Nursing doe went lame

We heard a scream from the rabbitry this morning, went and checked and didn't notice anythin unusual except all the rabbits were upset. Later in the morning, noticed one of the nursing does was dragging her rear feet - her legs wouldn't work. Her 10 kits are only 2 weeks old today, so we need to keep her around as long as possible. Has anyone else had experience with this?

We spoke with a vet, and they mentioned that sometimes rabbits can break their own backs when they "thump" too hard with their hind legs. That is most likely what happened to our doe. We've been bathing her to keep rear end from being a mess, and gently setting her in the nesting box with the kits twice a day. I imagine she is in some amount of pain, but this way the kits at least are getting the milk they need. Planning to put her down when the kits are weaned, 1-3 weeks from now. I'd love to hear any other advice...

Did the vet say whether it has something to do with the flooring material, or is that something which occurs naturally ?

Michael Radelut wrote:Did the vet say whether it has something to do with the flooring material, or is that something which occurs naturally ?

It can just happen naturallly. I think the poster is right on, get the kits weened then mom is soup, its all you can do that makes any logical sence.

How long until kits are weened, 3 weeks old?

If its a chronic problem you can add in some bone meal or other raw bone supplement. I use cyrofood or calcifood powder from standard process. A little goes a long way. ACV is helpful as well.

If these are meat rabbits please consider going GMO free or organic. Coyote creek in Austin is the only place I have been able to find organic rabbit food that comes in bags like pellets

Thanks for both responses. The doe is in a standard wire cage, so nothing to do with flooring material. We plan to wean at 6 weeks, if the doe lasts that long.

It turns out that it was, in fact, a blood clot in the spine, not a broken back. We weaned the kits at 4 weeks, and all the kits survived.