Epizootic Rabbit Enteropathy (ERE)

Question
Is there a treatment for ERE? I have been treating my herd with Albon it keeps the ere symptoms at bay. Three or four days off fryers start to get sick and die. Also do you have an opinion on colony or free range for a commercial rabbitry

Answer
As of this writing, the cause of "ERE" is unknown.  No pathogen is associated with the enteritis and diarrhea characteristic of this disorder, as you can see here:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15955284

If you have been treating with Albon and having some success, I wonder if your problem is not ERE, but coccidiosis.  Eimeria generally do not spread throughout a group of rabbits unless there is a problem with husbandry, so be sure your cages are clean and sanitary, waste is removed constantly, and rabbits are kept in stress-free, peaceful, comfortable surroundings to keep immune systems strong.

As for your last question:  I am entirely opposed to commercial breeding of rabbits, as you probably can tell from my description.  I *rescue* and love these intelligent, wonderful animals, and find the practice of raising them as food as abhorrent and disgusting as raising dogs or cats as food.

That said, whatever enriches the lives of the rabbits is the best.  Free range is ideal, as long as the rabbits are in harmonious warrens where individuals do not fight.

Dana