BREEDING AND CARE OF RABBITS 



versa. As a rule, rabbits over three years of age will 

 produce inferior stock. Some specimens have been 

 known to produce offspring at five and six years of 

 age but such cases are rare and the resulting stock 

 seldom amounts to much. Of course there are excep- 

 tions but the good stock you can produce from bucks 

 or does after they are three years old will be very 

 scarce. 



Inbreeding should rarely, if ever, be indulged in 

 when size and shape are important but when color 

 markings are extremely important, it is probably nec- 

 essary to inbreed the stock. Inbreeding should be 

 carried out in the following manner : Father and 

 daughter and son and mother. Brother and sister 

 should never be mated except in case of necessity. If 

 bucks refuse to serve the doe give them one fresh 

 e.gg beaten up with a half pint of new milk and a 

 pinch of sugar. This is enough for three bucks and 

 will produce good results. 



The number of litters in a year is another inter- 

 esting subject and depends largely upon the locality 

 and the object of the breeding. Some fanciers have 

 certain shows in mind when they breed their stock 

 and naturally breed for those shows ; others breed any 

 old way and trust to luck, which is very fickle in the 

 rabbit game. Three litters a year is enough and will 

 result in much better stock, and longer lives for the 

 does. Of course we have many successful breeders 

 who are getting four litters each year from their does 

 who experience little or no bad results from that 

 number of litters, but the greatest and most widely 



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