: 31 March 2020; Hits: 13510

Fact Sheet: Common rabbit diseases and their treatment

hare By George Munene

Whilst rabbits are adaptable and hardy animals, their diseases often prove fatal due to the lack of drugs dedicated to their treatment, a dearth of veterinarians with any rabbit-specific background, and a paucity of information on their treatment.

As a result, easily communicable ailments such as colds and diarrhea can easily wipe out your entire colony and most of your investment with it.

But these common rabbit diseases can be simply treated on the farm, as detailed below.

Fevers, cold and coughs

Prevention

Properly walled and located housing, especially facing away from draught
Ensure your hutches are leakproof and always dry

Symptoms

Coughs
Nasal discharge
Ears are warmer than normal

Treatment

Enrocin type antibiotic drops administered for 3-4 days orally
Daily Gentamicin injection to thigh for 3 days (severe cases)

Diarrhea

Diarrhea can be fatal to rabbits as it leads to the blockage of the rectal cavity.

Diarrhea and ‘sticky butt’, as in chicken, is at times experienced in weening rabbits in their transition from a milk-exclusive diet to pellets and forage. Caking on the anal region blocks bowel movement causing death, the farmer thus needs to check on the kits often as they leave the nesting box.

Prevention

Offer clean feed and water
Dry out excessively dump forage before feeding
Ensure cages are clean
Reduce drinking water provided
Ease the transition from mother’s milk to solid food, don’t start kits off with fresh feed.
Wipe the dung off rabbit kits’ bum to avoid blockage

Symptoms

Runny fecal matter pasted on rabbit’s bum and on rabbit cage floor.
‘Sticky butt’ in kits

Treatment

A regimen of one injection of Sulphur medicine to the thigh for 3-4 days
If the problem has spread to many rabbits mix into pellets Sulphadimidine and Furazolidone tablets for 3-4 days

Bloat

Rabbits are monogastric animals, meaning they have only one stomach, but they are ruminants. This means they don’t chew cud like cattle and all the plant water taken in can fill up their stomachs, leading to blockage.

This can be easily avoided by not offering fresh greens directly plucked from the shamba.

As with diarrhea, weaners are especially affected and special attention should be given to rabbits being introduced to a solid food diet. Other than at birth and in the first few days after birth, farmers suffer the most losses of their litters during the weaning phase. Easing this transition by offering them few concentrates and even less dried greens will help lower the mortality rate.

Dermatitis

Prevention

Proper ventilation within cages
Well cleaned out cages
Giving ivermectin oral drops to control worms and dermatitis
Putting Albendazole tablets in feed to control worms

Physical symptoms are quite evident as crusty flakes on the animal’s face and ears.

Treatment

One injection of Ivermectin followed by an equal proportioned escabio oil and coconut oil ointment mixture applied over affected patches.
For younger rabbits, offer ivermectin oral drops
Neem oil ointment application
Ivermectin may induce abortions in pregnant doers, ointment treatments are preferred as an alternative

Ear Canker

Prevention

Regular cleaning of the rabbit hutches
Avoid dust and fur buildup within the house’s crevices

Symptoms

The rabbit will be itched visibly irritated, regularly scrapping at its ears
If severe, it leads to appetite loss and a disruption to the rabbit’s routines

Treatment

Apply medicated liquid paraffin to affected ear parts

Wounds

While technically not a disease, wounds are a prevalent problem for any rabbit farmer. Most do heal naturally, though, a recurrent or deep wound left to fester can cause an infection to rabbits.

Prevention

Hutch walls should be smooth with no protrusions or sharp edges.
If the cages are of meshed, ensure no wire tines are sticking out
Avoid having sexually developed uncastrated bucks in the same hutch
Don’t have mature doers within the same enclosure, especially during their on-heat cycles
Avoid overcrowding; being that rabbits are territorial, this inadvertently leads to fights
Introduce the doer to the buck’s cage for crossing, not the other way around

Treatment

Clean off wound with Dettol and apply an antibiotic for 3-4 days
If severe, inject animal with an antibiotic daily to the thigh for 3-4 days

Most rabbit diseases can be avoided by ensuring rabbit hutches are well cleaned and are dry.

Considering standard rabbitry construction specifications will also enable you to head off potential illnesses in your rabbits.

For medicines, dosage levels are dictated by the rabbit’s weight and the severity of disease.

A 1 milliliter syringe and needle won’t puncture any vital rabbit organs. For oral drops, use a 2ml needleless syringe.

Write comment (0 Comments)

: 24 March 2020; Hits: 8999

Dairy farmer shares lessons learnt after recovering from near shut-down

white cow in cattle house 69170

Brian Moseti

Six years ago, Solomon Mulema was preparing to shut down his dairy farm in Vihiga County, after unsuccessfully trying to turn a profit following consistently low yields.

Mulema, who had taken up dairy farming after retiring as a school teacher, spent most of his pension purchasing six expensive cows, some costing up to KSh200,000 each. He also constructed a modern cattle shed and invested more money in feed purchases, veterinary services and hiring farmhands.

Yet five years later, he was running into losses and had fallen into crippling debt, which left him pondering terminating the venture.

It was while he was considering his next move that he took time to attend the Agricultural Society of Kenya (ASK) show in neighbouring Kisumu, where he met trainers from the Israeli Dairy School, who guided him back on track.

"Through my interaction with the trainers, I learnt where I had gone wrong and immediately embarked on changes. For example, I had gone into dairy farming with the notion that expensive cows produce the most milk and I spent a lot of money sourcing cows from suppliers, who claimed to import from areas like Manilla, in the Philippines," Mulema said.

Some of the animals he bought looked like heavy producers, but failed to reach one third of the advertised 30 liters per day. What Mulema did not know was that it was easy for crafty business people to make unproductive animals look attractive using steroid hormones and other drugs.

"For a long time, I knew that cows with big udders yielded the most milk and that was one of the criteria I used when building my herd. Little did I know that the industry is full of cons," he said.

He was still lucky to have bought a few animals from reputable breeders, but they too failed to reach optimum production levels due to poor management. His failure was a stellar confirmation of the results of a 2015 study which found that cows on smallholder dairy farms (SDF) in developing countries such as Kenya typically produce volumes of milk that are well below their genetic potential.

The publishers of the report hosted on the PubMed journal, determined the reasons for this low milk production as limited use of best management practices, such as suboptimal nutritional management. Mulema's failure was on diet as he focussed more on giving his animals high protein feeds and water, while disregarding the need for dry matter.

"I concentrated on commercial feeds, like dairy meal, which I had presumed to boost yields and did not properly invest in evaluating the quality of plant-based feeds. Now I am a lot wiser and understand the importance of a proper balance between hay, processed feed and water in the production of milk," he said.

The continuous training he got through contact with the Israeli Dairy School and interaction with local dairy farming professionals has helped Mulema turn his fortunes around and he is now on the path to becoming a respected farmer. With his herd now at a steady 12 and an average production of 18 litres per cow, Mulema shares the following tips with upcoming dairy farmers.

Starting the herd

The best heifers and cows to start a dairy farming enterprise are those that are quiet in temperament and come from a line of great producers. As a general rule, a good dairy should have a triangular shape, straight topline of the body, a small, refined head, a large udder with pronounced milk veins and well-spaced teats. For beginner farmers, it is advisable to purchase animals that have already calved before and have proper records of production and management. Productive breeds like Freisians are desirable, and heifers should weigh 270Kgs and calve at around 450Kgs, as recommended by the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO). Of even more importance is to buy your starter animals from well-respected agencies and farms, while insisting on proper animal documentation.

Feed selection

More than three quarters of a cow's milk production is determined by how you feed them. Zero grazing is recommended for dairy cows as this makes it easy to monitor the amount and type of feed the animals consume. For those with enough land, it is advisable to cultivate hybrid varieties of elephant grass, which has perennial characteristics and can provide fodder all year round. FAO also recommends other grasses such as guinea grass, Guatemala grass, leucaena and some wild shrub legume varieties like as Adananthera sp, and Albizia sps. A balance of grain, silage and feed supplement should be maintained with each meal and care should be taken to avoid overfeeding, which would lead to fattening instead of increased milk. With proper record keeping, farmers can determine a balance between the types and quantities of feed given to cows for optimum production.

Hygiene and comfort

Cows are most productive when they are not stressed. It is, therefore, important to ensure that the sheds are designed to give optimum shade against the elements. In addition, cleanliness should not be underestimated, with the cowsheds cleaned regularly. Cow mattresses, which are now readily available at agrovet shops should be provided at night to allow the animals to rest without suffering injuries or discomfort from hard floors. Cows should also be observed regularly and those that deviate from their usual behaviours inspected by veterinary doctors to initiate treatment in case of illnesses.

Progressive learning

As a parting shot, Mulema recommends that farmers invest in training by attending dairy farm management sessions with reputable agencies such as the Kenya Agricultural & Livestock Research Organization (KALRO) and the Israeli Dairy School.

For dairy farming literature, contact,Dairy Research Institute -KALRO: +254 722206986/722206988. Airtel: +254 733-333-223. Fibre Lines: 0709 104000-60 (Safaricom) - 0730 707000-60 (Airtel).Israeli Dairy School: +972544865282, email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Write comment (0 Comments)

: 24 March 2020; Hits: 11487

Nairobi farmer's foray into ornamental birds business pays off

goshen 2 By Brian Moseti

After a disappointing stint trying to commercially raise chicken, Glady's Wangui made a turnaround to focus on exotic birds, a decision that proved important for the success of her farming venture.

Five years down the line, Wangui's Goshen Birds Farm in Nairobi's Utawala estate is a popular source for different kinds of ornamental and rare birds among them pheasants, bantams, guinea fowl and vulturines.

To start off, Wangui spent the KSh6,000 she got from the sale of her initial stock of chicken to purchase her first pair of silky bantams and secure the necessary permits from the Kenya Wildlife Society (KWS).

Before issuing a license to keep ornamental birds, KWS officials have to visit one's farm to ascertain its suitability to raise the birds. An annual fee of KSh1,500 is also charged for the initial species of birds and KSh500 for each species introduced subsequently.

"I disposed of the chicken when they were eight months because they were consuming a lot and needed a lot of attention but were not laying eggs. However, I had had an eye on ornamental birds and decided to try a hand at it," she said.

Without prior experience of raising ornamental birds, Wangui gradually improved her knowledge through internet-based tutorials and guides, allowing her to diversify the species of birds on her farm.

"Through the internet, I learnt more about ornamental birds including how to raise them and where to source buyers," she said. Today, Goshen Birds Farm has 16 different species of ornamental birds with a combined population of over 400 birds.

Although she is not keen on revealing her earnings from the venture, the gamble is definitely paying off for Wangui, who sells up to 30 birds per month. A pair of golden pheasants goes for KSh70,000 while bantams and vulturines fetch KSh12,000 and KSh10,000, respectively, per pair. She also sells eggs at KSh100-200 a piece.

Goshen 1

Still, like with any farming venture, hers is not a walk in the park; it comes with its own disappointments. Top on the list is the low hatch rate for most of the birds.

"Of 100 pheasant eggs, sometimes just ten will hatch and only half of the chicks will survive. Turkeys too require a lot of attention during the cold season as they are extremely susceptible to low temperatures," she said.

However, there is a tradeoff; unlike chicken, ornamental birds are majorly resilient to diseases and do not require special diets, greatly reducing the costs involved in keeping them.

Contact: Goshen Birds Farm - 0736351043-ENDS

Write comment (1 Comment)

Sunday, 25 October 2020 [b]I think I saw it YouTube[/b]