savingbuns
Active Member
September of last year I found this site, after rescuing 4 NewZealand Reds - that were being raised as meat rabbits and approx 10 were let go ( as the person foreclosed on his house and just released them!!
We were able to live capture 4 at the time - we were not aware that he had let all of them go and in fact did not even know it was the neighbours!!!
Nevertheless my friend and I had never had rabbits before, but most certainly are pet lovers! As the story went - it was getting close to winter, the Humane Society in our location was full, and since we had the time and the means we set too in making a quick new home out of our metal shed and building some crates for them to stay warm through the winter. With much power reading hear and lots of great advice and genuine concern - we were able to get them through the winter. 3 outside in the shed and one female that had one kit survive - um pregnant not on our watch. We did however read about sexing and quickly figured out we had one male and three females - now we have 4 females.
Anyway we had found a place that rescued farm animals and birds, and also had some rabbits. We thought it would be perfect for them. So in April we packaged our babies up and took them to their new home. We spent a great deal of time getting a rabbit gazebo all set up for them. We travelled on a weekly basis to see them and bring them a supply of pellets and fresh greens when we could as our donations......
Without sounding unappreciative....it broke our hearts every week! They did not seem happy, we believe the did not get fresh water or food on a consistent basis, and well just not looked after like they had been by my friend and I. 3 Weeks ago I suspected that they mite have some sort of mite thing going on as I noticed a bit of hair loss/thinning directly behind the ears....I knew it was not from pregnancy as they don't pull hair there.
Anyway with a combination of, moving stress (originally in a bird Avery which became very hot and if we had not gone up to move them they most likely would still be in there sweltering!), additionally the spring molt (they had amazingly thick coats to get through our long and cold winter we had), stress of inconsistent watering and feeding along with only a pellet diet - unless we brought something fresh for them. I believe it all added to them being run down and allowing mites to infest them.
I mentioned it several times to the care-giver and did not see anything done, and the patches on the three adult females (intact) was getting worse.
Simply the person just did not have the time or the resources to care for them and take measures to promptly treat them.
My friend and I just could not drive home that day without making a drastic decision to Rescue them for the "Rescue"!!!
We have another shed that is wooden with a concrete floor - in the shade with a nice area for an outdoor run under the trees. So we did some reorganizing and turned the storage shed into yet another new home for them.
We have had them back now for a week and wanted to see if their condition would improve with lots of vitamin C (fresh dandelions) and proper care. While their demeanour has improved 10 fold - running and jumping and doing binkis!!! which they did not do at all up at the Rescue.
I need to treat them for mites - undetermined at this point if it is fur mites, mange or ear mites - or if it is either over grooming (as the four females are together and the intact male is with them but separate) Nothing we can do right now as we can not afford to neuter him - but we do plan on too if we end up fostering them long term. The male and the baby female now 8 months old do not seem to be affected - nothing on their nose or any hair loss and ears look nice and clean.
The three females all have a 2 inch of bare skin directly behind their ears and each of them have a bit of crusting on their noses (this all within one week up at the rescue) but has not got worse this past week. The inside of their ears looks perfect.
I do not want to use harsh chemicals on them!!! - they have been stressed enough. So I am going to use Human food grade Diatomaceous Earth, wisely and carefully as instructed. It does take patience and several applications as opposed to injections of ivermectin or using ivomec ingestible or topical.
I have also read about Apple Cider Vinegar being a great health booster in multiple ways for Rabbits.
Their new house is being cleaned on a daily basis, and have pulled all the hay for now and just feeding them their good quality pellets, fresh greens and some sweet treats before bed.
Any further advice would be greatly appreciated - we are NOT Rabbit breeders - but simply want to provide these poor creatures who were initially caged for breeding and treated horribly and lived in horrible conditions (as we found out), and then with a somewhat failed attempt at placing them to find them a healthy and stimulating environment - to now providing them with a great safe and stimulating place to live until we can find them somewhere equal or better to our care.
They have an outdoor pen about 20'x10 that they are digging to their hearts content - I will be building them a safe pen attached to their "Hilton" shed that if we are out for the day or when it is hot they can be out at night (safe from bears, raccoon and other predators. For now they run in and out of their shed into the day pen and are secured into the shed at night. They have shelves, hiddy boxes, litter pans, and ample fresh water and pellets.
All in all - looks like we are rabbit obsessed for another shift!!! Now just need to get them all healthy again! and get their beautiful coats back!!!
We were able to live capture 4 at the time - we were not aware that he had let all of them go and in fact did not even know it was the neighbours!!!
Nevertheless my friend and I had never had rabbits before, but most certainly are pet lovers! As the story went - it was getting close to winter, the Humane Society in our location was full, and since we had the time and the means we set too in making a quick new home out of our metal shed and building some crates for them to stay warm through the winter. With much power reading hear and lots of great advice and genuine concern - we were able to get them through the winter. 3 outside in the shed and one female that had one kit survive - um pregnant not on our watch. We did however read about sexing and quickly figured out we had one male and three females - now we have 4 females.
Anyway we had found a place that rescued farm animals and birds, and also had some rabbits. We thought it would be perfect for them. So in April we packaged our babies up and took them to their new home. We spent a great deal of time getting a rabbit gazebo all set up for them. We travelled on a weekly basis to see them and bring them a supply of pellets and fresh greens when we could as our donations......
Without sounding unappreciative....it broke our hearts every week! They did not seem happy, we believe the did not get fresh water or food on a consistent basis, and well just not looked after like they had been by my friend and I. 3 Weeks ago I suspected that they mite have some sort of mite thing going on as I noticed a bit of hair loss/thinning directly behind the ears....I knew it was not from pregnancy as they don't pull hair there.
Anyway with a combination of, moving stress (originally in a bird Avery which became very hot and if we had not gone up to move them they most likely would still be in there sweltering!), additionally the spring molt (they had amazingly thick coats to get through our long and cold winter we had), stress of inconsistent watering and feeding along with only a pellet diet - unless we brought something fresh for them. I believe it all added to them being run down and allowing mites to infest them.
I mentioned it several times to the care-giver and did not see anything done, and the patches on the three adult females (intact) was getting worse.
Simply the person just did not have the time or the resources to care for them and take measures to promptly treat them.
My friend and I just could not drive home that day without making a drastic decision to Rescue them for the "Rescue"!!!
We have another shed that is wooden with a concrete floor - in the shade with a nice area for an outdoor run under the trees. So we did some reorganizing and turned the storage shed into yet another new home for them.
We have had them back now for a week and wanted to see if their condition would improve with lots of vitamin C (fresh dandelions) and proper care. While their demeanour has improved 10 fold - running and jumping and doing binkis!!! which they did not do at all up at the Rescue.
I need to treat them for mites - undetermined at this point if it is fur mites, mange or ear mites - or if it is either over grooming (as the four females are together and the intact male is with them but separate) Nothing we can do right now as we can not afford to neuter him - but we do plan on too if we end up fostering them long term. The male and the baby female now 8 months old do not seem to be affected - nothing on their nose or any hair loss and ears look nice and clean.
The three females all have a 2 inch of bare skin directly behind their ears and each of them have a bit of crusting on their noses (this all within one week up at the rescue) but has not got worse this past week. The inside of their ears looks perfect.
I do not want to use harsh chemicals on them!!! - they have been stressed enough. So I am going to use Human food grade Diatomaceous Earth, wisely and carefully as instructed. It does take patience and several applications as opposed to injections of ivermectin or using ivomec ingestible or topical.
I have also read about Apple Cider Vinegar being a great health booster in multiple ways for Rabbits.
Their new house is being cleaned on a daily basis, and have pulled all the hay for now and just feeding them their good quality pellets, fresh greens and some sweet treats before bed.
Any further advice would be greatly appreciated - we are NOT Rabbit breeders - but simply want to provide these poor creatures who were initially caged for breeding and treated horribly and lived in horrible conditions (as we found out), and then with a somewhat failed attempt at placing them to find them a healthy and stimulating environment - to now providing them with a great safe and stimulating place to live until we can find them somewhere equal or better to our care.
They have an outdoor pen about 20'x10 that they are digging to their hearts content - I will be building them a safe pen attached to their "Hilton" shed that if we are out for the day or when it is hot they can be out at night (safe from bears, raccoon and other predators. For now they run in and out of their shed into the day pen and are secured into the shed at night. They have shelves, hiddy boxes, litter pans, and ample fresh water and pellets.
All in all - looks like we are rabbit obsessed for another shift!!!
Now just need to get them all healthy again! and get their beautiful coats back!!!
