RABBIT FARMING

Press, Volume LXIX, Issue 21051, 30 December 1933, Page 6

RABBIT FARMING

| EXHIBITING STOCK [By Rpx.] | This column appears weekly, and in it ell matters of interest to breeders of industrial rabbits will be discussed arid answers to questions on every aspect of this new industry will be given. Correspondence is invited.] The novice who is taking up the breeding of rabbits xor exhibition must provide himself with suitable travelling boxes in which to send his rabbits away to shows. It is possible to bur these from one of the many firms of "livestock appliance makers which now exist, or if you are handy with tools, the boxes may be made at home. The latter method will probably cost less than the buying of ready-made boxes, the average prices of which run from six to seven shillings for a single and to 15 or 16 shillings for a double compartment box. The packages in which rabbits are to travel mu-t iuifil certain conditions. Solidity and strength are points of great importance, for though packages containing living animals invariably have a special livestock label attached, this Is no guarantee against a certain amount of knocking about. . They must be as light as possible consistent with adequate strength, in order to reduce travelling expenses to a minimum, and, perhaps, most important of all, they must provide the highest possible degree of comfort for the animals who are to travel in them. Travelling boxes must be of such a size as to allow the rabbit inside plenty of room in which to turn round, and there must be £..fficient head room so that the animal is not cramped. Good measurements for a single compartment box for the small breeds are 14 inches long by eight inches wide by 10 inches high, and for the larger breeds 18 inches long by 10 inches wide by 12 inches high. For double compartment boxes measurements should be as above as regards width and height, but their length must be twice that of a single box. Angoras must be given boxes extra large as regards width and height: these should measure' approximately 18 inches long by 12 inches wide by 14 inches high, and are usually provided with movable wire or slatted false bottoms to ensure that the coat is not soiled. It is absolutely essential that a box in which a rabbit is to remain for any length of time—and a journey to a show at a distance may possibly occupy as much as 24 hours—must be adequately ventilated. This can be ensured by five or six holes of about half an inch in diameter drilled at either end of the box. To ensure that the interior of the box shall be free from draughts, these holes should be placed near the top of the box and protected on the inner side by a wooden guard standing out about an inch from the end of the box and reaching to within about an inch of the top. This guard should be closed at the bottom, just below the ventilation holes, and will serve as a receptacle in which any prize cards awarded may be sent home with the rabbit To ensure that other packages are not placed so close as to stop a free passage of air into the box by closing up the ventilation holes in the course of the journey, a small projecting shelf of wood may be placed outside the box just below the ventilation holes. An ark-shaped lid will ensure that a travelling box is not placed at the bottom of a large pile of luggage with consequent exclusion of fresn air. It is advisable, that whenever possible, baskets should be used instead of boxes when it is necessary to send stock by rail in hot weather. These allow for a constant passage of fresh air, which considerably adds to the comfort of an animal who feels the

heat excessively as all rabbits do. Baskets, however, should on n_ account be used during cold weather unless the sides are well protected by thick sacking. Salt for Babbits' Health. Some of the ills from which rabbits ! are liable to suffer would be prevented 'if a constant allowance of salt were provided by their owners. Salt is so essential for the maintenance of healtn in vegetable feeders that animals in a state of nature are known to be in the habit of regularly travelling many miles to ~aline springs or beds of salt. Sodium chloride, as it is more technically called, assists in the assimilation of nutritive matters and small doses are restorative, stomachic, and antiseptic. Rabbits whicn receive salt will never narbour any of _ the deadly parasitic? worms which at times cause serious fatalities in a rabbitry. Although we can find no definite data as to the action of excessive doses of salt on rabbits, it must s.ways be remembered that salt finds a place among the poisonous substances. Fowls and pigs are very susceptible to its deleterious qualities; tut vegetable feeders like horses, sheep, cattle, and presumably rabbits, can take larger quantities with impunity. An excess of salt usually causes diarrhoea, followed by paralysis and death. Small and repeated doses, on the other hand, are stomachic, and providi a the rabbit has free access to as much water as it cares to drink, helps to soften hard, dry impacted focd and keeps the intestines working freely. Salt should never be added to a mash because it is not possiDle for the owner to guess what quantity is likely to be required by each rabbit. The method to adopt is to keep a lump of rock salt in each rabbit hutch. Rock salt is salt in its crudest natural form as hewn out by quarrying in the extensive rock deposits which exist in various parts of. the world. It can be purchased from most country grocers and corn merchants. The natural pure salt is white or transparent, and the various colours of lumps of rock salt are due to impurities from the soil. These impurities are largely composed of iron, magnesium, and lime, with often a trace of iodine, so that a lump of rock salt furnishes a rabbit not only with this comestible, bui also with some of the mineral matters which are being proved to be more and more important to growth and nutrition. When buying rock salt, it should be purchased in as large lumps as possible, and kept in a dry place or a bed of sawdust to absorb moisture. Different samples vary in the rapidity with wnich they melt away, in accordance with the quantity and nature of the impurities they contain. Some lumps lose very little weight even in damp weather—and the larger the block the smaller will the loss be. With a cold chisel and hammer, break off pieces about the size of the closed fist for each hutch, which will last for many months. Stand the lump in a corner of the hutch and the rabbit will lick what it requires. Salt will soon rust any wire or galvanised holder, so that it is waste of money to provide a receptable for it. Schedules are now to hand for the forthcoming young stock show which j s . being held by the Co-operative Rabbit Breeders' Association in March next. More than 170 classes have been provided ior, including classes for every type of rabbit bred in New Zealand. Entries have already been guaranteed from various parts of New Zealand. j "■