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476 results for “doe rabbit”
Rabbit Cannibalism of Kits: Causes and Prevention
Cannibalism of kits is a metabolic and nutritional disorder that peaks right after kindling, driven by salt, calcium, protein, or B-vitamin gaps, thirst, fright, odd smells, or poor mothering. Signs are missing kits with blood in the box. Prevent with complete feed, ample water, no handling of kits, quiet surroundings, and isolating the doe if she has the habit.
Rabbit Feeding Habits and Eating Behavior
Rabbits are single-stomach herbivores that prefer plants, pellets and a little vegetable oil or sweet feed, with animal feed kept under 5%. They practice coprophagy — eating nutrient-rich soft cecotropes at night — and eat mostly after dusk, so sudden feed changes cause refusal and gut upset. Introduce any new feed, including animal protein during pregnancy or lactation, gradually.
Rabbit Vitamin A Deficiency
Vitamin A keeps rabbit mucous membranes intact and vision sharp; deficiency, worst in winter and early spring, brings slow growth, weak coat, nerve signs, eye damage (conjunctivitis, keratitis, even ulceration), and in pregnant does premature birth or dead malformed kits. It stems from low-carotene feed, poor gut or liver absorption, or vitamin loss in storage. Diagnose by history, lesions, and plasma vitamin A below 0.2 to 0.3 mg/ml.
Rabbit Stress: Causes, Signs, and How to Avoid It
Rabbits are timid and sharp-eared, so strong or repeated shocks can stress them severely, even fatally. Causes include changed water or feed, weather, noise, light, moves, and strangers; signs are raised pulse and breathing, restlessness or hiding, refusing food, and does crushing or rejecting kits. Avoid stress with steady routines, fixed light, temperature control, quiet, and gradual feed changes.
Preventing and Treating Yellow-Urine Disease in Baby Rabbits
Yellow-urine disease is acute enteritis in nursing kits under 7 days old, caused by Staphylococcus toxins from a mother's mastitis passed through her milk; signs include yellow watery stools, weakness, and a fishy smell. Prevent it with a clean dry nest, managed milk flow in the doe, and early mastitis treatment, and treat affected kits with gentamicin drops.
Rabbit Mycotoxin Poisoning: Symptoms and Control
Mycotoxin poisoning in rabbits comes from moldy feed, peaks in hot humid summer, and hits lactating does hardest with no contagion and poor drug response. Acute signs are appetite loss, irregular stools, staggering, and death in 2 to 4 days. Prevent it with strict feed storage and anti-mold additives, and treat by stopping the moldy feed and giving glucose, vitamins, and antifungal drugs.
Rabbit Hairball Disease: Causes and Treatment
Hairball disease, common in long-haired rabbits, comes from swallowing too much fur and blocks the gut with constipation, bloating, and sometimes death. Causes range from cramped cages and poor diet to vitamin or mineral gaps and skin disease. Prevent it with full-ratio feed, isolation of fur-eaters, and regular grooming; treat with vegetable oil and enzyme tablets to pass the mass.
Key Points for Selecting Breeding Rabbits
Breeding stock is the core of a rabbitry, so selection must be planned and scientific. For meat rabbits check growth, feed conversion (2.8–3.2:1), conception rate (≥85%), litter size (≥6–8) and weaning survival (≥80%). For wool rabbits judge yield, density, length and evenness; for rex rabbits judge color purity, fur that is short, flat, fine, dense and secure, and adult weight above 3.5 kg. Always verify the animal's health.
Rabbit Breeding Characteristics
Rabbits are extremely fertile but have no regular estrous cycle — they are induced ovulators that release eggs only after mating or drug stimulation, 10–12 hours later. They have two separate uteri (allowing double pregnancies), mate most successfully around dawn and dusk, and suffer summer infertility, especially males. Pseudopregnancy is common and prevented by re-mating.
Preventing and Treating Rabbit Paratyphoid (Salmonellosis)
Rabbit paratyphoid (salmonellosis) is a zoonotic infection spread by contaminated feed and water, rodents, and flies; signs range from sudden death to diarrhea, wasting, and abortion in pregnant does. Control it by excluding vectors and vaccinating does, and treat with chloramphenicol, oxytetracycline, streptomycin, or sulfonamides.