Sudden death (Graphic)

[Rushtawin]

Yesterday & this afternoon: No visible symptoms or abnormal behavior
Tonight: Found this NZW doe appearing as above, with the rabbits in the cage next to her munching off her ears post-mortem.

History: She's one of the eight I purchased as 4-6 week olds from several different litters... we had heard a sneeze or two after the initial purchase but it subsided and everyone grew like weeds. The other rabbit in her hutch is smaller than her from being a little younger, had no blood on her, and appeared healthily unscathed. Both were eating/drinking normally every day. There were no lacerations on the dead rabbit's face, I looked.

[mystic moon pygmies]

I suggest you contact Barbi Brown,  http://www.barbibrownsbunnies.com/
I've raised rabbits for more than 7 years and she never fails to teach me something I didn't know about rabbits. I believe she's been raising rabbits for over 35 years. She is VERY knowledgeable.

[Rushtawin]

I just called and left a message on her machine. Eagerly waiting her call back... and kicking myself for not having the supplies to do a partial necropsy.

[GoatTalker]

You can use a kitchen knife.

[GoatTech]

Was this rabbit housed with another rabbit? If so, I would suspect she was injured by the other rabbit.

[Rushtawin]

Yes she was.

She was alive when I got there. I started pulling and filling waterers with the watering can, turned around to get theirs, and she was dead with the others (in the cage next to theirs) munching on her ears. She was larger than the other one by quite a bit and was bigger than her sisters in the neighboring cages.

I didn't hear anything at all, which is what makes this so WEIRD. There are no injuries on the deceased rabbit either. I wasn't more than 5' away from her cage the entire time. The new rabbit area was supposed to be set up already months ago, I offered to do it all myself but got turned down.

I'm selling a few rabbits tomorrow, so most of mine will be back in individual cages. They were 4-6 weeks old when I bought them and are all just under 4 months of age.

Nic, I wouldn't hesitate to use a kitchen knife but don't have access to others' kitchens while at the farm, or even at home, because they're not the the type to let me use their kitchen utensils on my critters. I think I'll have my sister ship me my knife (if it's legal to) and invest in some disposable razors.

Could she have had a stoke? Could that have caused bleeding out of her nose?

[Chaty]

A friends horse died of a brain anurisym and it bled out thru the nose...thats all I can think of to cause this....weird... 

[GoatTalker]

Nic, I wouldn't hesitate to use a kitchen knife but don't have access to others' kitchens while at the farm, or even at home, because they're not the the type to let me use their kitchen utensils on my critters. I think I'll have my sister ship me my knife (if it's legal to) and invest in some disposable razors.

Could she have had a stoke? Could that have caused bleeding out of her nose?

 The dollar store has knives. What do you use to break open your hay? We keep a sheet rock knife handy for the hay, which could also be used to open a rabbit.  Or you could have taken it home with you and done it there. I guess I just don't understand.

[Rushtawin]

They have knives at the dollar store? Cool! I'm going to have stop in some time then, there are two nearby that I haven't been into yet. For hay, I just use my knee on the end of the bale to loosen up the twine or wire enough to open the bale - mine easily breaks into flakes.

As for the kitchen, his mom is so squeamish that I can't even bring a farm fresh chicken home with me to cook, even if it's already prepared and ready to get cooked. The same happened with the turkey I offered to bring home for Thanksgiving. I'm not allowed to bring any of my animals, other than my fish, to the house. Not even the puppy, who is house trained and has excellent manners, though they let his brother get a dog who has none.

To put this in perspective: she watched me scrub my hands for several minutes before I started to cook one day, and freaked out because I had to use my palm so I could add a pinch of spice. Yet she had me peeling hard boiled eggs at Thanksgiving. It makes no sense, and I'm slightly frustrated because I'd like to eat the fruit of my labor on occasion.

[GoatTech]

It sounds to me as if she had an internal injury. That is why you saw the breeding.
Yes, rabbits HAVE to be caged separately.

[Rushtawin]

I agree about the individual cages. My ag teacher saw the pictures and said she must have had a problem in her lungs to bleed out like that.

[GoatTech]

Bleeding out of extremities is typically a normal postmortem finding.
Sudden death is typical of an internal injury with rabbits. They have very fragile bones.
The 2 rabbits could have been romping in the cage playing when the injury occurred. Could have broke its neck or a rib could have punctured the liver.
You will never know for sure, but keeping them separated may have prevented it.

[GoatTalker]

And, from reading the rabbit disease links, you may find the rabbit had pneumonia that you knew nothing about, and part of the death process caused a bleed.

[GoatTech]

Yes pneumonia is very common, but I would suspect one would have at least noted decreased feed intake a day prior.
Rabbits tend to "just die" to the unobservant eye, but with careful observation, you can see it coming.

[Rushtawin]

Thank you all for the responses. A buyer came along and bought 5 of the rabbits, so now we have extra cages.

[GoatTech]