It's a hare-raising business

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WHAT'S THAT, BUNKIE? YOU SAY YOU'VE GOT THOSE OLE SUPERMARKET BLUES? AND YOU CAN'T EVEN AFFORD TO WALK PAST THE MEAT COUNTER, LET ALONE BUY PORK CHOPS THESE DAYS? YOU SAY YOU WISH YOU COULD RAISE YOUR OWN ANIMAL PROTEIN RIGHT IN YOUR OWN BACKYARD? WELL YOU CAN! RABBITS ARE THE ANSWER, AS THE FOLLOWING TWO ADVICE- AND ENCOURAGEMENT-PACKED ARTICLES WILL TELL YOU. AND IF YOU HAVEN'T THOUGHT OF YOURSELF AS A RABBIT FARMER BEFORE, E.P. BELL AND BOB BODE JUST MIGHT BE ABLE TO TURN YOUR MIND THAT WAY.

With the meat situation what it is and the economy in a turmoil, now is a good time to consider the rabbit business the best way I know to put good food on the table and a few dollars in your pocket, without a large investment. The profits can come in many ways: You can sell the urine for laboratory use, the manure for fertilizer or worm growing, even the feet for good luck charms. Meat, however, is by far the most important product.

What follows is a mini-manual that tells how to get started on a shoestring, without the costly items the so-called experts say you should have. I'll try to cover all phases of a new operation and to help the novice avoid pitfalls that aren't mentioned in books or other guides to this subject. Nevertheless, experience is still the best teacher.

A RABBIT BARN

The hare-raising business is adaptable to any location. Many owners use sheds, backyards, and old barns as sites for rabbit warrens (a high-class word for an area of pens).

My herd is kept in a barn which I built-by the hit-and-miss method-especially for that purpose. The structure is 16 feet wide and 24 feet long, and was constructed from used and inexpensive material at a cost of less than $200. The roof rises to 12 feet at the center and slopes to 8-foot sides. Since rabbits do best in semidarkness, there are only three small windows (cut high in the walls, above the four-foot level). On the back side-which faces south-a hinged, 10-inch-wide board runs the length of the building about four feet from the ground. This flap is raised and propped open during the summer. The opposite wall includes a Dutch door with a 36-inch fan in its lower section to move the air up and out.

The building has a dirt floor a must, to absorb the urine. This holds down odors and makes cleaning much easier. Any other type of surface has to be washed every day and is too much trouble.

Here in the deep South (I live in Alabama), no heat is required in such a shelter if the times of breeding ate controlled. If any supplemental warmth were needed I'd use a homemade drip-type stove that burns used motor oil just enough to keep the temperature above freezing. This fuel is still readily obtainable and-so far-quite cheap.