72 PRACTICAL RABBIT KEEPING 



through the ground, and some of these holes 

 will very likely lead to a point outside the 

 fence and upward to liberty. Unless such a 

 yard is connected with an inside hutch, there 

 should be boxes into which the animals can 

 retreat when alarmed. 



A rabbit fence must be firmly made of 

 heavy poultry netting five or six feet wide. 

 One-inch mesh is best. If such yards can be 

 used for one season and then shifted, this plan 

 may be followed successfully in rearing rab- 

 bits out of doors. There is always danger, 

 though, that the ground will become foul and 

 the difficulty already mentioned creep in, with 

 very serious results. Moreover, much more 

 space must be used for a limited number of 

 rabbits than when the hutch system is adopted. 

 For that reason, therefore, most rabbit'keepers 

 now confine all their stock to hutches, except 

 for adjoining runways. 



Some of them have special hutches for 

 young stock, making them long and rather 

 narrow. This is rather a good plan, for it 

 gives the youngsters a chance to exercise 

 freely. It must not be supposed from this, 

 though, that a large number of young rabbits 



