Should I be worried? (cecotropes after birthing)

[lilbuns1000]

Hello everyone,

My rabbit, Bella, 9 months old, recently had her first (accidental) litter. All of her 7 kits are 4 weeks old tomorrow. The issue is, ever since Bella gave birth she has been having cecotropes every so often. Large piles of them that her youngings step in if I don’t get to clean it up in time. Through my research, I found that the mother may leave this cecotropes for her children to eat and gain nutrients through. Though, I have never once seen her kids eat these. We have discovered that she is mildly allergic to Alfalfa hay (it causes her to sneeze absurdly), so we have stopped feeding that hay. It has been about a week now since we stopped feeding alfalfa, perhaps the alfalfa was causing these poops? My other thought was that it is caused by this change in her diet, as she is being fed unlimited pellets, along with her kids, due to her nursing. If anyone can help narrow this down I would appreciate it.

 

[JBun]

Did you replace the alfalfa with a grass hay (eg timothy, orchard, meadow)? What brand/type of pellets? Any other supplements, veg, or treats?

The cecotropes, do they look fully formed like a blackberry cluster, before getting stepped on? Or are they coming out semi formed and pasty?

 

[lilbuns1000]

Did you replace the alfalfa with a grass hay (eg timothy, orchard, meadow)? What brand/type of pellets? Any other supplements, veg, or treats?

The cecotropes, do they look fully formed like a blackberry cluster, before getting stepped on? Or are they coming out semi formed and pasty?

Yes, I replaced it with Orchard grass instead. They currently have been eating Producers Pride, but we are switching to Oxbow Essentials young rabbit for the kits and for Bella until she no longer nurses. The cecotropes look like a blackberry cluster. She will have regular poop, and then have a cluster of them about once or twice a day.

 

[Preitler]

Usually, leftover cecos are a sign of a too rich diet. Nursing does eat a lot, so I wouldn't worry if it's just a few. But although they can make use of some extra calories and protein at some point it's enough - they evolved on a meager diet. I think if you enrich the feed to the point of Cecos showing up regularily you've reached the point of what they actually can use, should be close enough to max. meat growth if that's your goal. Good meat lines can make use of more rich stuff, I prefer to stick to a fiber rich diet and not max. growth rate though, no hurry, but that's just a personal opinion.

And no, they do not leave cecos for the kits. Kits nibble on normal poop to get the bacteria they need, but that's it.

 

[Jocee]

If your Bun isn’t leaving them every day I wouldn’t worry too much if it is happening every day you might need to take out a little of the pellets but it sounds like its not too often so it might be alright