http://rabbitedsociety.webs.com/Rabbitmills.pdf


I highly recommend reading this.

The clinical signs of Ivermectin poisoning are:

• excessive dilatation of the pupil of the eye (mydriasis)
• lethargy
• stupor
• coma
• tremors
• loss of coordination of the muscles, especially of the extremities (ataxia)
• vomiting (emesis)
• drooling
• death

Less visible symptoms:

• depression
• tachycardia (fast pulse)
• blood pressure fluctuation 

According to PIM 292, there is no evidence of increased birth defects in humans or mares subject to normal therapeutic Ivermectin treatment. But Ivermectin is teratogenic in rats, rabbit and mice at or near materno-toxic dose levels. The abnormalities are limited mainly to cleft palate.

Treatment is symptomatic and supportive in cases of overdose. Adverse effects are transient, but analgesics and antihistamines may be required. Since ivermectin is believed to enhance GABA activity in animals, it is probably wise to avoid drugs that enhance GABA activity (benzodiazepines, barbiturates, valproate, valproic acid) in patients with potentially toxic ivermectin exposure (MSD, 1988)

Animals with "White feet, don't treat".

Something I wish I knew two days ago: Dutch as a breed are highly sensitive to Ivermectin.

Since deworming all my rabbits both my bucks were dead within 24 hours and both my does are barely hanging on 48 hours later. The next person who tells me ivermectin is the best wormer can go shove it, I'm sticking with safeguard.

Diet in rabbits is one of those controversial topics it seems. Some people believe one thing and one thing only and will criticize anyone who doesn't feed the same way they do.

I'm going to post my personal experience with feeding rabbits.

-It is a common belief that rabbits have to be constantly eating. I have found through processing meat rabbits that a rabbit that is fed once a day still has a large amount of food in it's stomach after 24/hr of withholding feed before processing. I feed my rabbits a measured amount of feed once a day they're active, they're healthy, and they're fit. This is what works for me.

-Commercial pellets are cheaper because they're not wholesome enough for rabbits. I'm one of those people who reads the ingredients list on all rabbit feeds whether it's from a farm store, pet store, or grocery store.  I have yet to find a pet rabbit pellet that can compete with the nutritional value of a commercial feed. More often than not I wouldn't touch pellets being sold in the pet market. They never have a decent protein or fibre count and it's full of sugars and filler ingredients that rabbits shouldn't eat. I have also found through processing rabbits that those who were raised on pet quality pellets have disgusting insides (Large amounts of fat, greasy, smelly) where as those rabbits raised on commercial pellets have perfectly healthy insides.

-Rabbit have to eat hay. If you're feeding pellets, rabbits do not have to eat hay. The pellet itself is about 90% hay. I don't feed my rabbits loose hay and I haven't done so in a while. I give them hay cubes on occasion but most just play with them instead of eating them. And guess what? My rabbits aren't dead. They're active, they're healthy, and they reproduce fine. I find hay just makes a mess, it gets wasted, and more often than not it can contain moulds that are harmful to rabbits.

-Rabbits have to have fruits and vegetables as part of their diet. No, just, no. As treats on occasion, sure. As a main part of their diet no.

To sell or not to sell.

I've seen it happen a lot in the past 10 years of raising rabbits. Some breeders get out of one breed because there is no longer a pet market for them and then get into another breed for a bit and then get out of those because the pet market has become tougher to sell in. The question is why? Why does a pet market go from being easy to sell in to difficult? What happened?

The simple answer is supply and demand. If you mass produce rabbits to sell as pets then you're going to fill up that demand quickly. Thus there will be fewer people interested in buying. There are always going to be certain breeds that are more popular then others such as Netherland Dwarfs, Mini Rex, and Holland Lops but if you get several breeders in one area specifically breeding for pets even the market for those breeds will decrease drastically.  With a flooded market you also get a lot of people trying to re-home pets, usually for ridiculously low prices which gives people the impression that a pet is something cheap and easily disposable once you're board of it. This causes a chain reaction for breeders whose first focus is producing show animals. They can no longer sell their occasional pet quality for a decent price because suddenly no one wants to pay more then $5 for a rabbit and they're also the ones blamed for the "over population" This is also how peoples view of certain breeds becomes completely distorted. I've had people tell me my BIS winning Mini Rex was not actually a Mini Rex because they had a Mini Rex so they knew what they were talking about.

I'll be totally honest I do not believe rabbits should purposefully be bred to produce only pets.  I believe there are enough substandard rabbits produced through intentional show quality breedings that substandard rabbits shouldn't be bred on purpose. Anyone can breed a rabbit it takes actual skill and dedication to breed and produce a decent show quality rabbit.

I personally choose not to sell pet rabbits because of a lack of decent information available to pet owners. All information that I have found catered specifically to pet owners is horribly one sided and not actually backed up with real research. I've also seen "rabbit savvy vets" take advantage of people who don't know better. Often time rabbits are mishandled and end up scratching someone which makes them "bad" and gets them re-homed. None of which is fair to the rabbit.

For those of you who raise rabbits and have facebook, you may want to watch who you ad as a friend. There are a lot of PETA/ALF/HSUS supporters going around and friending people and causing trouble. Oh and watch out for those Vegans too they are a huge pain in the arse.

I openly talk about the fact I eat meat on facebook with my friends, I am open about the fact I raise rabbits for meat and I often share tips or stories about processing rabbits. I am also a huge supporter of RAW for pet food.

Lately I had an incident where a vegan on my friends list took offence to the fact I raise and butcher my own meat rabbits and decided to cause some trouble after unfriending me. They sent an e-mail to a rabbit club I am not a member of over a conversation between a friend and myself where I had said I was sad I forgot to breed for a meat pen, and that I could always buy one. The whole thing was a joke over the fact not many shows have cash prizes and I "missed" my chance at one. I had no intentions of even going to the show in the first place because my main breed is not recognized my ARBA yet so there is no point driving 3+ hours to a show I can't show at. The e-mail is as follows (with name changes)

"Good Morning,

I am writing to you today as it has come to my attention, that one of your participants is in the habit of practicing underhanded submissions to the shows. 

Devon Mary Ward has not breed for the meat pen for the Dorchester show and has publically announced this on her Facebook page that she is considering buying one instead for the submission to still have her chance of winning the prize.

Attached is a print screen shot of the conversation with another rabbit breeder "My friend" ("friend's husband's" wife) and participant in the area shows who is supporting her actions.

To ensure the rights of the other breeders who are abiding by the rules and regulations of the ARBA and associated Ontario Rabbit Organizations I am here by asking that you take action on this to ensure that we all have a honest and fair chance at your shows.

Thanking you in advance for your assistance in this matter.

Also, I would appreciate it if you would kindly keep my name and email address confidential in this matter, as I do fear the reprisals from this, where my children are concerned.

Regards

Not so intelligent vegan."

Seeing as rabbit breeders are a tight knit group of course I get the e-mail. I had a good laugh over it too.

Save the 6 Bell rabbits

What happened to this breeder was absolutely heinous. Please show your support to her so that she may get her rabbits back.