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Who is the rabbit?

The domesticated rabbit is a cousin of the wild rabbit. Rabbits can live up to 14 years, whereas rabbits in commercial production are slaughtered at around 10 weeks, so they do not reach adulthood during their lifetime.

They are a social species and in the wild their groups are made up of 2 to 9 adult females, 1 to 3 adult males, a variable number of offspring and some sub-adult, non-dominant males.

Rabbits are intelligent, highly skilled, and timid animals. Providing them with hiding places as well as opportunities to stand and scan their surroundings reduces their stress. Their teeth are constantly growing (around 2mm per week) so providing them with gnawing substrates is vital for their welfare.

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Who is the doe?

The doe is the adult female of domestic rabbits. Does can live up to 14 years, but in commercial production are slaughtered at 1.5 to 2 years, after they have had around 5 to 7 consecutive litters per year.

Before giving birth, a doe will build a nest, lining it with her own fur, in an isolated part of the warren. After the kits (young rabbits) are born, she leaves them alone for most of the time and only enters the nest for a few minutes, once a day, to feed the kits and seals up the nest entrance afterwards to keep them safe. Around 10 days after kindling she will return to socialising with other adult rabbits.

Read more about ‘Who is the doe?’

Providing meat rabbits with a better quality of life

Top 10

Illustration of rabbit with broken cage behind it
No confinement in
cages		 Illustration of rabbit hopping
Plenty of space to hop
and jump around		 Illustration rabbit laying down
Comfortable flooring		 Illustration of rabbit eating
Ad Libitum fibre
Illustration rabbit looking at gnawing block
Material or blocks to
gnaw on		 Illustration of two rabbits playing together
Opportunity to interact
with other rabbits		 Illustration rabbit interacting with environment
Platforms and hiding
places		 Illustration of rabbit hopping by day and eating by night
Dawn and dusk light
regime

Providing does with a better quality of life

Illustration rabbit with broken cage behind it
No confinement in cages		 "Illustration
Ad Libitum source of fibre		 Illustration rabbit hopping
Plenty of space to hop and jump around		 Illustration rabbit laying down
Comfortable flooring		 Illustration rabbit interacting with environment
Platforms and hiding places
Illustration rabbit hopping by day and eating by night
Nesting material and gnawing substrates		 Illustration rabbit looking at gnawing block
Opportunity to nurture their young		 Illustration mother doe holding her kitten
Interaction with other does after kindling		 Illustration rabbit in an open space with other rabbits
Opportunities to escape other does at mixing		 Illustration rabbit hopping by day and eating by night
Dawn and dusk light regime

Commercial rabbit production

Globally, around 1 billion rabbits are slaughtered annually for meat, over half of which are in China – the world’s largest producer.

More than 180 million rabbits are slaughtered annually in the EU, making rabbits the second-most farmed species in Europe. Over 70% of these are produced in Italy, Spain and France. The vast majority are raised in industrial caged farming systems.

There is no species-specific EU legislation to protect farmed rabbits and no specified minimum standards of welfare.

Intensive Rabbit Production

Barren cages

Barren battery cages are the most common housing for meat rabbits. Rabbits are caged individually or in small groups, with very little space to move as they grow. EU legislation has banned the barren battery cage for laying hens, but no such EU-wide legislation exists to protect farmed rabbits.

Cages have wired flooring and are bare except for the provision of feed and water. Rabbits are unable to express most of their natural behaviours including lying stretched out, rearing up on their hind legs (due to the height restriction of the cages), gnawing, hopping and digging.

Breeding rabbits are usually kept in single cages which denies them social interaction and suffer feet sores from the wire mesh. Mortality rates are very high due to disease and antibiotics are routinely used.

Enriched cages

There are no EU-wide legal requirements for enriched cages. The enriched cage, known as the ‘welfare cage’, typically includes a platform, a section of plastic flooring and a gnawing block. However, the space available is still very restricted, limiting the expression of natural behaviours, the floor is still mostly wire and there are no requirements to provide hay or hiding places. Enriched cages are also used for breeding does that are individually housed.

Common caged systems (both barren and enriched) house thousands of rabbits stacked in dark sheds.

Meat rabbits - key issues

  • Physical confinement in barren cages
  • Poor physical comfort on wire flooring
  • Insufficient fibre in diet
  • High mortality rates
  • Diseases and high antibiotic use
  • Boredom, fear and a lack of positive experiences
  • Restriction of species-specific behavioural expression

Read more about the welfare issues for growing rabbits

Does - Key issues

  • Physical confinement in barren cages
  • Poor physical comfort on wire flooring
  • Insufficient fibre in diet
  • High replacement rates and kit mortality
  • High disease rates and injuries
  • Boredom, fear and a lack of positive experiences
  • Individual housing and social isolation
  • Inability to isolate from the kits and rest undisturbed
  • Restriction of species-specific behavioural expression

Read more about the welfare issues for breeding rabbits

Higher welfare rabbit production

There is increasing recognition of the importance of providing space and enrichment for improved rabbit welfare in commercial systems. This has led to a gradual transition to higher welfare, cage-free systems, typically called pen or park systems. This is the case in some European countries such as Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands, and more recently, in France.

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Good housing

Good housing

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Pen and park systems

Indoor pen or park systems for growing rabbits have been developed in Northern Europe in response to increasing public concern about conventional barren cages. The ‘Park’ system, which originated in Belgium, is designed to improve rabbit welfare.

The larger space and open tops allow for more locomotion and rearing postures. This system can deliver a higher level of welfare, if operated at reduced stocking densities and sufficient enrichment is provided.

Another type of cage-free system that was developed in Germany, and later in France, houses rabbits in large, open pens where they benefit from a significantly larger space, reduced stocking densities, more comfortable flooring and plenty of enrichment (such as platforms, gnawing blocks, hay and tubes for hiding), which allow for the expression of natural behaviours.

Several trials have been undertaken to introduce cage-free, group housing for breeding does, however, the uptake of these systems is still very limited. Further research and industry trials are needed to develop an optimal cage-free system for does, where they can benefit from more space and social contact, whilst preventing aggression between does and towards kits during mixing and kindling.

Outdoor or free-range systems for rabbits do not exist on large commercial scale. Farms which do provide outdoor access are typically small-scale, organic systems.
Better Welfare

Better Welfare

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Providing meat rabbits with a better quality of life includes:

  • No cages
  • Space allowance
    • At least 800-1500cm2 per rabbit depending on group size and national legislation
    • Minimum pen length of 1.8m
    • No pen height restriction
  • Comfortable non wire flooring
  • Meaningful enrichment:
    • Platforms
    • Hiding places
    • Gnawing substrates
    • Ad libitum fibre (hay or straw)
    • Dawn and dusk light regime, with natural light for new buildings
  • No routine use of antibiotics

Providing does with a better quality of life includes:

  • No cages
  • Increased space allowance - at least 1000cm2/doe when housed in groups, above 4500 cm2/doe when housed individually
  • Group housing:
    • individual housing during kindling and nursing is permitted to reduce risks of aggression and injuries
    • Measures in place to minimise aggression: stable grouping; opportunities to escape others; scoring and reducing the incidence of injuries; behavioural observation
  • No pen height restriction
  • Comfortable non wire flooring
  • Opportunities to socialise with other does after kindling
  • Opportunities to escape other does at mixing
  • Ability to escape kits and rest undisturbed
  • Meaningful enrichment:
    • Nesting material
    • Platforms
    • Gnawing substrates
    • Hiding places
    • Ad libitum fibre -hay or straw
    • Dawn and dusk light regime
    • Extra straw and similar materials to keep does busy at mixing and reduce aggression
  • No routine use of antibiotics

Read more of our rabbit resources
Supporting better rabbit production

Supporting better rabbit production

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To help drive the market forwards for better rabbit production, companies should ensure that:

  • They use only higher welfare cage-free rabbit systems
  • If moving to cage-free production, engage with your suppliers from the start and give them the confidence to invest in new cage-free systems through long-term contracts.
  • Ensure you invest in the right system that is fit for purpose and future-proofed, by providing your suppliers with specific system design requirements
  • Take the consumer on the journey with you – through labelling and marketing to promote your higher welfare/cage-free products
  • Support legislation to ban caged rabbit production

Resources and Awards

If you want to know more about rabbit welfare and fit for purpose cage-free systems, we have developed a range of resources to help you develop a future-proofed cage-free supply chain.

And if you have made a commitment to move to cage-free rabbit production you may also be eligible for one of our Good Rabbit Awards.

Explore our Resources or apply for a Good Rabbit Award below.

Resources

Explore our range of practical guidelines, videos, and case studies to help you improve the welfare of rabbits in your supply chain.

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1. Resources

Apply for a Good Rabbit Award

The Good Rabbit Award recognises companies that use or have committed to use (within five years) higher welfare systems for does and meat rabbits.

 

Apply here
2. Apply for a Good Rabbit Award

GET IN TOUCH

Compassion will continue to work with industry to improve the welfare of commercially produced rabbits through it's various corporate engagement programmes.

If you want more help or information, please contact the Food Business team.

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If you have any further questions regarding this, or any other matter, please get in touch with us at supporters@ciwf.org.uk. We aim to respond to all queries within two working days. However, due to the high volume of correspondence that we receive, it may occasionally take a little longer. Please do bear with us if this is the case. Alternatively, if your query is urgent, you can contact our Supporter Engagement Team on +44 (0)1483 521 953 (lines open Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm).