TEN COMMANDMENTS FOR RAISING HEALTHY RABBITS

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A doe will usually give birth within 30 to 32 days following conception, so place the nesting box in the animal's hutch no later than 27 days after her mating. You'll be able to wean the fast-growing youngsters within two months following their birth—and the doe can be rebred before this separation—but be sure to give the mother a good two weeks' rest between the end of caring for her past litter and the beginning of raising the next offspring.

VIII. KEEP MEANINGFUL RECORDS

Now if you can imagine the difficulty you'll face in trying to keep track of when to wean and when to mate and when one doe is due to kindle and which of your bunnies came from which doe—and do all this while those busy rabbits are multiplying faster than electronic calculators—you'll readily understand the need for keeping good accurate records. (Without such information, it's flat impossible to tell which rabbits are your most—and least-productive breeders.)

You can design your own buck and doe breeding forms, or use the ready-made record-keeping charts available from Purina Chows. (To get a packet of 45 record cards and 30 record sheets—10 of each for bucks and the rest for does—just write Ralston Purina Company, Dept. TMEN113, Cashier 3T, Checkerboard Square, St. Louis, Missouri 63188. The feed company will send the material at no cost.) Plus, if your flock starts getting really large, you may even want to tattoo each rabbit's ear for identification.

IX. CODDLE THE YOUNGSTERS

Newborn bunnies don't need much human attention because their momma will take care of everything ... except providing the nest box (that's your job). Do be sure to give the nursery a good supply of clean straw or wood shavings:

three or four inches worth in summer, and twice that amount during the winter. Then put the box in the hutch three or four days before the doe is due (any earlier than that and she may turn her delivery room into a toilet). The mother will then contribute some of her own fur to the nest to make the home even more comfy for the expected young'uns.

The day after the bunnies are born, check the box and remove any deceased babies. Then—after the little critters are three or four weeks old remove the nest box itself and let the new residents get used to the hutch. (Remember that—before the portable nursery is brought back for a new batch of youngsters—it must be thoroughly emptied, cleaned, and disinfected.)

X. HELP YOUR ANIMALS PREVENT THElR OWN DISEASE

I sometimes get tired of pounding my fist upon the table and shouting, " Sanitation! Sanitation! Sanitation! ". But doggone it, if you buy and raise good rabbits ... feed your critters correctly ... and keep your rabbitry clean, clean, clean, you'll avoid 99-44/100% of all rabbit disease problems.

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