Page:Care and Management of Rabbits.djvu/206

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CARE AND MANAGEMENT OF RABBITS

If the breeder has three does and one buck, he will have his hutch room full from the start and will have to get rid of the young rabbits, either by eating them or selling them when they are around three months old. If he can provide other hutch room for them and mature them, he will get better results than those which we mention here.

One doe can produce four litters a year without seriously crowding her. But this is not the best practice. We will, however, take it for granted that the fancier wants to get all he can out of her. Four litters with six in each litter will give him twenty-four rabbits in one year from the same mother doe. These, marketed or sold at three months when they should average about four and one half pounds each, will give the breeder one hundred and eight pounds of rabbit meat from each doe that he keeps. His little hutch having three does in it will produce him three hundred and twenty four pounds of rabbit meat in one year and if he has four does, in