Page:Care and Management of Rabbits.djvu/158

144 increasing amount of mash and hay in order to keep herself and litter in good condition. The little fellows will come out of the nest box in about two weeks and commence to nibble at things and want to eat everything they can find, so it will be necessary, then, to increase the amount of the mash. During the third and fourth weeks after delivery the nursing doe and litter will need fourteen ounces of mash every morning and all the hay they will eat at night. During the second month they will need twenty-eight ounces of mash and more hay, and during the third month you will have to feed even more than this. If at this time you are feeding them for market, proceed as recommended in the preceding chapter.

If you wish to develop them for breeding stock, feed them as you do during the second month, that is, all they will clean up quickly at each feeding. It will not be necessary to give the noon feeding of bread and milk, although where it is possible it is highly desirable.