Rabbits may be kept simply as pets or curiosities, or as a commercial speculation, and in either or all of these conditions they are sure to answer the expectations of the owner, provided only that ordinary pains be taken with them. As pets, they can be made tame, affectionate, and playful; as curiosities, they can be modified, by careful breeding, into the oddest shapes and most eccentric colouring; while, as a commercial speculation, they can, with proper care and forethought, be rendered extremely profitable, and will pay a heavy percentage on the original outlay.
As an example of this fact we may mention the case of a young carpenter, one of those steady, hardworking, intelligent men who are sure to get on in the world, simply because they keep their eyes open to all that passes, always watch for opportunities, and always seize them when found. This man used to make a considerable addition to his income by his rabbits, fattening and selling a large number annually, besides steadily increasing his stock. He was ever watchful on their account, and never went to a house where he was employed in his trade without asking for the waste potatoes, crusts of bread, and similar substances, which he used to take home and convert, by judicious mixture, into nutritive diet for the rabbits.
As, however, there are but few boys who keep rabbits for the purpose of making money by them, we will treat at greater length on their general management than on the method of feeding them at the least cost and selling them at the highest price.
Before rabbit-keeping is attempted it is necessary to prepare, very carefully, a habitation for the future pet, and in the following pages will be found full instructions for that task. It is hardly possible to take too much trouble about the rabbit-house, and any abatement in this respect is sure to prove the truth of the old proverb, that penny wisdom is pound foolishness.
Two objects are to be considered in this matter; the first and most important being the comfort and happiness of the creature who is intended to live in the house, and the second the waste of time, money, and patience, which the constant sickness and ultimate death of the rabbit is sure to inflict upon a neglectful owner. So we advise the intending rabbit-keeper to expend plenty of trouble upon his house or hutch, and assure him that the healthy and thriving condition of his pets will more than repay the trouble, and their rapidly-increasing numbers more than defray the expenses originally incurred.
Should a single rabbit be at first kept—a good method, by the way, of experimenting before undertaking the more arduous and responsible task of setting up a regular establishment—a house or hutch like that which is represented in the accompanying [illustration] will be all that is needed.
Such a one as this may be easily made by any boy of ordinary ingenuity, as no great neatness in joints is needed, and the only requisites are strength and compactness. Should not the young carpenter possess the wood and tools needed for the entire construction of the hutch, his best plan will be to purchase an old tea-chest or egg-box from the grocer’s, and modify it into the necessary form. The box will cost about fourpence, or sixpence at the most; the wire will cost a penny, and the nails another penny.
If no tools can be borrowed, a boy can set himself up for ordinary work at a very cheap rate, the following being all that is really needed:—