Page:Care and Management of Rabbits.djvu/116

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CARE AND MANAGEMENT OF RABBITS

times they should be taken away, as cold alone will not hurt the animals.

Keep the hutches dry at all times. Where you have solid floors use two inches of sawdust or sand and cover this with three or four inches of good, clean straw. The bedding should be only sawdust in summer. If the weather is unusually cold, put a pile of straw in the nest box or one corner of the hutch for the rabbits to burrow in.

Keep the hutch dishes clean at all times. Water crocks should be scoured once a week the year around. Feed dishes should be similarly cleaned.

Droppings. Remove all droppings at least once a day the year around. If you have solid floors use an old hoe to scrape them clean. The droppings should not be piled up near the hutches or under it, as a certain amount of evaporation takes place which is not good for the stock to breathe. It is better to spade them into the garden soil at once, or around the flowers and shrubs, or sprinkle them over