14 DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



great amount of the food consumed is utilized to replace waste of tissue. It is not, 

 however, merely quantity which promotes the growth of the rabbit. Small quanti- 

 ties of the right kind of food have a greater effect upon size 'and condition than large 

 quantities of the wrong. They must be liberally supplied with fresh greenstuff, 

 but, in addition, they must be provided with foods calculated first to promote growth, 

 and then to make them lay on flesh and fat in as short a space of time as possible 

 upon the framework so built up. They should be more liberally provided with 

 ground meals than stock rabbits, and if skim-milk or other milk is available it 

 should invariably be used for mixing the meals in preference to water. The meals 

 should be moistened sufficiently to make them crumbly. Sloppy food is not relished, 

 and, what is worse, will tend to scour them. Moist food rapidly turns sour if 

 allowed to stand, and the youngsters must therefore only be given sufficient to clear 

 up at one meal. Should any food be left over* it should be immediately removed 

 and given to other animals before it has had time to deteriorate. 



From six to eight weeks the rabbits may be fed four times daily, one at least of 

 the meals to be of greenstuffs. From eight to twelve or fourteen weeks of age 

 three meals a day will suffice. The greens may be fed at noon. 



In mixing and feeding v any of the following mashes for fattening purposes, skim 

 or butter milk is vastly preferable to water for moistening purposes. Where milk 

 is unobtainable a small quantity of linseed-meal or cocoanut-meal should be added 

 to the ground grain. Use about 5 per cent, of these concentrates at the start, and 

 then gradually increase to 15 per cent, if acceptable to stock. When using cocoanut- 

 meal be sure that it is fresh. With age it quickly becomes rancid, unless kept in 

 cake form, and ground when needed. 



Equal parts by weight of bran or shorts and barley-meal ; bran or shorts and 

 ground oats ; rice-meal and barley -meal ; rice-meal and oatmeal. 



Where white flesh is desired, corn-meal should not be used, except in very small 

 quantities. The feeding of red carrots, beets, or yellow mangels will also tinge the 

 flesh yellow. 



Should the rabbits show signs of "stalling," one meal should be omitted. They 

 will generally come up to the trough eager enough at the next. Watch should be 

 kept of the stock, so that any forward ones may be culled out and marketed as 

 soon as ready. 



KILLING, DRESSING, AND MARKETING. 



A live rabbit, properly fed and brought to a plump condition, will, when killed 

 and dressed, lose about one-third its weight as offal, under which may be included 

 the paunch and the skin. It will therefore be seen that a rabbit killed when 

 weighing 4% Ib. will, when dressed, leave 3 Ib. of saleable flesh, and a 6-lb. rabbit 

 about 4 Ib. The rule, however,, applies only "to properly fattened animals, because 

 a rabbit which is lean has, in proportion to its size, as many entrails and as much 

 skin as one which has been brought to proper killing condition, and may, when 

 dressed, lose as much as one-half its weight. The importance of bringing a young 

 rabbit to a killing-weight as rapidly as possible is therefore obvious, because a rabbit 

 ten to twelve weeks old, properly fattened, will weigh as much skinned and dressed 

 as one which is some weeks older and considerably larger, but which, nevertheless, 

 is in poor condition. At the same time, its flesh will be firmer, more tender, and 

 more appetizing. With good ciare and correct feeding there should be no difficulty 

 in bringing young rabbits to a proper killing condition within twelve weeks at the 

 most, and they should then be marketed without delay. To keep them longer is, 

 as already pointed x>ut, to reduce profits by increasing the cost of food, without any 

 corresponding increase in the value of the rabbits, unless, of course, they are to be 

 kept or sold for stock purposes. * 



One of the most humane ways of killing a rabbit is to hold the animal by the 

 hind legs with the left hand, and to dislocate the neck with the right in exactly the 

 same way as fowls are sometimes killed. To do this place the fingers of the right 

 hand under the lower jaw of the rabbit and the thumb between the roots of the 



