I have notice since 4 months they haven't grow much they weight 3 and 4 pounds and they are pure new zealand and they are really healthy everything they do like a healthy bunny but when they were 3 months old they did have a on and off diarrhea and medicine of a antibiotic and a diarrhea stop medicine but since then I haven't seen anything of diarrhea but I don't get why they don't grow
Question about baby buns 5 months old
- Thread starter Selena RD
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BTW, I can't feel their spine either
bunbunadri
Well-Known Member
What do they eat?
Oxbow alfalfa pellets timothy hay and alfalfa hay
bunbunadri
Well-Known Member
The diet seems fine. That's weird. I'm not really sure.
I know it's so confusing and it's my first time taking care of young ones and they get 1/4 cup everyday but also when they were young they only got 5 weeks of the mothers milk cause she got to skinny from a uterus problem
So they're underweight for their age, but don't feel bony or skinny? Can you describe what the diarrhea was like? Were the fecal balls normal and the cecotropes were mushy, or was the fecal poop mushy too, or watery, or had mucous strings in it, or had a jelly substance, or spots of blood, or tear drop shaped fecal poop? Was a poop sample ever tested for bacteria or parasites?
What antibiotic were they given, what was the anti diarrhea medicine, and any other medicine they were given?
They only get 1/4 cup of pellets each per day? How much alfalfa hay do they get and is it a green leafy cut? And is the timothy hay free fed(never runs out) and is it a soft hay, mix of leaf and hard stems, or all hard stems?
What antibiotic were they given, what was the anti diarrhea medicine, and any other medicine they were given?
They only get 1/4 cup of pellets each per day? How much alfalfa hay do they get and is it a green leafy cut? And is the timothy hay free fed(never runs out) and is it a soft hay, mix of leaf and hard stems, or all hard stems?
Yeah they don't feel skinny at all just they are small
The diarrhea had a bad smell mushy type and it was with normal droppings for 2 weeks they had it but it got less and less and with enrofloxacin and anti diarrhea was metronidazole & no blood or jelly or mucous and no tear drop and on 1/4 at day and night alfalfa hay 2 hand fulls and always timothy hay and mixed soft and hard stems
I'm confused.
NorthernNevadaHollandLops
Well-Known Member
Sounds like, if they also had normal round poops, that it is their cecotropes that were too soft. Do you ever give them fresh greens? Sometimes I see super soft and smelly cecotropes if I give my bunnies too much fresh greens or a fresh veg that their tummies don't like. I don't know about the weight gain. They look healthy, are you sure of their breed?
So the fecal balls were normal, but then there was also some mushy poop? Mixed with the fecal balls or separate from the fecal balls. That's 1/4 cup each rabbit or 1/4 cup to share?
For a purebred New Zealand rabbit to be significantly undersized, it can mean there's something stunting it's growth. It could be they're not getting enough protein in their diet. Since they are larger breed rabbits and still growing, they will need a higher protein diet to help with that growth. Or it could be they have an intestinal parasite stunting their growth. Or it could be a genetic issue, though less likely since it is affecting several rabbits the same, unless they aren't actually purebred and might be bred with a smaller rabbit so aren't actually undersized at all. But if they are no doubts that they are actually purebred NZ, you're probably looking at a diet problem or a parasite problem, that is causing the stunted growth.
For a purebred New Zealand rabbit to be significantly undersized, it can mean there's something stunting it's growth. It could be they're not getting enough protein in their diet. Since they are larger breed rabbits and still growing, they will need a higher protein diet to help with that growth. Or it could be they have an intestinal parasite stunting their growth. Or it could be a genetic issue, though less likely since it is affecting several rabbits the same, unless they aren't actually purebred and might be bred with a smaller rabbit so aren't actually undersized at all. But if they are no doubts that they are actually purebred NZ, you're probably looking at a diet problem or a parasite problem, that is causing the stunted growth.
SableSteel
Well-Known Member
When I had new zealands I fed them 1 cup of pellets each day. 1/4 cup is MUCH too little to feed them; that is what I would be feeding a netherland dwarf that age. These are meat rabbits. They have been selectively bred to need and grow quickly off of a high protein diet. I can't see the body much in that most recent picture but in the 3 month old picture they look malnourished.
A healthy new zealand should be 5-6 lbs at 10 weeks, and should be around 7-8 lbs at 5 months old, and should be 9-12 lbs at maturity.
Well when they were with the other own the brother and sister it's their kids he was smaller then the mom I'm guessing they are just new zealand but I guess I'm taking them to the vet and the closes appointment is the 2nd of January
I never felt their spine at any age and I used to do that 1CUP but they didn't eat hay and didn't move much
1/4 they get day and night each and it was mushy and normal poop together
SableSteel
Well-Known Member
They need to eat more than 1/4 cup pellets. They can't get all their nutrients from hay. Personally I would free feed them pellets at this point until they got closer to their adult weight. You're not at risk of them getting overweight easily while they are still growing. If they are eating less hay when they are on pellets, its probably because they don't feel hungry all the time like they probably do now. Those rabbits look skinny in that picture you posted. You should never see a sunken in loin on any breed of rabbit, much less one like a new zealand that is naturally wide and muscular. In that picture they are all angles. They are bred to have a firm muscle covering over the back
