I started at one end of the rabbitry, took the rabbits out and placed them in a large carrier, then went to work on their hutch, raking out all the soiled hay, scrubbing as needed, then blasting away with the hose, until there was no trace of muck (or spiderwebs/spiders, etc), and the hutch was as sparkly clean as it was able to be (it looked pretty darn good!).
Since it was a warm day, I left the rabbits in their carrier in the shade while their hutch air dried, and I moved on to the next hutch, deep cleaning, including removing and scrubbing the food dishes/automatic J style feeders. The water bottles had all been individually scrubbed prior to this, so they were still nice and clean.
After all my carriers were in use, I went back to the first hutch, made sure it was dry, replaced the feeder, topped off the water bottle, added fresh hay, then as I put the rabbits back in I inspected each one, looking for injuries or illness (and found none), then secured the hutch.
This process went really well until I reached Sarah and her kits - my prize American Chinchillas. Sarah seemed completely fine, but as I inspected each 3 week old kit, I was horrified to discover that 6 of the 8 had large lumps on them, on various parts of their bodies (neck, chin, front paws, hind legs). Some were still intact and deep under the skin, but some were close to the surface and were either red or had already ruptured and were oozing. Some kits only had 1 lump, others had multiple lumps.
Morgan and her new litter share a hutch wall with Sarah; Morgan also seems fine, but her kits all have tiny white spots, like large whiteheads, on their bodies and extremities, so this is a serious concern as a potentially contagious thing.
I took pictures and talked to a trusted American Chinchilla raising friend - she had inspected Sarah's previous litter, which had included one kit that had a lump almost identical to these. At her recommendation, I posted the info and pictures on an online Am Chin forum - the outcome wasn't a definite diagnosis, but a couple distinct possibilities, both of which essentially spell doom for my lovely Am Chins, and potentially for Morgan and her litter.
To be thorough, I made an appointment for this afternoon with our local Vet that sees rabbits - Sarah and at least one of her kits will be examined, although Sarah's entire litter will be there, and I will also bring Morgan and her litter. The Vet will run diagnostics of some kind on the lumps. Once there is a definite diagnosis, I will be able to decide what needs to happen next.
In the meantime, I'm spending this morning and early afternoon sanitizing all the rabbitry equipment, carriers, food dishes, water bottles, etc.
TO BE CONTINUED...