ears??

Question
My daughter is raising some Californians for a meat pen show.  The bunnie in question is about 6 weeks old.  Just recently, the past 2 or 3 days,  it has one ear up and the other is lying against its back.  When I try to hold it up there is no resistance and it flops back down immediately.  It does not appear to be in any pain when the ear is moved.  Can a rabbit "break" its ear?  Will it regain control with time?  Or is there something I can do for it?

Answer
Dear Donna,

The bunny may have an ear infection or ear mites making it tender and painful.  Please read:

www.bio.miami.edu/hare/furloss.html

for more information on treatment of mites, and

www.bio.miami.edu/hare/culture.html

if this is an infection.  In either case, I'd recommend a trip to a good rabbit vet for in-person diagnosis and appropriate treatment:

www.rabbit.org/vets

Lop rabbits have lopped ears because of a defect in the cartilage at the base of the ear.  It's caused by a genetic mutation, and it's possible that this little baby has such a condition.  But I would not count on that unless I knew there was no other problem, such as mites or infection, causing the ear to drop.

Hope this helps.

Dana
P.S. - I'm glad you care about these bunnies enough to worry about the ear.  It means you know that rabbits are intelligent, social individuals, not meat, any more than humans are.