#sj2

[coyotecreek]

Cherry did gain 12 oz since her 10 week weigh-in, which.. you know. Great. She was gaining again, at least. But that's still a lesser gain than I'd hoped for, and she's nowhere near where she should be for 12 weeks of age. I think I need to call it here. If it had been more than a full pound of gain, I maybe would have considered letting her go on longer, but it also seems like she's been bloating up again on and off lately, so something's not right, regardless.

I tried. It was a learning experience, and a painful one, but at least this doesn't seem to have been anything infectious. All the other litters have been fine. No one else has been bloating or looking lethargic.

[coyotecreek]

If you're wondering, Cherry is still very much alive. And not bloated. And eating and greeting me, still.

She's not out of the woods. Being on a hay-only diet for a week really did a number on her condition, and she needs to regain weight. Very small amounts of pellets being offered. I'm going to TRY to get her through this and back on track, if possible.

And while I'm doing that, I'm going to try not to get too attached, because that's bound to happen. And she might still succumb. And even if she makes a full recovery, there's the question of whether or not she should be grown out JUST for meat and fur, as a cull.

[coyotecreek]

The kit who died has died again, but this time, he's not resurrecting. The others seem worse this morning, so I think this entire litter might be doomed. They're all super bloated again, unstable on their feet, and a few of them won't eat.

Still completely dumbfounded. I have no idea why they're THIS sick. It makes no logical sense to me. The neighboring litter (BE1) is still acting normal. Juneau is showing no signs of illness. Anyone who does survive (unlikely) is going to get culled, regardless. I can't have rabbits in my lines who are this sensitive.

[coyotecreek]

Little update.

The kit who "died" is still hanging in there. He's clearly the worst off, and his siblings actually seem somewhat better now (here's hoping). They're moving a bit more, and are still eating and drinking. He can hold himself up, and does eat small bits of hay, so I'm hoping that's a sign of SOME improvement. If he gets any worse, I'll cull. Gotta work tonight, so I'll be checking on them as soon as I get back.

One thing of note: No diarrhea. The only real symptoms are bloating and lethargy. And I guess in the one boy's case, ALMOST dying? That was really weird. Again, never seen anything like that. I've had so many young animals not make it over the years (mostly poultry), and if I'm there when they pass, they do EXACTLY what he did, and then are gone.

[coyotecreek]

Litter SJ2 is bloating. :/ Every single one of them. And I'm not sure why. Diet hasn't changed, only difference is that Juneau was removed, and she's DRY, so she was definitely not nursing them anymore. Stress, maybe? I've never had a litter bloat like this before. (And this is exactly why I don't sell my kits at 8 weeks, it's still too soon, IMO.) They need to be doing well without their mom for at least 2 weeks before I'll sell them.

They're being treated with gas drops, and are on nothing but hay. The crazy thing is, I was feeding Nox's litter, and all of a sudden, I hear a squeal, and one of Juneau's boys is kicking himself around the cage, clearly going through a seizure or something, so I immediately took him out, and he starts going through the classic death throes, so I'm just like "Well, fuck." His body is having tremors, his spine straightens, his head goes back, and his hind legs stretch way out, the same thing I often see in chicks or poults who are actively DYING in my hands. This is the end.

But then, he continues to blink.. and breath. And he comes out of that. I have no idea HOW. I have never seen an animal survive "death throes." He's still clearly weak, but I syringed the gas drop mixture into him and put him back, and last I checked, he was attempting to eat some hay. SO??? *shrug* If that kit survives, it'll be some kinda miracle. I'm not going to lead myself into any false hope, though. Bloat is very serious, and these kits were balloons this morning.

[coyotecreek]

Haven't updated on Juneau's litter in a bit. All doing good. The bedding sure does.. stick to that silver fox coat. I have a blue buck and a black buck in this litter who are looking to be keeper potential, so we'll see who ends up checking all the boxes in a month or so.

[coyotecreek]

All the new kids. Top two photos were from today, bottom ones were taken yesterday.

[coyotecreek]

Litter SJ2 is here! Juneau actually used the nest box, too. I did a very quick check, but it looks like five blacks and two blues? I'll do a more thorough check tonight. She's a first-time mom, so I don't want to be up in her business too much. Looks like all went well, though.

In other news, I'm probably NOT keeping a doe from litter AO1. Gotta make room for Ragweed and the BC1 kit I'm keeping, as is. I'll keep a kit from one of Sid's future litters, most likely.