Animal welfare in reared rabbits: a review with emphasis on housing systems.

Trocino, A.; Xiccato, Gerolamo

doi:10.4995/wrs.2006.553

Cited by 73 publications

(100 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…When we consider the possibility of expressing a normal behaviour, several concerns arise with farm-grown rabbits because conventional commercial cages are rather small (Trocino and Xiccato, 2006;Verga et al, 2007). In individual bicellular cages or small conventional collective cages with four to six animals, rabbits cannot move or run and cannot hop or rear, especially at older ages, as observed both in the present and in previous trials (Podberscek et al, 1991;Dal Bosco et al, 2002;Postollec et al, 2006).…”

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confidence: 54%

“…The domestication of rabbits is relatively recent compared with other species kept for farming purposes, and for this reason, rabbits still exhibit several behaviours typical of wild specimens (Trocino and Xiccato, 2006;Verga et al, 2007). As a consequence, under the conditions of intensive commercial rearing systems described in the companion paper , maintaining the welfare of rabbits may be somewhat of a challenge.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Housing of growing rabbits in individual, bicellular and collective cages: fear level and behavioural patterns

Trocino

Majolini

Tazzoli

et al. 2013

Animal

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During growth (27 to 75 days of age), a total of 384 rabbits were kept in 72 individual cages, 48 bicellular cages (2 rabbits/cage) and 24 collective cages (9 rabbits/cage). To evaluate the effects of the housing system on the fear level and behavioural patterns of rabbits at the two ages (39 to 45 days and 66 to 73 days), a tonic immobility test and an open-field test were conducted and their behaviour was video recorded. In the tonic immobility test, the number of attempts to induce immobility (1.38) was lower, and the duration of immobility (47.8 s) was higher (0.05 , P , 0.01) in the rabbits housed in individual cages than in those kept in bicellular (1.72 attempts and 25.0 s of immobility) and collective cages (1.99 attempts and 25.0 s of immobility). During the open-field test, the rabbits from individual and bicellular cages showed higher latency (38.8 and 40.3 v. 27.0 s), a lower number of total (73.3 and 81.7 v. 91.9) and central displacements (3.6 and 2.8 v. 5.4) and a shorter running time (11.8 and 13.6 s v. 17.7 s) and the time biting the pen (5.5 and 9.1 s v. 28.2 s) compared with the rabbits kept in collective cages (0.05 , P , 0.001). During the 24-h video recording, the rabbits in individual and bicellular cages spent less time allogrooming (0.34% and 0.19% v. 1.44%), moving (0.74% and 0.60% v. 1.32%) and running (0.08% and 0.03% v. 0.21%) than the rabbits in the collective cages (0.01 , P , 0.001). The lowest numbers of alerts and hops were observed in the rabbits kept in bicellular cages. With increasing age, a lower number of rabbits were sensitive to the immobility test and more rabbits entered the pen spontaneously during the open-field test (P , 0.001). In conclusion, the rabbits in individual cages exhibited the highest fear level and incomplete behavioural patterns; the rabbits housed in collective cages showed the lowest fear levels and had the possibility of expressing a wider range of behaviour; and the rabbits in bicellular cages exhibited an inconsistent pattern of fear in the tonic immobility and open-field tests. Probably, these rabbits were in a less stressful condition compared with animals in individual cages because social contacts were allowed, even if freedom of movement was more limited.Keywords: housing system, fear level, behaviour, growing rabbits ImplicationsPeople are concerned about the welfare status of rabbits reared for meat production in small cages. This paper demonstrates that housing rabbits in individual or bicellular cages threatens their welfare by increasing their fear level and by limiting their possibility of expressing normal behaviour. In collective cages (9 rabbits/cage), social contacts and movements are permitted, and both fear response and behavioural patterns improve. The tonic immobility and the open-field tests can be used to compare the fear level of rabbits in different housing systems.

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confidence: 54%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Housing of growing rabbits in individual, bicellular and collective cages: fear level and behavioural patterns

Trocino

Majolini

Tazzoli

et al. 2013

Animal

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“…by putting large amounts of faeces and urine on them (Ruis, 2006; but see Postollec et al, 2008 for strategies to avoid such effects). When using a platform with a perforated floor, faeces will drop on the kits and can contaminate their fur, thereby increasing their risk of infection (Hoy and Verga, 2006;Trocino and Xiccato, 2006;Lang and Hoy, 2011). However, this problem no longer arises when the earlier separation of mother and kits is implemented according to the natural timing of weaning around postpartum days 25-28 (Hudson, 1995;Hudson et al, 1996a).…”

Section: Housingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of rearing mangement on health in domestic rabbits: a review

Schlolaut¹,

Hudson

Rödel

2013

World Rabbit Sci.

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High mortality in rearing of domestic rabbits is not only an economic problem but also an animal welfare issue. Among the reasons for this high mortality are some common rearing practices. In this review, we point out several commonly used management practices, which neither represent adequate housing conditions according to the animals' behavioural requirements nor correspond to their nutritional needs. Sometimes, the doe has to build the nursery nest on the cage floor or in a box with a permanently open entrance, often not protected from the light. This can lead to perinatal mortality due to disturbed behaviour of the mother such as failure to build a proper nest, depositing the kits outside the nest, or infanticide. Furthermore, continuous housing of the doe with the kits does not conform to this species' pattern of unusually limited maternal care. Possibly stimulated by olfactory and acoustic signals emanating from the nest, the doe can disturb the inactivity of the kits by her frequent entries to the nest or attempts to close the entrance. Cooling of the kits caused by maladaptive maternal behaviour under such conditions can also contribute to increased mortality and morbidity during the nursing period. In addition, when the doe is left to nurse the kits longer than four weeks, which does not conform to the reproductive biology of the rabbit, kit morbidity can be increased by the following factors. Although the doe's milk has a high protective role against main digestive disorders, prolonged mother-offspring contact might increase the risk of the kits becoming infected with pathogens such as coccidiosis, EPEC and pasteurellosis persisting in the doe. Pre-disposition of the kits to bacterial enteropathies can be encouraged by the delayed development of the enzymatic system, the delayed establishment of a stable gut flora, as well as by consumption of the doe's feed. The increased energy demands of lactation as well as mastitis incidence due to prolonged suckling by the kits could decrease the fertility and the lifespan of the doe. Feed with a high content of non-fibre carbohydrates (compared to green forage) can promote bacterial enteropathies when given before the development of the kits' digestive functions is completed. The risk of the outbreak of such diseases is enhanced by intestinal coccidiosis and unstable gut flora. Enteropathies are also exacerbated by the use of deep litter as opposed to housing rabbits on perforated floors.

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“…3% of total time according to Princz et al, 2008a). A possible reason may be that the flux chamber is as a novel environment for the animal, and therefore investigatory behaviours could increase, both due to the need to explore and the escape instinct (Trocino and Xiccato, 2006). Taking all these aspects into account, and considering that anomalous behaviours, which may indicate distress and impaired welfare (Verga et al, 2007), were not found in any animal, we may assume that our experimental conditions in a flux chamber did not alter general behaviour.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Short communication: Assessment of activity patterns of growing rabbits in a flux-controlled chamber

Olivas¹,

Rodriguez-Latorre

Estellés

et al. 2013

World Rabbit Sci.

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Flux-controlled and metabolic chambers are often used for nutritional and environmental studies. However, the potential alterations of animal behaviour and welfare are so far not fully understood. In consequence, this study had 2 main objectives: to assess potential alterations of animal activity pattern and time budget inside a flux chamber, and to assess the importance of the "rearing up" behaviour. To this end, 10 growing rabbits of different ages (from 1 to 5 wk of the growing period) were housed inside a flux chamber. Their activity was continuously recorded and assessed, determining the frequency and duration of 8 different behaviours: lying, sleeping, sitting, eating, drinking, walking, rearing up and others. Nocturnal rabbit behaviour and time budget were not altered inside the chamber if compared to previously described rabbit activity under conventional cages. In addition, rabbits in this experiment presented a tendency to perform "rearing up" when housed inside the flux chamber.

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Animal welfare in reared rabbits: a review with emphasis on housing systems.

Cited by 73 publications

References 25 publications

Housing of growing rabbits in individual, bicellular and collective cages: fear level and behavioural patterns

Housing of growing rabbits in individual, bicellular and collective cages: fear level and behavioural patterns

Impact of rearing mangement on health in domestic rabbits: a review

Short communication: Assessment of activity patterns of growing rabbits in a flux-controlled chamber

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