Housing and Rabbit Welfare in Breeding Does

Abstract

Animal welfare is a rising concern in livestock production and to assess the welfare state of an animal, it is needed to consider health, behaviour and emotions. Housing conditions and management normally impair animal welfare at different levels, so developing housing systems and management practices that imply a high level of animal welfare by preserving productive results is a need. Rabbit cages have to be improved in terms of space, enrichment and materials used to promote better conditions, and several alternatives are under evaluation such as increasing available space, providing animals with elevated platforms and hiding spaces, making available gnawing materials or changing cage materials. Moving from individual to collective housing systems to enhance social interaction is also being tested. Most of these alternatives have provided some steps towards better housing and management conditions for rabbits, while some of them have demonstrated to create more problems and have been abandoned. There is still a long way to go on this research topic.

Welfare and Reproductive Performance of Rabbits Under Two Housing Models in the Egyptian Delta Region

“…Midway through the pregnancy, blood plasma was isolated from another subsample using a digital centrifuge (T32c; Janetzki, Wallhausen, Germany) and centrifugation (5000 rpm for 20 min) "according to Erwan et al (2017;2020), then stored in Eppendorf tubes (1.5 mL) at 20°C for hormonal assay. Triiodothyronine (T3, ng/mL) and Progesterone (P4, ng/mL) hormone concentrations in blood plasma were measured using the radioimmunoassay method and commercial kits (Medical Technology, USA).…”

“…The world faces substantial difficulties, such as providing food for an expanding population and addressing serious environmental issues such as the depletion of natural resources and the disastrous effects of climate change on the planet. Besides that, since the public's concern for animal welfare has increased during the past forty years, consumers, retailers, producers, legislators and other parties involved use the term "animal welfare" more and more when referring to livestock (García, 2020). The phrase "state of an animal as it attempts to cope with its environment" is generally regarded as the definition of animal well-being "welfare" (Patterson-Kane, 2018).…”

“…It is necessary to establish housing conditions techniques that indicate a high standard of animal welfare through ensuring success because housing conditions typically harm animal welfare on several levels (García, 2020). The features of the animal and their responses to external temperature and humidity determine the design of the rabbit housing.…”