RABBIT FARMING

Press, Volume LXX, Issue 21180, 2 June 1934, Page 5

RABBIT FARMING

WOOL SWALLOWING (By Rex) The long coat of the Angora makes this breed susceptible to trouble caused by the swallowing of wool. This may occur as a result of loose fibres falling out from the coat and being mixed with hay or other food, when they are accidentally swallowed as the rabbits are feeding. For this reason it is best to clip or pluck all rabbits in long coat immediately this becomes loose. Wool may also be swallowed as a result of the rabbits licking their coats. Some Angoras can be seen "washing" themselves all over very much as cats do. Does with this habit will, when they have a litter, lick the babies until they appear wet and draggled, and, particularly with very longwoolled youngsters, a large quantity of wool may be swallowed in this way. Youngsters when running together after weaning sometimes develop the habit of licking one another; but this seems most liable to occur when the hutches are on the small side and is not so frequent in cases where youngsters have ample room to move freely. Occasionally when a number of youngsters are running in one hutch one of them will take to deliberately pulling out and eating the wool of the others, and, much less commonly, a rabbit in a single hutch may be seen to nibble and eat its own wool. This vice is almost impossible to cure, and although a perpetually full hay rack may do something towards distracting the animal's attention from its own wool, the only safe course with these wool-eaters is that of keeping the coat more or less closely clipDed. The swallowing of a few wool fibres occasionally, such as must inevitably happen with every Angora, will do no harm, but if wool is regularly swallowed in any quantity serious trouble is bound to occur. That some of the wool swallowed passes through the digestive system is certain. A large quantity, however, having reached the stomach, remains there and accumulates until it seriously interferes with the stomach functions. Masses of wool found in the stomachs of Angoras which have died from their effects arc sometimes loose, and more or less round, hence the common term, "wool ball." These balls commonly lodge at the lower opening of the stomach, preventing the passage of the food into the small intestine. In other cases wool which has been swallowed adheres to the inner surface of the stomach, forming a cast of the entire organ, which blocks the openings of the gastric glands, preventing the secretion of gastric juice. A large wool ball in the stomach of an Angora can be felt from the outside of the body by anyone who is familiar with the anatomy of the rabbit. It is like a lump of putty to the touch and is yielding to pressure. The presence of a cast or ball of wool in the stomach of a rabbit will inevitably lead in a very short time to the death of the animal. The prospect of a cure when this extreme state has been reached is very uncertain, although there was a case in which a rabbit was relieved of a large wool ball by the limiting of its food to hay, green food, and roots, and the administration of a one-grain dose of calomel. The fact that the rabbit is unable to vomit rules out the possibility of relief by emetics, and therefore, in extreme cases, the only hope lies in a fairly drastic purgative. The greatest wisdom, however, lies in prevention. Ample supplies of green food, or, when this is unobtainable roots, and, of course, a daily drink of water, should be the rule in all Angora rabbitries. Clover hay, containing plenty of hard material, is also beneficial, and the gentle laxative of the bran makes the inclusion of this food in the diet of an Angora a point of the greatest importance. A teaspoonful of medicated parallin will usually clear away the wool if it is given as soon as evidence of woolswallowing is observed. A lecture oil wool will be delivered by Mr D. J. Sidey, of the Canterbury Agricultural College, at the next meeting of the Co-operative Rabbit Breeders' Association of New Zealand (Inc.).