Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2024 Aug 15;14(16):2367.
doi: 10.3390/ani14162367.

Environmental Enrichment in Rabbit Husbandry: Comparative Impacts on Performance and Welfare

Karim El-Sabrout  1 , Anjum Sherasiya  2 , Sohail Ahmad  3 , Sarah Aggag  4 , Eleonora Nannoni  5 , Damiano Cavallini  5 , Giovanni Buonaiuto  5
Affiliations
Review

Environmental Enrichment in Rabbit Husbandry: Comparative Impacts on Performance and Welfare

Karim El-Sabrout et al. Animals (Basel). .

Abstract

Rabbits are highly susceptible to environmental stress. Such stress, stemming from conventional housing conditions, can negatively impact well-being and productivity. Some of these negative consequences are increased susceptibility to diseases and infections and reduced growth rates and reproductive performance, as well as increased behavioral issues such as aggression. Environmental enrichment is the modification of the environment in which a domesticated animal lives in order to meet the species' behavioral needs. The objective of providing enrichment is to facilitate animals in expressing natural behaviors, thereby preventing behavioral frustration and negative affective states. Several inexpensive and safe materials can be used to enrich rabbit enclosures. This review emphasizes the significance of implementing diverse environmental enrichments to alleviate stress in rabbit farming. It summarizes their effects on animal performance and welfare while exploring potential future perspectives in this field.

Keywords: behavior; environmental stress; housing enrichment; productive performance; rabbit; sensors; welfare.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Potential enrichment materials to improve rabbit health and productivity.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Abd El-Aziz A., Abo Ghanima M., Mota-Rojas D., Sherasiya A., Ciani F., El-Sabrout K. Bee products for poultry and rabbits: Current challenges and perspectives. Animals. 2023;13:3517. doi: 10.3390/ani13223517. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. El-Sabrout K., Dantas M.R., Souza-Júnior J.B. Herbal and bee products as nutraceuticals for improving poultry health and production. World’s Poult. Sci. J. 2023;79:223–242. doi: 10.1080/00439339.2021.1960238. - DOI
    1. Belz E.E., Kennell J.S., Czambel R.K., Rubin R.T., Rhodes M.E. Environmental enrichment lowers stress-responsive hormones in singly housed male and female rats. Pharm. Biochem. Behav. 2003;76:481–486. doi: 10.1016/j.pbb.2003.09.005. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Jaén-Téllez J.A., Sánchez-Guerrero M.J., Valera M., González-Redondo P. Influence of stress assessed through infrared thermography and environmental parameters on the performance of fattening rabbits. Animals. 2021;11:1747. doi: 10.3390/ani11061747. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Saxmose Nielsen S., Alvarez J., Bicout D.J., Calistri P., Depner K., Drewe J.A., Garin-Bastuji B., Gonzales Rojas J.L., Gortázar Schmidt C., et al. EFSA Panel on Animal Health and Welfare (AHAW) Health and welfare of rabbits farmed in different production systems. EFSA J. Europ. Food Saf. Auth. 2020;18:e05944. - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources