Page:Care and Management of Rabbits.djvu/83

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page has been validated.
CARE AND MANAGEMENT OF RABBITS
73

premises of people who seem to have no idea at all that rabbits must be kept dry and comfortable and not in manure piles or in the accumulated seepage of a week's droppings.

The position for the hutches is something that is worthy of a great deal of consideration. It took me a long time to learn that the direction for the hutches to face was the East. Fewer storms come from that direction, if one lives in the Middle West, than from any other, and during the heat of the day the interior of the hutches will have more shade than if they were to face the South or West, for instance.

The rabbit, it must be remembered, is a fur-bearing animal, hence must have some thought and attention during the hot days of summer, especially if the thermometer habitually climbs to a high figure.

While some shade over the hutches is desirable, it is not best to put the hutches in a shady place. They are apt to be damp most of the time. In my own experience, I have found it best to build hutches with plenty of clearance