Honey because she was an adult. This leadsto my question, is Honey too old for breeding now? I have heard thatmaximum age for breeding with a doe can be seen by the health of herlitters.
Also, would the fact that I used a stud make a difference?This was mentioned by a friend, I was sceptical myself butperhaps others would know better.

In years, she's only just over 4 years old.


I would appreciate the opinion of other people

Oh yes, I should also mention that the bunnies were raised outside.This has not been a problem with any other bunnies but could it havebeen a factor?


Kez xx

 

[RAL Rabbitry]

Did the babies have loose stool with mucous in it?

It sounds like it could be mucoid enteritis to me, or maybe

a bad batch of feed that the adults could tolerate but not the kits.

I just went through feed problems and lost a young doe that was

five weeks old. The pellets were contaminated and about 1/3 of my

rabbits got sick, 1/3 wouldn't eat it and 1/3 were fine. Verrry scary!

This problem was spread over the Northeast and alot of breeders

were not happy.

I don't think she is too old to breed as long as she kindles easily and

takes care of her babies.

Roger

 

[Starlight Rabbitry]

I agree with Roger. When adoe is too old, she will have trouble during labor. 4 is notto old in my opinion. I don't breed past 5 years as a rule.

Sharon

 

[Kez-bunniemom]

Yes.
The kits would develop diarrhoea very fast, the next day or during the night, they would pass away.
When the first one showed symptoms, I cleaned her up when I noticedthat she had a problem, but she died literally 2 hours later. After thefirst one, the next day, 3 others started showing very mild symptoms. Iwas not so worried, as the first one to die had very bad diarrhoea andI thought she must have been a one off. Also, I had about 6 other kitswith mild diarrhoea in the past and they all pulled through easilyenough.
That night, two of the 3 died and the third was very ill in themorning. I rushed the kit to the Vet on an emergency appointment butshe died later that day at the Vet's. The last remaining kit seemedhappy and healthy. I moved him and his mother into a different, cleanand unused hutch inside our summerhouse. The next day, he startedshowing very mild symptoms and I immediately took him to the vet, I wasnot going to take any chances. He stayed there all day and all nightbut the Vet said he deteriorated during the night and died despiteantibiotics and treatment.

Honey has not had kits for a long time now and I can see she seems alot healthier. I will consider breeding her in the future if shecontinues to show good health. In the meantime, I have a young doeready to be bred soon.

 

[Starlight Rabbitry]

Sounds to me like Mucoid Enteritis.Before you decide to breed again, disinfect everything you use for therabbits, including their cages. I am sorry about the loss ofthe litter. Hopefully, the disinfecting will kill whatever itwas. Better to be safe than sorry.

Sharon

 

[RAL Rabbitry]

It does sound like mucoid enteritis to me as well.

I agree that you should disinfect everything the cage and their feeders.

When I have babies starting to eat I make sure that they have plenty

of hay and rolled oats when they start nibbling on food. It's easier on their

stomachs than straight pellets.

Roger