44 AGRICULTURE HANDBOOK NO. 3 09, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



or parasitic infection, thoroughly 

 disinfect hutches and equipment 

 which have been occupied, or used, 

 by sick animals, or where exces- 

 sive mortality has occurred. One 

 of the coal tar derivatives or house- 

 hold disinfectants may be used. 

 Allow hutches and equipment to 

 dry before returning rabbits to the 

 hutches. A large blowtorch or 

 weedburner may be used periodi- 

 cally to remove liair and cobwebs 

 and to disinfect the hutches. Clean 

 and disinfect nest boxes before 

 using them a second time. 



Maintaining sanitary conditions 

 in the rabbitry is a preventive 

 measure for controlling disease in 

 the herd. Re constantly on the 

 alert for the appearance of any 

 sign that might indicate disease. 

 Isolate animals suspected of having 

 disease at least 2 weeks to deter- 

 mine definitely whether they are 

 dangerous to the health of the herd. 

 Place newly acquired rabbits and 

 those returned from shows in 

 quarantine at least 2 weeks for the 

 same reason. Burn or bury dead 

 animals. 



losing hutches with self -cleaning 

 floors, guards on feed troughs, and 

 feed hoppers, will aid greatly in 

 internal parasite control by pro- 

 tecting feed from contamination. 



The most serious disease of do- 

 mestic rabbits is pasteurellosis. 

 This disease manifests itself in a 



wide variety of conditions such as 

 pneumonia, snuffles (sinusitis), and 

 other respiratory infections; and 

 septicemia, a generalized blood 

 infection. 



Another serious problem in rab- 

 bit health is enteritis, or bloat. 

 Three types of enteritis are distin- 

 guished : diarrhea, mucoid, and 

 hemorrhagic. The specific cause 

 of enteritis is not known and there 

 are no reliable measures for pre- 

 vention or treatment. 



Coccidiosis, both of the liver and 

 intestines, is a serious problem in 

 some areas but can be successfully 

 treated. 



The tapeworms which infest the 

 rabbit are those which at a later 

 stage infest dogs and cats, but the 

 rabbits seem to suffer little harm 

 from them. 



Tularemia, the disease that has 

 in recent years killed off so many 

 wild rabbits, is spread by ticks and 

 fleas. If domestic rabbits are kept 

 in clean conditions, free from ticks 

 and fleas, they will not contract it. 



Domestic rabbits suffer from 

 other ailments such as fungal in- 

 fections, mange, sore hocks, and 

 spirochetosis or vent disease, but 

 these usually can be successfully 

 treated and do not present a major 

 problem. 



These and other ailments of do- 

 mestic rabbits are described in 

 table 4. 



