[Mrs_stuart]

Hi, I want to know what you'all worm your rabbits with...
I cant seem to find anything in my town and could use a bit of help.
Most of my rabbits are meat rabbits and they just wont get over the 4 lb size...and i think i need to worm them. do you'all worm yours, how often???

Belinda

 

[Tracy]

Worming rabbits is not a standard practice. If they are housed in cages off the ground there is not really a need to do this. Would need to know more info as to your housing and feed, etc.

You say they will not go over 4 lbs? At what age is this, what breed? Sounds like you have bad stock.

 

[CJ]

We've never medicated our rabbits in any shape or form, they seem to do just fine without.

 

[Pat Lamar]

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/

 

[Mrs_stuart]

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

 

[Pat Lamar]

I suggest you visit this web site for disease descriptions:

http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/index.jsp

There are two forms of coccidiosis. Unfortunately, liver coccidiosis often does not show any external symptoms until in the later stages (unthrifty and often appear to be having a "bad hair day"). You would have to either butcher a rabbit, or do a necropsy in order to look at the liver. Intestinal coccidiosis generally shows up as diarrhea.

You really should contact the original breeder who you got those rabbits from. Ask questions! Find out if they also have a similar problem. In any case, by asking questions, you should be able to determine whether or not they even know if the rabbits are true New Zealands. Like I had stated previously, the Florida White is often confused with NZW, but they are smaller. They will quickly grow to 4 lbs., then level out. Adult weights average 4 to 5 lbs. A novice would be hard put to try to identify the differences between a Florida White and a New Zealand White when they appear so very similar.

Pat Lamar
President
Professional Rabbit Meat Association
http://www.prma.org/

 

[Mrs_stuart]

Thanks for the website Pat. I did look up the two forms of coccidiosis and I do believe that everything is good. We already took the precautions and culled the other rabbits and are watching the new rabbits closely. I also got hubby a new book on rabbits. I really appreciate all your info. thanks!

Belinda

 

[Pat Lamar]

What book did you get?

Pat Lamar
President
Professional Rabbit Meat Association
http://www.prma.org/

 

[Mrs_stuart]

What book did you get?

Pat Lamar
President
Professional Rabbit Meat Association
http://www.prma.org/

Raising rabbits the Modern way!

Is it a good book? are there any really great ones out there?

Belinda

 

[Pat Lamar]

It's an okay book for beginners, but you'll need to remember that Bob Bennett (the author) really isn't a meat breeder. He raises Tans, which are not a "meat" rabbit, although any rabbit may be eaten, so he isn't very familiar with the rabbit meat industry. The book I recommend which is wonderful for both beginners and experienced rabbit breeders is "Rabbit Production," 8th Edition, by McNitt, Lukefahr, Patton and Cheeke. A hard bound book, the best price can be found at this web site: http://phcatalog.pearson.com/co_home.cfm?site_id=6

Pat Lamar
President
Professional Rabbit Meat Association
http://www.prma.org/

 

[stubone]

It's an okay book for beginners, but you'll need to remember that Bob Bennett (the author) really isn't a meat breeder. He raises Tans, which are not a "meat" rabbit, although any rabbit may be eaten, so he isn't very familiar with the rabbit meat industry. The book I recommend which is wonderful for both beginners and experienced rabbit breeders is "Rabbit Production," 8th Edition, by McNitt, Lukefahr, Patton and Cheeke. A hard bound book, the best price can be found at this web site: http://phcatalog.pearson.com/co_home.cfm?site_id=6

Pat Lamar
President
Professional Rabbit Meat Association
http://www.prma.org/

Thanks Pat...although i went to the link and did a search and it said no matches. I will do some more searching when i have more time. I might also see if library will find it for me (then we can read it now and order copy for later) I appreciate all your help.

Belinda

 

[boren]

Thanks Pat. I ordred the book. I got Bob Bennett's book thinking it would on par to Story's duck book by Holderread. It's got me started, but not the same caliber.

 

[Pat Lamar]

Belinda.... make sure you choose to search by "title" and type in "Rabbit Production" (without the quote marks) in the search field at the top of the page. It's working just fine for me, and obviously, for Boren, too. Price is $28.82, while others are charging anywhere up to $40.00 for the same book!

Pat Lamar
President
Professional Rabbit Meat Association
http://www.prma.org/

 

[boren]

Thank you Pat!! I just got the book and I have just started reading it. It really looks great, answer a lot of questions I had but didn't know I had.

 

[bill not in oh]

Pat

What's the difference between the 7th and 8th editions?

 

[Pat Lamar]

Pat

What's the difference between the 7th and 8th editions?

Well, the 8th edition is larger by 16 pages, so there's more information in it. In addition, the chapters are likewise updated, so the information will often differ. Actually, I'm expecting a much larger difference in the upcoming 9th edition! It's always best to try to stay current. This book has certainly changed and grown since it was first begun by George Templeton in 1955 and which consisted of only 210 pages as compared to the 493 pages of the 8th edition. I have all 8 editions.

Pat Lamar
President
Professional Rabbit Meat Association
http://www.prma.org/