Having completed the hutch, we must next see about a feeding-trough. The ordinary troughs are nothing more than long wooden boxes; those who use them generally find that the food is much wasted by being scraped out with the fore feet, and that the rabbit contracts a habit of sitting in the trough, which, in course of time, renders it very offensive, and makes the food unwholesome. But by a little exercise of ingenuity both these annoyances can be prevented.
To check the scratching out of the food, run a strong wire from one end of the trough to the other, about half an inch below the edge, and one inch from the side. When the rabbit begins to scratch, the paws come against the wire, and get so jarred that the creature soon relinquishes the bad habit.
The habit of squatting in the trough is easily prevented by a very simple plan. A strong wire, about three or four inches long, according to the depth of the trough, is set upright in the centre. Another wire is arranged as seen in the [illustration], the ends being driven firmly into the wood of the trough, and the middle passing through a loop at the end of the central wire. In the [engraving], a represents the wire which prevents the animal from scratching, and b that which keeps it from getting into the trough. The edges, whether of the trough, the sliding door, or the guides, must be either bound with tin or edged with zinc wire, the latter being rather preferable.
The reader will observe that in the [engraving of the hutch] it is shown standing on a table, the top of which projects far beyond the legs. The object of this precaution is to keep off rats, which are the bane of all rabbit-owners, and can climb up almost anything. They, cannot, however, walk like a fly, in a reversed position, on a flat surface, and in consequence, a projecting board of five or six inches in width is an effectual protection against these pests.
The hutch is easily kept clean by attending to each apartment separately. First close the sliding door, so as to confine the rabbit in the apartment in which it happens to be, and with a hoe or similar implement scrape the floor quite clean, afterwards rubbing it with a wisp of straw. Take care that every scrap of refuse food has been removed. Then close the outer door, open the slide, drive the rabbit into the clean apartment, close the slide, and scrape and rub the second chamber.
The trough should be removed when the day-room is cleaned, and carefully examined before it is replaced. The hutch being clean, the slide may be opened, and the animal allowed to run about. The hutch should be cleansed at least every day, and if a second cleaning be added it will not come amiss. This continual cleaning will involve some trouble; but no one ought to keep a rabbit who neglects this essential duty, or to undertake the charge of an animal unless he intends to make it as happy as it can be in a state of imprisonment. A supply of straw should be placed in the sleeping-room for a bed, and should be changed daily.
If possible, the rabbit should be allowed to take a half-hour’s run every day; but precautions must be taken against its burrowing habits and the chance of finding and eating something poisonous. In the wild state, a rabbit never eats anything that is injurious, but when domesticated many of its instincts are in abeyance, and it will eat many substances which it would reject when wild.
The best defence against burrowing is to have a brick floor for the animal to run about on. There is also a substance called, I believe, Parker’s cement, which, when laid down, becomes rapidly dry, and is so hard that not even the teeth of a rat, much less the claws of a rabbit, can work their way through it. This cement is mixed with water and sand to the consistency of thick cream, and while settling is “flatted” with boards, and makes an admirable level flooring, easily washed and as hard as stone. On this substance the rabbit can be allowed to amuse itself without danger, and when its time of recreation has expired it should be caught and replaced in its hutch.