April 2011
Compassion in World Farming Factsheets
Farmed Rabbits
Background
Around 1.15 billion rabbits are reared for slaughter globally each year. Over 50% of these
are in East Asia, with 515 million rabbits slaughtered annually in China alone. The
European Union is also a major producer, with over 325 million rabbits reared for
slaughter each year in the EU27. The major producers in the EU are Spain, France and
Italy.
Intensive rearing of rabbits
Most commercially farmed rabbits are kept in barren wire cages in closed buildings where
their natural behaviour is severely restricted. The majority of rabbit meat produced in the
EU is from large intensive farms which may house 500 to 1000 breeding females (does)
and 10 000 to 20 000 rabbits in total. However, home production and small farms
supplying local markets are still common in some regions. Rabbits were domesticated
only relatively recently compared with many other farmed animals and their behaviour
has been little altered by domestication. Like other animals farmed for meat, rabbits have
been selectively bred to grow rapidly and produce more meat than their wild counterparts.
Welfare Issues
There are very serious welfare issues affecting rabbits in intensive farming systems.
Currently there is no species-specific legislation protecting the welfare of farmed rabbits
in the EU and Welfare of Farmed Animals (England) Regulations 2007 contain only very
basic species-specific requirements for rabbits.
Inadequate space and height
Rabbits usually move by hopping, with each hop covering around 70 cm of ground, but
during grazing they move more slowly. They can run at speeds of up to 30 km/hour, jump
higher than a metre and make sudden changes of direction by zig-zagging. Rabbits have
highly sensitive senses of smell and hearing. They are very alert animals and regularly
interrupt activities to check for danger by sitting or rearing up on their hind legs with ears
erect.
For the young rabbits who are reared for meat (growers) the space available per animal
in grower cages in the EU is typically 450 to 600 cm2; this is less than the area of an
ordinary A4 sheet of typing paper. A typical cage for an adult doe in the EU is 60 to 65 cm
long, 40 to 48 cm wide and 30 to 35 cm high. The floor space and height are so restricted
that caged rabbits are often unable to move normally and adopt normal postures such as
lying stretched out, sitting and standing with their ears erect, rearing up, turning around
comfortably and hopping. The lack of opportunity for exercise in caged rabbits can lead to
weakened bones.
As set out in the UK welfare code: The recommended floor space for a cage-housed
breeding doe (alone or with a litter up to five weeks of age) is 5600cm2. This is much
smaller than the area necessary to allow a rabbit to move around normally by hopping, let
alone achieve any meaningful exercise. When the doe has a young litter, at least 800cm 2
of this area will be taken up with a nest box, leaving only around 4800cm 2 of floor area
outside of the nest box, which is insufficient even for the doe to lie in a species-typical
resting posture. The lack of opportunity for exercise in caged rabbits can lead to
weakened bones.
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For the young rabbits who are reared for meat, the recommended floor space per animal
in cages, as set out in the UK welfare code, is 700cm2 up to 12 weeks of age and
1800cm2 from 12 weeks of age; this is equivalent to around 14 and six animals per
square metre respectively. The total area available to growing rabbits will depend on the
group size. Opportunities to express natural behaviour are particularly severely restricted
where growing rabbits are housed in small groups. The functional space available to
growing rabbits housed in small groups in cages is insufficient to allow many normal
activities, such as sequences of hops, running and play behaviour.
The minimum cage height recommended in the UK welfare code is 45cm for all rabbits
over 12 weeks of age. This is insufficient to allow rabbits to adopt some normal postures,
such as sitting up on the hind legs in a species-typical “lookout” posture, or to make some
normal movements, such as jumping.
Barren environment
In a natural environment, rabbits dig a large and complex system of burrows which they
use for resting, hiding and rearing their young. They will usually feed at dusk and dawn
and at various points during the night.
Commercially farmed rabbits are generally fed on pellets and, except for a feeder and
drinker, no other structural objects are usually provided in the cage. The barren
environment and lack of forage feed (e.g. hay) can lead to rabbits developing abnormal
stereotypical behaviours such as excessive grooming and repetitive gnawing or nibbling
at the cage. Females that are being reared for breeding or are not nursing are often
particularly badly affected as they are typically fed on a restricted diet.
Lack of social interaction
Rabbits are social animals, living in stable groups typically of between two and nine adult
females, one to three adult males and their offspring. Serious aggression is rare once a
stable hierarchy has been established and strong relationships develop between
individuals, who will choose to remain close to each other and rest together, often in body
contact. Mutual grooming is an important behaviour to reinforce social bonds.
Growers are often housed in pairs or groups, but breeding does and bucks are usually
kept in individual cages, denying them the opportunity for social interaction. Individually
caged rabbits show more abnormal stereotypical behaviour than rabbits housed in
groups. Research has demonstrated that breeding rabbits can be housed successfully in
groups if they are given sufficient space and adequate nesting facilities to avoid problems
with aggression.
Injuries and poor physical condition
Cages are mainly constructed of wire and sometimes the sides are solid metal sheets.
Some farms use floor mats to cover part of the cage floor but usually the floor is made
entirely of bare wire. Breeding females and males kept for long periods on wire mesh
floors commonly develop sores on their footpads and hocks; these sores cause chronic
poor welfare and can be so severe that they are a common reason for culling. A survey of
French rabbit farms found that on average 12% of female rabbits had paw injuries that
were sufficiently serious for them to show obvious signs of discomfort; on some farms this
level was as high as 40%. It has been shown in one study that by application of of a
plastic platform or slatted footrest ulcerative lesions on the hock can be prevented and
can help cure those affected. The study did not find this was of any detriment to hygiene.
Breeding does must cope with an intensive reproductive cycle, which can lead to a loss of
body condition and metabolic disease. Hormone treatment is often used to synchronise
the time of breeding and, on most commercial farms, does are artificially inseminated
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within 11 days after giving birth. Breeding males have been selectively bred for increased
growth rate, which can lead to chronic lameness.
Disease and mortality
Respiratory and enteric diseases can cause acute pain, whilst chronic conditions such as
ulcerated feet and hocks, mastitis, mange, ringworm and abscesses can cause prolonged
suffering in farmed rabbits.
Mortality of commercially farmed rabbits is very high, with typically 100% of breeding
does dying or being culled and replaced each year and losses of 15 to 30% of growers
from birth to slaughter. The main causes of mortality are enteric and respiratory diseases
and the main reason for culling is reproductive failure due to infertility or mastitis.
Slaughter
Within the EU, most commercially slaughtered rabbits are electrically stunned before
slaughter. There has been little research to determine the current and frequency
necessary to achieve an effective stun in rabbits. There is therefore a high risk that
rabbits may not be stunned properly. Rabbits are held individually for electrical stunning,
which is not only stressful but may cause pain and/or injury, especially in larger rabbits, if
their weight is not properly supported.
Within the EU, large numbers of smaller abattoirs have mostly been replaced with a small
number of specialised rabbit slaughterhouses. The development of high speed and more
automated slaughter lines is likely to lead to a greater risk of poor welfare during stunning
and slaughter.
Higher welfare alternatives
There are alternatives to the intensive farming of rabbits in cages, which can provide
higher standards of welfare. Outdoor rearing systems have been shown to improve
animal welfare by allowing greater space, giving better sanitary conditions and increased
stimuli. The actual carcass produced is improved too. A study showed that the meat has
a reduced cooking time and the hind limb had an increase in monounsaturated fatty acids
and a reduction in saturated fatty acids, possibly caused by the increased activity of the
animal from the outdoor system. Enrichment with a gnawing stick within pens has been
shown to reduce ear lesions caused by aggressive behaviour and is likely to improve
weight gain in the second period of fattening.
In organic production systems, rabbits are kept in larger pens with access to an outdoor
run which provides the animals with more space and freedom of movement and
opportunities for social interaction and play. The environment is enriched with litter, such
as straw, and wooded sticks or blocks for the animals to gnaw are also often provided.
These can help to occupy the rabbits and reduce abnormal stereotypical behaviour.
Platforms, partitions or covered areas enable the rabbits to retreat and hide. Organic
rabbit standards require that the animals are provided with forage such as hay or grass
and the rabbits are kept in groups, except that in some cases the does may be housed
separately when they are nursing a litter. The breeding cycle is less intensive in organic
production, placing less strain on the doe.
Recommendations
You can help to improve the welfare of farmed rabbits in a number of ways:
 Join Compassion in World Farming’s campaigns or donate to our work at
www.ciwf.org
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Avoid buying meat from intensively farmed rabbits as the animals are likely to
have suffered during their lives;
If you buy farmed rabbit meat, make sure it is from an organic or other higher
welfare system;
If your local supermarket stocks farmed rabbit, write to them to ask about the
conditions the animals are reared in and ask them not to stock meat from rabbits
farmed in cages;
If you see rabbit on the menu in restaurants, ask about how the animals were
reared and ask them to use meat from rabbits kept in higher welfare systems.
Sources
Animal Health and Welfare Panel (2005) The impact of current housing and husbandry systems on
the health and welfare of farmed domestic rabbits. Scientific Opinion and Report. The EFSA
Journal, 267: 1-31.
Animal Health and Welfare Panel (2006) The welfare aspects of the main systems of stunning and
killing applied to commercially farmed deer, goats, rabbits, ostriches, ducks, geese and quail.
Scientific Opinion and Report. The EFSA Journal, 326: 1-18.
Bosco, A. dal; Mugnai, C; Castellini, C; Laudazi, S (2005) A prototype of colony cage for improving
the welfare of rabbit does: preliminary results. Proceedings of the 8th World Rabbit Congress,
September 7-10, 2004, Pueblo, Mexico, 1229-1234.
D'Agata, M; Paci, G; Russo, C; Preziuso, G; Bibbiani, C (2007) Effect of rearing technique in
outdoor floor cage on slow growing rabbit population performance. Italian Journal of Animal
Science, 6, Suppl. 1: 758-760.
D’Agata, M; Preziuso, G; Russo, C;Dalle Zotte, A; Mourvaki, E; Paci,G. (2009) Effect of an outdoor
rearing system on the welfare, growth performance, carcass and meat quality of a slow-growing
rabbit population, Meat Science 83: 691 -696
FAOSTAT 2009 http://faostat.fao.org/site/569/default.aspx#ancor
Princz, Z; Zotte, AD; Radnai, I; Biro-Nemeth, E; Matics, Z; Gerencser, Z; Nagy, I; Szendro, Z
(2008) Behaviour of growing rabbits under various housing conditions. Applied Animal Behaviour
Science, 111: 342-356.
Princz, Z; Zotte, AD; Metzger, Sz; Radnai I; Radnai, E; Biro-Nemeth, Z; Orova, Z (2009) Response
of fattening rabbits reared under different housing conditions. 1. Live performance and health
status, Livestock Science, 121: 86-91
Rommers, J. M; Boiti, C; Jong, I. de; Brecchia, G (2006) Performance and behaviour of rabbit
does in a group-housing system with natural mating or artificial insemination. Reproduction,
Nutrition, Development, 46: 677-687.
Rosell, J.M; De la Fuente, L.F. (2009) Effect of footrests on the incidence of ulcerative
pododermatitis in domestic rabbit does, Animal Welfare, 18: 199-204
Ruis, M; Coenen, E. (2005) A group-housing system for rabbit does in commercial production: a
new approach. Proceedings of the 8th World Rabbit Congress, September 7-10, 2004, Pueblo,
Mexico, 1501-1506
BELOW:
Pictures taken by Mia Fernyhough in 2009 at a rabbit farm in Crete. The photos detail the
conditions the rabbits were reared in and show evidence of welfare problems. The farm
housed 1,400 does, producing 50-60 thousand rabbits per year.
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Adult doe with eye condition
Adult doe with foot problems (see video also)
This condition was evident on a few rabbits
A doe with worn fur
Two newborns with missing ears due to
cannibalism by the doe
Male breeders