[fairhaven]

We had a wild rabbit with myxi outside the field gate that hubby done away with yesterday, but where there is one.... I'm sure there are more,  With only having a bit of 2 x 2 instead of a gun & also having our own meat, pet & show rabbits at the house, has anyone got any suggestions?     I know it's not nice for the wild rabbits & they are best got rid of, but my first thought is for our rabbits at home (And no, they are not vaccinated, we have around 20 - 30 rabbits at any one time and that would cost a fortune, as well as possible scarring on the show rabbits, and you don't vaccinate a rabbit that is going to be roasted the following month!)   I don't want hubby bringing it back to the house.      


   

[Greenmoor]

We have myxi here in our wild buns too at the moment.  Sorry to hear about your worries, must be a dreadful concern with all of your buns.  As far as the vaccination goes, from what I understand it doesn't stop them getting myxi anyway, just limits the severity? 

No advice I'm afraid.  Hope your buns stay safe 

Gemma

[in the hills]

Are your rabbits indoors?


Carried by insects/fleas I think so don't think your hubbie will bring it back to the house as such.


Only got one house bunnie and he was vaccinated until this year. Missed it I'm afraid    We make sure our house cat wears a flea collar as when we first took her in she had very scabby ears which the vet said was caused by rabbit fleas attaching to her ears while she was out hunting them for her dinner. We were worried she would bring them in the house and they could infect bunny with myxi - have seen one or two up here with it.


Sorry no other ideas. Think Colliewoman knows her rabbits - perhaps she'll have some thoughts on it.

[fairhaven]

Some rabbits are housed in the shed, and take turns in groups to have a day's freedom in the orchard, Our meat rabbits are kept outside permanently until it gets cold - So far no wild rabbits have come into the garden, I just wondered what the chances are of having it brought back by hubby, I don't want to ban him from going in my shed 

[colliewoman]

the new  vaccine is made from the myxoma virus and is far more effective than the old shope vaccine, Plus the new vax is combined and covers against VHD also and only one shot required per year.
 
All my buns are done as myxo is rife here
 

[Carl f k]

Myxo ... Rifle... My kind of talk 

[Penninehillbilly]

Last year we found quite a few rabbits dead or dying, I automatically thought Myxy, but was told there is another disease where they just die but don't have all the swellings.

[colliewoman]

That's Viral Haemorrhagic (sp?) Disease or VHD for short. They either have no symptoms or haemorrhage from every orifice. A truly awful disease. Before I knew about the vaccines I lost 17 pet rabbits in less than 36 hours to it. It broke my heart

[Mammyshaz]

Both diseases are lethal, nasty killers. Unfortunately myxo is spread through insects and flies so fleas and biting things can travel quite a distance off a host.

Therefore once in your area you will be very lucky if your stock don't succumb.  I can only suggest no outdoor activity at all. Enclosed buildings and isolation procedures to try to protect them. Good luck.

Please consider talking to your vet regarding reduced costs for batch vaccination for at least your pet/show ones. There will be areas to vaccinate that do not mark ( it is very rare to leave a permanent mark ). It could prevent your whole stock being wiped out.

[Penninehillbilly]

That's Viral Haemorrhagic (sp?) Disease or VHD for short. They either have no symptoms or haemorrhage from every orifice. A truly awful disease. Before I knew about the vaccines I lost 17 pet rabbits in less than 36 hours to it. It broke my heart

I can only imagine how awful that must have been for you, I've a fair idea how I would react to finding them like that     

[Plantoid]

When I had the rabbit farm we used insectacutor electric fly killers in each shed  just inside the doors and these were left on 24 /7
 I made a 3 mrt x 3 mtr porch to each shed  and had a low energy light  a couple of mtrs away from the doors that was on at night on auto switch the idea of this was that most flying biting insects would migrate to the lights instead of trying to get in the doors. all my windows were sealed . I had an intake flter made of fibre glass insulation infront of a large intake fan and at the bottom of each shed in an external fan box had a 24 inch fan in a light baffled housing so there was no easy direct path in the sheds.  I never went into the sheds at night with a torch  for I'd made a two way lighting switch system with a small neon light in both water proof switch boxes . This made it easy to spray each closed porh with raid prior to going in and then holding my breath and closing he front door before I went through the internal door.
Even then I still had to empty each double tubed insectocutor every Saturday morning , occasionally it was half full of dead flies /creepies etc.
I never suffered myxi vhd rhd or calcivirus probs in 12 yrs or so .
 Though I did vaccinate my  best bucks & does  for they were my most valuable stock . I purchased my gear from France and it was shipped over in  polystyrene boxes with a cool pack in it  .
 Be aware that  the subcutaneous injection can cause a pea sized permanant lump at the injection site.
 I also had to get a letter from my vet that I was competetent enough to give the injections so that I could wave if under the noses of the likes of the RSPCA if needed.
At the time the ruling of getting the vaccine from within the EEC was that it was OK as it met EEC standards and there is/ was import without restriction on movement of goods. It might be wise to see if the goal post have been moved .
Cost wise the vets would have charged me £7 + vast to vaccinate  each animal ,self import worked out at about 34 p each rabbit excluding shryinges and needles ( got them off eBay )
 

[colliewoman]

The new vaccine isn't oil based and as yet I haven't heard of any lumps being left which is great as the old VHD vaccine wasn't too pleasant!


Good gods I wish I could get permission to vaccinate mine myself, at present it costs me £35 per rabbit for a vaccine, £58 for a castration and £78 for a spay


I have 2 waiting to be done and 2 more does coming today