FOR EXHIBITION AND MARKET 



Breeding. 



The same care should be exercised in breeding as 

 in breeding English, Dutch, or any other fancy 

 marked rabbit. It is necessary that both the bucks 

 and does have perfect coats when bred. If they are 

 not in perfect condition, you must expect to find 

 poor, broken-coated youngsters in each litter, and 

 once you start broken coats in your strain, you will 

 find great difficulty breeding them out. Select the 

 best shaped and best marked specimens, and those 

 having the softest and most silky coats, and you will 

 have made the proper start. Correct breeding at the 

 proper time of the year will secure you the best re- 

 ' suits. Spring breeding is the most satisfactory, for 

 if you breed stock in winter you must place hot water 

 bottles in your nest boxes when the youngsters are 

 due, and your color markings will come slower, which 

 is a bad thing, as the markings should be crowded as 

 much as possible on the youngsters. In winter breed- 

 ing, great precaution should be used in keeping the 

 hutches nice and warm, but never use artificial heat, 

 as it has never proven satisfactory. The youngsters 

 should be well fed, and to help crowd the ear color, 

 use a little cocoanut oil and carbolized vaseline in the 

 palm of your hands, and rub on the ears with a gentle 

 friction, but it must be lightly, for you are liable to 

 rub the skin ofif. Your youngsters should be separated 

 at from three to four months of age. In selecting 

 breeding stock, never use a buck or doe that has eye 

 stains. This is a smoky spot or half-circle under the 

 eye or just beneath it. These stains will disappear 



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