Californian kit not gaining weight

Question
So my best of show Californian doe had a litter 9/6/09. there were only three baby's, within the first week i lost two of them. The remaining one was doing really good until she hit around four weeks when she was still growing and getting bigger but was skinny so i started feeding the mother and her baby more food and i started adding grass hay. That was not helping very much so i spent the extra money to get food thats meant for nursing does and their young. i started feeding that about two weeks ago but not much has changed. I checked her teeth but they look good. The baby is now 8 weeks and the same size as my other litter thats five weeks old. I don't know what to do because i have never had that happen in the last 2 1/2 years i have been raising rabbits for 4-H and FFA. (NOTE: i only breed my rabbits that do well when I show them and are purebred)

Answer
Hi Angelica,

I can't tell you what is wrong with the baby but I can give you some ideas.  There are people all across the country right now losing babies for no reason.  Some people have lost every baby in their barn.  The only thing I can tell you is to make sure that your food is fresh.  Make sure that it has not been sitting on a shelf somewhere for more than a month or two.  The reason that I am convinced it is the feed causing problems is because I pay to have my feed freshly milled.  When I get it it is still green.  I know every ingredient in my feed and I have not lost a single baby.  A friend of mine who feeds commercial feed lost every one of hers.  I brought home some of her rabbits because of a space issue at her house.  Her rabbits are thriving at my house.

The other possibilities are worms, enteritis or just a plain in balance of the normal flora of the gut.  

If you know how to treat for worms and parasites by all means try it. If you don't then make sure you consult with a vet first.  I would find one food and stick to it.  Every time you switch it disrupts the flora in the stomach.  Other than that there is not much you can do but let it grow out.  Personally it might be an animal that you want to keep around to see how it develops.  If it catches up then you will know if it happens in the future. If it doesn't then if you get more like them you can cull them early.

I am sorry you are having difficulties.  I would like to suggest a forum for rabbit breeders.

http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/Rabbit_Talk/

This is a good group of people and they keep in contact when things like this happen.  It may help you or give you some more ideas as to what could be wrong.

Good luck

Pam