Three Little Ladies Rabbitry Blog

Anyone raising dwarf rabbit breeds has experienced peanuts in their litters. They are generally easily identified at birth. Rarely do they live past a week. Sadly, they wither away.

About three weeks ago we had a jersey wooly peanut born. As is our custom we let life take its course. This time though things transpired a little different. Although we knew it would eventually die, it was still a joy to look at this tiny little baby as it developed.

It lived for three weeks. It was a pointed with fur. Fur usually never develops in a peanut. It was about 1/4 the size of its litter mates.

Earlier this week it was able to get out of the cage. I got up early to go into the office, and went to open up the barn for the day as I often do. I saw a small white animal on the ground outside of the barn. I hasitated and went to pick it up and realized it was the peanut. I thought for sure it would be dead. When I picked it up it was alive and I placed it back in the nestbox.

But as we already knew would happen, it finally lost its battle for life. It died on Friday morning. I’m glad we had taken a few pictures that we could share of this very cute little bunny.

Rob Usakowski
Three Little Ladies Rabbitry

The 4-H State Awards process is educational in itself. Its a path of self discovery. Often times we forget many of the steps in our journey. Its that journey that makes the end result so rewarding. The 4-H state Awards process assists 4-H members in recalling their journey.

I remember the first time our girls started the State Award process here in Michigan. The application once completed is close to 20 pages long. The member documents all of the activities, learning experiences, community service, etc. in a single spaced list of all that you’ve done in your 4-H project area. When doing this for the first time, it is often difficult to fill the pages. For our daughters the opposite has happened. They have done so many things in their project area in 4-H that they have to start eliminating bullet points to get the portfolio to fit within the necessary page limitations.

The application gets submitted to your county extension office at the beginning of March. The staff at the extension office has one week to get that portfolio to the regional office. Since only two members can submit an application per project area, there is some judging and recommendations that occur at the county level. On occasion they will have too many applicants for a project area and ask a member to submit with a new project emphasis. Jessica had to do this here first year. She had to switch from rabbits to photography. That was difficult to complete, but a great learning experience.

Once the regional directors receive the State Award portfolios, the detailed judging begins. A committee reviews and comments on each application. Two members from each project area are then selected as regional award finalists. As the regional award finalist, you then become eligible for the State Award. In Michigan there are five regions, so generally ten members ultimately compete for the 4-H State Award.

Members will then receive their State Award portfolios back after the regional judging where additional fine tuning can be done by the members. Usually these come back to the member around April 1 and have to be resubmitted by May 1 for the final State Award judging. During this time the members will use the judges comments from the regional process and make any necessary adjustments to their portfolio.

In St Clair County, we are privileged to have Mary Taylor (and her husband Ed!) assist all State Award finalists in preparation of the portfolios and in preparation for State Award interviews. Ashleigh and Jessica both had multiple practice interviews. Community leaders attended each interview session, and conducted the interviews. This not only gives them confidence in the State Award interview, but in other interview settings as well.

Finally Michigan’s 4-H Exploration Days arrive, and all the State Award delegates meet at MSU for interviews in their project area. The delegates are interviewed by a panel of judges. Thursday night is the big night. MSU and 4-H put on a large production at the Wharton Center. The delegates get dressed up in formal attire. There are slide shows, music, and sometimes laser light shows associated with the ceremony. Each award delegate walks out on stage during the ceremony.

Finally, the project areas are called up one by one, to announce both the runner up and the State Award winner. Being the State Award winner is the highest possible compliment to your accomplishments within your 4-H project area. It represents a culmination of learning, teaching, community service, and leadership within your project area. To hear your name called during the awards ceremony is a great honor.

For our girls this competition is very difficult. As sisters, they often do many of the same things. They often attend the same workshops, teach the same workshops, and have many of the same leadership opportunities. Its difficult for them to distinguish themselves. To have both Ashleigh and Jessica up for the State Award in rabbits was rewarding. (Taylor is still to young for the competition).

The time came for the rabbit state award to be announced. Honors, or runner-up was called first. The 2010 State Award Runner-up for rabbits…..Jessica Usakowski. Wow! We were so excited. My thoughts quickly turned to Ashleigh. This was Ashleigh’s last year of competition for a State Award. Could she possibly win the award and have sisters as runner up and winner? The 2010 State Award winner for rabbits is……Ashleigh Usakowski!

Our girls have accomplished many things in the rabbit project. The girls both had so many things outside of 4-H that they could have had in their portfolio. They have been one of the top exhibitors in Holland Lops in the past, and Jersey Woolies currently. They were the top exhibitor in the MSRBYA last year. However, this process was about 4-H and all that they have accomplished in 4-H. I am proud of the the girls and all that they have done.

I am a little biased but they accomplished many things in the journey, and the State Award was well deserved. Jessica still has many things she would like to accomplish in the rabbit project area, and she has a younger sister that will be nipping at her heels next year. Congratulations to Ashleigh and Jessica on a job well done.

To hear Cathie (mom) get excited and see the award announced check out our You Tube Video:

Rob Usakowski
Three Little Ladies Rabbitry

Symptoms of an Abscess

How do you know your rabbit has an abscess?  Although you might think that abscesses can easily be seen, the truth is they can’t. They often are hidden underneath the surface of the skin, or even inside of the mouth.  Here are some symptoms to look for

-Swelling, redness , heat or signs of irritation or pain

-Areas that your rabbit seems to be grooming excessively or that appear to itch, indicating the presence of deep abscesses.

-Discharge or moistened fur that may represent the point of exit for a deep abscess.

-A firm or doughy mass that elicits a pain response when touched.

-Excessive salivation or persistent bad breath,  either of which can be an indication of an abscess in the mouth.

-Facial swelling that might indicate a tooth root abscess.

-General signs of disease like depression, loss or appetite, and weight loss.

-A mass anywhere on your rabbit’s body, or a mass that suddenly disappears, flowed by depression or lethargy

What is an abscess?

It sounds gross but an abscess is a pocket of pus. It is from an attack by pyogenic organism. The body is basically attacking an infection and trying to block the infection from the rest of the body. Cells in the animal are then destroyed. The pocket most of the time contains a collection of pus, dead phagocytic white blood cell, necrotic cells, and live or dead bacteria. As the amount of pus grows, the pocket grows larger and starts to wall off from the surrounding tissues and blood circulation. It is difficult to treat the abscess. If the abscess is left untreated, it keeps growing. Finally the abscess will rupture either inside the body or on the surface of the skin. This can be very painful and dangerous for your rabbit, with the bacteria and their toxins being released into the blood.

 How to Treat an Abscess
Surgical

In general, abscesses are treated as if they were tumors. Many times the entire abscess and capsule can be surgically removed. Even if the surgery goes perfectly, there is a good chance that an abscess will recur. Sometimes it’s not possible to surgically remove an abscess, as is often with foot and jaw lesions. Other surgical approaches might include implanting antibiotic impregnated beads, gauze, or specific types of dental material into the infected site. With some severe foot abscesses, amputation if often the best alternative.

Some abscesses are treated topically. They may be flushed with disinfectants like chlorhexidene or iodine. Some veterinarians use strong sugar solutions or honey to manage infections, with frequent re-evaluation of the abscess site. Some wounds can be treated topically with silver sulfadiazine(Silvadene), while others are bandaged to facilitate healing. Rabbit abscesses can be time consuming and expensive to treat. Veterinarians experienced in rabbit medicine can evaluate each rabbit on an individual basis, and provide the best options for treatment.

 How to Treat an Abscess
Non-Surgical

A study called Periodontal Bacteria in Rabbit Mandibular and Maxillary Abscesses identifies the bacteria most commonly responsible for jaw abscesses in rabbits, and also provides information on the antibiotics most often effective against them. The investigators found that 96% of the bacteria found in rabbit jaw abscesses were sensitive to penicillin, and that 100% were sensitive to clindamycin.

Because lincosamines and penicillins cause fatal cecal dysbiosis and enterotoxemia in rabbits, they can’t be given orally to treat head abscesses. Clindamycin, while effective, is dangerous even when injected, as it does travel to the intestinal tissues and can cause problems there. When used in slow-release resin beads implanted in an abscess site, the clidamycin can be effective. However, because of the risk of the potentially dangerous drug for rabbits most veterinarians will not use it.        

Injectible Penicillin G Procaine is considered the safest Penicillin for rabbits. It can also be combined with Benzathine which causes the drug to stay in the body longer. This may allow it to get into the thick walled pus pockets of an abscess. Injections every other day have been effective in treating abscesses in rabbits.     

Prevention

Here are a few things you can do to help prevent your rabbit from getting an abscess:

·        Keep sharp things stored away from your rabbits

·        Keep the rabbits cage and belongings clean

·        Don’t keep contact with any other rabbits or other animals that will result in puncture wounds from teeth or nails

·        To prevent life-threatening foot infections such as pododermatitis , make sure you rabbit doesn’t become obese. Use a soft bedding material and keep it dry.

·        Keep your rabbit from chewing on sharp or fibrous objects that may cut the gums or inside of the mouth or that may splinter and cause penetrating wounds in the mouth. Such as nails.

 Taylor Usakowski