Pat Lamar said:
Unless you are positive that the rabbits have worms, then, you shouldn't medicate them for it. If you are certain, then, the medication of choice for pin worms would be Piperazine. There are many other things which can cause slow growth rates, so please be sure before medicating. One of the causes would be coccidiosis, which would require a different type of medication, while other causes could be feed related, poor quality stock, or smaller breeds like the Florida White which is commonly confused and/or mistaken as being a "meat breed." What breeds are your "meat rabbits?"
Pat Lamar
President
Professional Rabbit Meat Association
http://www.prma.org/
Pat,
Thanks for your response, We have been discussing this and we have changed feed stores and feed and are starting to see some difference in thier weight gain (but not a lot yet). We have also changed our "supplier" of rabbits and have a few new beautiful rabbits. We plan to just cull the others and go with the new stock and see if we get better results. Our original rabbits were suppost to be New Zealands but the growth rate just isn't proving to be right.
You mentioned coccidiosis, What are some other symptoms that we might look for with this to determine if this might be an issue. Our rabbits are nice looking and seem to be healthy and eat but they just dont seem to be the size of the Newly aquired New Zealands.
We do have our rabbits in the barn, in wire mesh cages, off the ground, feeding standard rabbit pellets with an occasional garden treat, always have fresh available water, clean of ear mites, non sick, nice rabbits but they just seem to stop growing and taking to long to reach a good weight to butcher and so with most animals, you would think worms, which i could not find any info on so i thought i would ask....
and so are the days of our lives...
Do you have any suggestions, does it sound like we are doing something wrong?
any ideas would be appreciated. thanks.
Belinda