Poopy butts on my bunnies...

[iLuvMyLilBuns]

Hey everyone!

So my baby buns are now 4 weeks old For the past week or so there's been bunches of poop stuck all over their butts, I think it's cecotropes. The poop is seriously stuck all over their butts in their fur and I have to clean them like twice a day and there is poop everywhere in their cage! Plus their mama, Lila has cecotropes everywhere and stuck on her butt it's really crazy and I can't handle it anymore lol. It's just soo gross... I don't know why this is happening because I thought I had them on a good diet. This is their diet:

Free choice hay, grass, and alfalfa.
Free choice Sherwood Forest Lactating and Growing Pellets

I don't give Lila veggies because I heard nursing rabbits can't handle veggies. I don't know if this is a good diet because of the way the bunnies are pooping.

The kits daddy,Charlie eats Kaytee hay pellets, veggies, hay, and grass and his poop has always been normal. I've never seen a cecotrope in his cage!

I have Kaytee alfalfa pellets I could change Lila and the kits over to, I just don't know what the problem is. Any suggestions would be amazing!! Lila is getting the cecotropes all over and some are getting stuck on the kits back and on the blankets and toys... ugh.. sorry for all the complaining but it's a little crazy here!

Any help would be greatly appreciated

 

[JBun]

How long have you been feeding the sherwood pellets? If there haven't been any recent food changes or something happening to stress them, then it might be they are getting too many pellets. I know that you're supposed to free feed pellets to baby rabbits and the mom, but with the problems you are having, you could try cutting back and limiting the pellets, so they will eat more hay.

Parasites or bacteria are also a possibility. They can cause digestive problems. But I would try cutting back on the pellets first and see if that helps.

 

[OakRidgeRabbits]

Can you tell us a little more about the ingredients/amounts in your pellets?

Holland Lop babies seem to be particularly sensitive to weaning so their symptoms would not be so alarming, except that the doe is apparently having the same troubles. So that definitely indicates something dietary to me.

In the meantime, I would cut down on free feeding pellets. Some websites recommend free choice when the kits are young, but kits eat almost anything put in front of them when they're young and too many pellets can cause problems. It's best to push the hay by feeding pellets twice a day in limited amounts. Then they can graze on the hay throughout the rest of the day. Also make sure the hay (preferably just grass hay/timothy) is easily accessible. Sometimes kits aren't as eager to "work for it" and pull it out of hay racks and feeders.

 

[OakRidgeRabbits]

WOW- I found the info on their website. The pellets have 8% fat content?! I have never heard of that before! Even the lowest fat formula (which is ironically the formula for pregnant does) is 3%; higher than I've seen in rabbit pellets before.

This is only my opinion, but I would recommend switching to a more widely-used production/show feed. Something closer to 16-17% protein and much less fat, around 2.5% is more typical for lactating does and growing kits. These feeds do tend to contain less fiber, but you're offering unlimited amounts of hay, which is the best source of fiber anyway. Brands to look into are Manna Pro, Blue Seal, Purina, Pen Pals, etc. These brands are commonly used among rabbit enthusiasts and are specifically formulated for the purpose of raising litters and showing rabbits. Most brands will have a few different formulas to choose from. Again, only an opinion, but possibly something to consider.

 

[iLuvMyLilBuns]

Julie: That's interesting, I thought Sherwood Forest was a great brand but I guess it must not be the best. I could buy Purina in bulk at a local store in my area but I don't have access to any of the other brands you told me unless I order them online. I do have access to Kaytee Forti Diet. Here's the ingredients in it:

Ingredients:

Sun-cured Alfalfa Meal, Ground Oats, Wheat Middlings, Dehulled Soybean Meal, Ground Wheat, Ground Corn, Dried Cane Molasses, Dicalcium Phosphate, Soy Oil, Calcium Carbonate, Salt, Yucca Schidigera Extract, Vitamin A Supplement, Choline Chloride, DL-Methionine, Ferrous Sulfate, Manganous Oxide, Zinc Oxide, Riboflavin Supplement, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Vitamin E Supplement, Copper Sulfate, Niacin, Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex (source of vitamin K activity), Cholecalciferol (source of vitamin D3), Calcium Pantothenate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Thiamine Mononitrate, Calcium Iodate, Biotin, Folic Acid, Dried A. oryzae Fermentation Extract (source of protease), Dried Bacillus coagulans Fermentation Product, Dried Bacillus licheniformis Fermentation Product, Dried Bacillus subtilis Fermentation Product, Cobalt Carbonate, Sodium Selenite.

Guaranteed Analysis:

Crude Protein (min.)..............17.0%
Crude Fat (min.)...................3.0%
Crude Fiber (min.)................14.0%
Crude Fiber (max.)................18.0%
Moisture (max.)...................12.0%
Calcium (min.).....................0.6%
Calcium (max.).....................1.1%
Phosphorus (min.)..................0.4%
Salt (min.........................0.25%
Salt (max.)...................... 0.75%
Vitamin A (min.).............5000 IU/lb

Do you think this is a good brand to switch them over to? Like I said my other rabbit Charlie eats Kaytee and does really good on it. Is it going to be hard to switch them over toa new brand of pellets because the kits are so young? Also, do you think they should eat free choice alfalfa?

Thanks for all the suggestions, it's really helpful

 

[OakRidgeRabbits]

Sherwood Forest didn't look bad overall, I was just very surprised to see such a high fat content. Their website suggested that their high-fat formula was better for rabbits, but I question that since I've never seen rabbit pellets so high in fat before.

Had this digestive issue not popped up, I would have said hey- whatever works for you! But since you're seeing messy bottoms, I'm inclined to believe it may be related to that.

I haven't fed Kaytee Forti-Diet before, but once you've found a pellet that your rabbits do well on, it's best to stick with it. If Charlie is doing well on it, I'd say give that a shot and see whether that will help out.

With the babies being so young right now and just starting weaning, it's best not to do a sudden switch. If you decide you want to change foods right now, do it very slowly, mixing a little bit more of the new food in each day until they are transitioned. Definitely make sure they're eating hay too by limiting pellets a bit or splitting them into two feedings.

You can offer free choice alfalfa if you'd like to. I only do grass/timothy, even for babies, but alfalfa is alright for young or growing rabbits.

Remember, these are only suggestions or points for conversation based on the experiences I've had. You may find that something else works better for you! Never switch foods just because one person says so, because what you feed largely depends on what you can get fresh in your area. For example, my rabbits didn't do well on Purina at all, but others have fantastic results on the brand! But with the rabbits being a bit "off," I do think diet is something to explore and change a bit to see if that helps.