BREEDING AND CARE OF RABBITS 



sawdust both winter and summer is the ideal way 

 of keeping the stock clean and healthy. A roof should 

 be built over the top row of hutches, and the other 

 end of the hutches should also be boarded up with 

 matched lumber. The house end of the hutch should 

 be arranged so one side can be opened the entire 

 length of the hutch. The back part of the run-way 

 can have, part way, a rising back built just outside 

 of the wire meshing. This can be raised in the sum- 

 mer and lowered in the winter. Twelve inches of the 

 bottom part of the back should be made so it can 

 be turned up in order to clean the hutch, provided a 

 self-cleaning one is not used. A shed should be built 

 over the hutches with the roof 4 or 5 feet above the 

 top row, and extending out over them 4 or 5 feet, 

 as shown in the cut. 



This is without doubt the best system of hutching 

 that can be used for stock in America. It is expen- 

 sive, but the amount of stock saved in a year will 

 more than pay for the extra expense of building the 

 hutches. I wish to impress it firmly upon the mind 

 of every fancier in the country that proper housing 

 is the first and most important point of rabbit breed- 

 ing and unless the proper rabbitry and hutches are 

 built at the start, there will be no profit. Rabbits 

 must be properly housed if they are to thrive. If 

 they are not properly housed, sickly rabbits full of 

 snuffles will result. A good plan is to place in one 

 corner of the hutch a small box about 18 inches square 

 and 3 inches deep, filled with sawdust. The majority 

 of rabbits will quickly learn to leave their droppings 



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