Effect of floor type on behavior and productive performance of growing rabbits

Abstract

In this study the results of two experiments are presented. The aims of the study were to examine the location preference of growing rabbits depending on the floor types (plastic-mesh, wire-mesh and deep-litter) and temperature (low, medium and high; Trial 1), and to evaluate the productive performance of growing rabbits at medium room temperature (Trial 2). In Trial 1 at the age of 5 weeks, the rabbits were randomly placed in one of the three pens each with a basic area of 3.8m2 (43 rabbits/pen, 11.3rabbits/m2). The floor of each pen was 1/3 wire-mesh, 1/3 plastic-mesh and 1/3 deep-litter. The treatment was repeated in winter, spring and summer with the following room temperatures: 10–11°C (low, n=129), 17–20°C (medium, n=129) and 22–26°C (high, n=129), respectively. With infrared cameras, 24h video recordings were made once a week, between 5 and 11 weeks of age. The number of rabbits in each location in the pens was recorded at every 30min. The rabbits showed the lowest preference for deep-litter (P<0.001) at each age, regardless of the temperature. The preference for wire-mesh or plastic-mesh floor depended on the temperature. At lower temperature most rabbits preferred staying on plastic-mesh, however at medium and higher temperature more rabbits chose the wire-mesh floor during the final period of fattening. In Trial 2 the productive performance was examined. At the age of 35 days, the rabbits (n=126) were randomly sorted to three groups and were housed in pens with a basic area of 1.27m2 (14 rabbits/pen, 11rabbits/m2). The floor type of the pens was plastic-mesh, wire-mesh or deep-litter. The body weights of rabbits between the ages of 7 and 10 weeks were significantly higher in the group on wire-mesh and plastic-mesh compared to the rabbits on deep-litter. Twelve week-old rabbits showed no significant differences among the groups. No significant differences were found for feed intake, feed conversion ratio or mortality between the ages of 5 and 12 weeks, however significant differences were recorded between the plastic-mesh and deep-litter groups for the average daily weight gain. It could be concluded that rabbits do not prefer staying on deep-litter, their preferences between wire-net and plastic-mesh floor depends on the temperature and age. Housing the growing rabbits on wire- or plastic-mesh floors had no substantial differences, while housing rabbits on deep-litter negatively affected certain traits, but the alterations were smaller compared to the results of the relevant literature.