Effect of floor versus conventional elevated housing on the welfare and meat quality of rabbits
Keywords:
Floor housing; Floor hutch; Meat quality; Welfare; Carcass; Rabbit housingAbstract
Objective: The housing system is a crucial determinant of animal welfare. This study aimed to compare the effects of intensive housing with those of alternative floor housing on the welfare of rabbits and their meat production. Materials and Methods: Eighty New Zealand rabbits (40 females and 40 males) with an initial mean weight of 1.3 kg and aged 35 days were distributed into four treatment groups. Treatment 1 (T1) comprised five floor cages with four male rabbits in each cage; Treatment 2 (T2) comprised five floor cages, each containing four female rabbits; Treatment 3 (T3) consisted of five elevated cages housing four male rabbits each, and Treatment 4 (T4) consisted of five elevated cages housing four female rabbits each. Indicators of carcass quality, including moisture, protein, lipids, ash, pH, color (L*, a*, b*), physiological stress (plasma cortisol), oxidative stress (lipid oxidation TBARS), and number of antioxidants (FRAP) in the plasma and tissue, were measured. Results: A significant difference (p < 0.05) in pH was observed between the conventional cages and the floor cages, as well as in cortisol levels for the traditional and floor cages (p < 0.05), respectively. Additionally, lipid oxidation (TBARS) was not significantly different in plasma but was significantly different in meat. The TBARS value was higher for floor cages and lower for conventional cages. The FRAP value was not significantly different between plasma and meat (p < 0.05). The findings demonstrate that the use of floor cages does not affect the nutritive value of rabbit meat. Conclusion: The type of cage used affects rabbits’ physiological stress levels and lipid oxidation in muscle tissue, which impacts meat quality. The nutritional value of meat remains unaffected, regardless of the cage type or sex of the rabbit. The floor cage environment enables the rabbits to engage in activities typical of their species, thereby contributing to the animals’ welfare by improving driving skills, attitudes, and handler behavior.
J. Adv. Vet. Anim. Res., 12(4): 1237–1242, December 2025
Downloads
10
11
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 José Manuel Robles-Robles, Adrián Muñoz-Cuautle, José Luis Ponce-Covarrubias, María Esther Ortega-Cerrilla, Fernando Utrera-Quintana, Ricardo Martínez-Martínez, Abel Villa-Mancera
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).
