TEN COMMANDMENTS FOR RAISING HEALTHY RABBITS

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Always remember, though, that you are the real market for the bounty your bunnies produce! Sure, you might eventually want to try your hand at commercial breeding ... but don't undertake such an enterprise until you've had enough experience to understand fully the labor, costs, and marketing possibilities involved. (I'd also strongly advise that you avoid any firms that advertise "get rich with rabbits" schemes in which the companies offer to buy back the bunnies you raise.)

II. BUILD YOUR ANIMAL HOUSE WELL

Domestic rabbits don't need a lot of space to hop around in, but—if they're to be as healthy and productive as possible—your animals will need some room in their cages. Each doe or buck should have a hutch that's at least 3 feet long, 2-1/2 feet deep, and 1-1/2 or 2 feet high. You can construct the sides and top of a "rabbit palace" out of small-gauge chicken wire, but be sure to use only sturdy (and easy-on-the-furry-feet) 1/2' X 1" galvanized hardware wire for the cage floor. The entire box can be framed on the outside with wood or metal (be careful ... rabbits will chew on any exposed wooden members) and should be constructed so that it stands well off the ground.

Your hutch will also need a door that's large enough to place the nesting box through (an entrance of about 14 inches on a side will do) and to let you reach every part of the cage's interior. You can build the portal from a piece of welded wire, and hinge the "opener" to swing inward.

Rabbits tolerate adverse weather and harsh climates fairly well. However, you should construct a rain- and snow-shedding sloped hutch roof and—if your area has harsh winter gusts —some form of windbreak. Actually, the animals suffer more in hot weather than they do in cold. Prolonged heat exposure can be fatal to your furry constituents, so be sure the rabbitry is positioned so it'll get adequate shade during sweltering midsummer days.

Along with a good hutch, you should supply your rabbits with a feeder, a waterer, and a nesting box. The food container can be nothing more than a heavy earthen crock, or a coffee can fastened to the side of the cage. On the other hand, you might prefer to buy one of the commercial automatic feeders that attach to the outside of the hutch and are therefore difficult for the bunnies to contaminate.

Waterers can be as plain as a frequently cleaned and replenished dish, or as elaborate as the commercial drip waterers. (You can construct a homemade automatic device by suspending a filled and inverted bottle over a watering pan. Just make sure the jug's lip is slightly under the pan's water level.)

Lastly, you should make a nesting box for each doe to use when she "kindles" (gives birth). This bunny nursery can be built out of wood and sized to be about 18-22 inches long by one foot wide by one foot high. Also, fasten a 3- to 9-inch wood strip along the bottom of its otherwise unobstructed front end— to keep the newborns from rolling out— and leave the top partly open to allow ventilation.

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