By Umar Nsubuga
Rabbit keeping is rapidly increasing in the country, as a lucrative farming enterprise. Most of the rabbits are reared in the backyard.
Farmers do not usually have land to grow fodder for their rabbits. They, therefore, gather leaves from all over the place to feed them.
However, Naswirah Nalukwago, a commercial farmer based in Kashenyi-Kitooma village in Isingiro district warns farmers that, indiscriminate gathering of forage is responsible for most of the common rabbit diseases.
Peter Mubiru, a veterinary doctor says the diseases, most of which show up as diarrhoea, are caused by germs carried by leaves picked from the surroundings.
He says rabbit keeping is being stifled by diseases that are easily preventable.
“Farmers should carry out a post mortem on the rabbits which die. Some rabbits may have died of colibacillosis, a bacteria disease that causes diarrhoea,” he advises.
The other diseases are liver coccidiosis, pasteurellosis, intestinal coccidiosis, aflatoxicosis and worm infestation.
Mubiru says liver coccidiosis is a common killer among rabbits, but it is difficult to recognise. “You might only see it at a postmortem”.
Intestinal coccidiosis causes diarrhoea. It is, however, less common than liver coccidiosis. Pasteurellosis, he says, is a deadly respiratory disease that causes cough, sneezing, and difficulty breathing.
Aflatoxicosis is caused by a poison produced by certain types of fungi.
According to Mubiru, the rabbits which die of aflatoxicosis normally get it from commercial rabbit pellets.
The fungi usually invade cereal-based feeds when stored under damp conditions.
“Most of these diseases are associated with what the rabbits eat. These are diseases that can be prevented by good hygiene. Management is a very serious problem in Uganda,” he said.
Apart from aflatoxicosis, Mubiru says, the others are infectious diseases that infect rabbits when they eat contaminated feeds.
Whereas rabbits are commended for being able to live on cheap vegetation, the materials have to be clean, he says.
He says the common rabbit diseases can be cured by drugs that are easily available in the country. Rabbits, he says, can withstand many of the common drugs used on poultry.
To prevent the disease, he advised, the drugs can be routinely added to the drinking water of the rabbits.
He also recommended monthly treatment against worms as worms are dangerous to rabbits.
