So a lot has happened since I last blogged. Two days after the last post, my best upcoming junior and only offspring from Belle Starr went off feed. She had all the same signs as the other three that dead. I called up a few breeders that lost a lot of rabbits last year to feed problems (the one is still losing rabbits) to get advice. Mine had all the same signs as what their's did, going off feed, bloating out, grinding their teeth, etc. I was told by one to use Terramyacin and pineapple juice, to help break up the blockage. Nicole told me to use pedialyte, since she was dehydrated from not drinking. Two days later Aurora, who had a week old litter at the time, started having the same signs, and the next day DDT5, a Blue jr doe that I was getting ready to sell, had the signs too. Between a mixture of what I was already syringing them, plus this Critcal Care that Nicole sent me (for rabbits that go off feed), Aurora was back eating within 5 days. Didn't lose any babies in the meantime (other than one that came out of the nestbox too early...). DDT5, sadly dead the same day Aurora started eating. The night before, her stomach was bloated out too much, and I could not get her to take any of the liquids. Then Belle Starr's baby, my little fighter, has stuck it out. She's all bones, and it's been two weeks, but Wednesday night, she touched her water bottle on her own for the first time, and just yesterday she finally touched her food for the first time in two weeks! Very relieved, as she's finally looking like she's going to make it! Needless to say, the last two weeks have been very stressful. Little Calamity Jane is currently living in the house, and becoming a bit of a spoiled house rabbit. Will be hard for her to readjust to life outside, however that's a ways off until she puts on some weight.
We took some of that weird looking feed into my feed store, and it's been sent off to a rep for the brand, to be tested. Still have not heard back... We did take some of it last weekend to the show, and I had several breeders say it looked and smelled like pig food... So this makes me think that my theory is correct, to cut charges, they are not cleaning their mills inbetween different feeds, hence my bag having all this weird stuff in it. My brand puts out 5 different feeds (that I know of) for just RABBITS, plus they have all the other animals. I think they're sacrificing quality for quantity.
In the mean time, I have switched feeds for now, might be permanent though. It's only been a few weeks, so hard to say if I'm happy with this feed yet. It cost $5 more per bag than what I was paying. My former feed, I had used for 8 years, and had been very happy with it up until recently, as I had the condition I wanted on my rabbits. Only time will tell with this feed. However, since changing, I haven't had anyone else get sick.
Moving on, last weekend was the Mount Vernon show, a single show. I judged the Mini Rex specialty, which was fun. There were several very nice rabbits. I didn't have much to show, only 4 Dutch and 4 Silver Martens. Everyone was either a first or second in their class. For Dutch, Revolver was BOV and BOS for his 5th leg. Jan won BOB with her really nice Blue doe.
For Silver Martens, our Black jr doe was BOV Black for her first leg. Stormy won BOS, but there were not enough for a leg. Not sure who the owner of the BOB rabbit was. Our other Black doe left at this show to go live in BC Canada with Sunny Brook Rabbitry, as they start up in the breed.
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