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An adult rabbit will be perfectly comfortable and can raise a litter to the weaning age in a rabbit hutch the size of 2x2x6 feet. Hutches can be 2x2x4 feet but we prefer the larger type, particularly for does with litters.
Flemish should always be given good sized hutches. Since these hutches can be placed in tiers of two or three, requiring but little floor space, they are likely to be more used by the town or city dweller than the runs.
About one-third of the hutch should be partitioned off as a nest box. In this partition is a round hole eight inches in diameter and five or six inches above the floor of the hutch. The front of the nest box should be provided with a wooden door which can be fastened, and the remainder of the hutch furnished with another door made of a stout frame on which is tacked one-inch wire mesh. This size of mesh
is important since it prevents the escape of young animals and keeps out rats and mice, which are pernicious enemies of young rabbits. We illustrate such a hutch, Fig. 35 (by no means the best), observing that in very cold climates a smaller nest box should be_placed, during the winter months, within the larger one and packed about with straw to insure greater warmth. There should be at one end a small platform about six inches above the floor and about ten inches wide and eighteen inches long for the doe to make use of in escaping from the too persistent attentions of the young, who annov her in trying to nurse during the weaning stage. It is very important that the entrance to the nest box should be at some distance above the floor, in fact if it is so high that the doe has to jump in, so much the better, for the youngsters sometimes hold so firmly to the teats of the mother that without some such contrivance they are dragged out of the nest on to the floor of the hutch, and if the weather is chilly, may perish from
cold and hunger. A board six inches high fitting across the door opening of the nest box, and a similar one across the door opening of the hutch will help to prevent nervous youngsters from falling out when the door is opened. Many breeders prefer a loose nest box in the hutch with a lid which lifts off to facilitate examination of the litter. The top of such a box affords a retreat for the mother when desiring to escape from the hungry young. A loose nest box, either in hutch or run, should have a floor of its own. Here again the opening should be large enough to facilitate the entrance of the animal occupying the hutch (the Flemish requiring an opening larger than that needed for a New Zealand or Belgian), and should be high enough to prevent the tender youngsters from being dragged out when the mother leaves the nest. If these hutches ,are placed in tiers, a series of two is better than a series of three, for in the latter case the top hutch is too high to admit of easy care. The lower hutches should be eighteen inches or more above the floor, for convenience, as well as providing an extra safeguard against mice. There should be an air space of a few inches between the top of one hutch and the floor of the one above it.
