my rabbits are dying

Question
I have angora and meat rabbits. The problem I'm having is happening to both kinds. At fist I was feeding almost exclusively pellets with hay as a supplement because thats what the storeys guide to raising rabbits said.  But after i lost one of each kind for no apparent reason, they just quit eating till they died, I did a lot of internet researching and came to the conclusion that if their dying of gi stasis its prob. the pellets and not the hay. So  I gradually took the pellets away and now I feed all the hay they want and supplement with things like apple mint, apple tree limbs and leaves, appricot leaves and limbs, or grass 2 to 3 x's a week. No pellets at all. They've been eating this way for about 2 weeks now.  They all seem to love the hay.  I usually have to give every cage twice a day because they eat it all gone. But I noticed about 4 days ago my beautiful angora buck quit eating.  His fur was pretty thick but was sheared less than two months ago and it wasn't long enough to need shearing. I noticed blood around nose and mouth.  Then this morning I had 2 dead meat rabbits. One with no blood at all and one with blood all over the rear end.  I'm so frustrated.  I've read everything I can read and still don't know what to do.  The hay guy says the hay is orchard mix. Do you think it could be something in the hay?

Answer
Hi Billi
Sorry to hear about your bunnies!

Blood around the mouths and rear ends are NOT GI Stasis, I would be concerned about something nasty, contagious and viral here and be getting deceased bunnies tested by your vet ASAP. The symptoms sound like Viral Hemorrhagic Disease, a nasty, contagious and fast spreading disease which is rife in Europe (where there's a vaccine for it) but rare in the USA. If it is that you need to get a vet to diagnose it ASAP.

GI Stasis and bloat means no poop, no appetite, very quiet and unwilling to move, to treat properly they need pain meds and gut stimulant, and have gut blockages ruled out which can be severe enough to need to be operated on. GI Stasis is a bit like, and as serious as, colic in horses. Being in small cages with little exercise can, alone, lead to GI stasis.

Disinfect everything that's been near the sick/dead rabbits, treat it as a contagious disease and keep the healthy ones away from where the sick ones have been housed. Take fecal samples to a good rabbit vet of your living buns, and get post mortem done on the dead ones, blood tests may be needed on a few of the living ones. You need to get this nipped in the bud ASAP or you may risk losing all your rabbits to whatever this is.

Good luck!
Cat