Welfare and productivity of growing rabbits in collective housing systems

Public opinion asks for adopting welfare-friendly techniques during rearing of farm animals. The housing system in pairs within wire-net cages (2 rabbits/cage) or small groups (4-8 rabbits/cage), which is currently implemented for rabbits should change and alternative pen housing should be adopted to ameliorate animal welfare in respect of growth performance and meat traits. The farming environment should change and be adjusted to the presence of a large group of animals with diversified social relationships that could be influenced by gender composition and slaughter age. The passage from the conventional housing systems to the new alternative ones cannot be achievable without previous research on the effects of this new system on growth performance and welfare of animals. To achieve this general goal, four trials have been conducted under the present thesis and the summaries of the results obtained are reported below: Trial No. 1-Welfare and productivity of growing rabbits housed in bicellular cages and collective pens Trial No. 2 - Effect of floor type, stocking density, slaughter age, and gender on welfare and productivity of growing rabbits housed in collective pens Trial No. 3–Effect of environmental enrichment and slaughter age on welfare and productivity of growing rabbits housed in collective pens Trial No.4–Effect of different gender composition and floor combinations on welfare and productivity of growing rabbits housed in collective pens On the base of the results of the present Thesis, pen housing may be a succesfull way for growing rabbits giving productive results comparable with those obtained in the current cage systems, but only if housing conditions are suitable for the animal

Effects of floor type, stocking density, slaughter age and gender on productive and qualitative traits of rabbits reared in collective pens

At 34 d of age, 376 crossbred rabbits of both sexes were housed in 16 open-top collective pens (1.68 m2) according to a 2 72 72 factorial arrangement with two types of pen floor (wooden v. plastic slatted), two stocking densities (12 v. 16 animals/m2), and two slaughter ages (76 v. 83 d). The rabbits were examined for growth performance, slaughter results, and meat quality. The effect of gender was also examined. The percentage of rabbits with wounds due to aggression varied with stocking density (8.2% v. 26.2% for 12 v. 16 animals/m2; P 64 0.001), slaughter age (15.0% v. 22.0% at 76 v. 83 d; P 64 0.10), and gender (11.3% v. 25.8% for females v. males; P 64 0.001). Rearing rabbits on a plastic rather than a wooden slatted floor promoted slaughter weight (2795 g v. 2567 g; P 64 0.001), dressing percentage (61.4% v. 60.9%; P 64 0.01), dissectible fat (2.4% v. 2.0%; P 64 0.01), and hind leg muscle-to-bone ratio (5.81 v. 5.35; P 64 0.001). Increased stocking density impaired daily growth (38.5 g/d v. 35.9 g/d; P 64 0.05) and feed intake (140 g/d v. 134 g/d; P 64 0.01) during the second period (55 d to slaughter) and decreased slaughter weight (2725 g v. 2637 g; P 64 0.01). At the older slaughter age, the feed conversion ratio was impaired (2.98 v. 3.18; P 64 0.001); the slaughter weight (2574 g v. 2788 g; P 64 0.001), dissectible fat (2.0% v. 2.4%; P 64 0.01), and hind leg muscle to bone ratio (5.41 v. 5.75; P 64 0.01) increased; meat thawing losses, cooking losses, and shear force decreased (P 64 0.05). The main differences between the females and males were found in the slaughter for transport losses (2.6% v. 2.2%; P 64 0.01) and l. lumborum proportions (13.0% v. 12.4%; P 64 0.01). In conclusion, the growth performance of pen-housed rabbits was largely determined by the type of floor and less affected by stocking density. The meat quality depended on ontogenetic factors, such as slaughter age and gender, and not on housing conditions. The differences in the percentages of wounded animals due to experimental factors deserve further investigation from the perspective of animal welfare issues

Behaviour and reactivity of female and male rabbits housed in collective pens: effects of floor type and stocking density at different ages

[EN] At 33 d of age, 376 crossbred rabbits of both genders were housed in sex-mixed groups in 16 open-top collective pens (1.68 m2) in a factorial arrangement, with 2 types of flooring (wooden slats vs. plastic grid, W vs. P) and 2 stocking densities (12 vs. 16 animals/m2). Behavioural recordings (time budget), reactivity towards unknown humans (tonic immobility and human approach tests) and environment (open-field and novel object tests) and hair and faeces sampling for corticosterone analysis were performed during the 8th wk of age and at a pre-slaughter age (during the 11-12th wk of age). The effects of age and gender were also taken into account. Rabbits housed in W pens rested more in the crouched position (41.4 vs. 35.5% of the observed time) (P<0.001) and showed lower allogrooming (P=0.05), running (P<0.01) and biting pen elements (P=0.01) than those housed in P pens. The percentage of rabbits that interacted with humans during the human approach test (24.0 vs. 48.1% of rabbits in the pen; P<0.01) and number of rabbit-object contacts during the novel object test (on av. 50.4 vs. 87.2; P<0.001) were lower for rabbits in W pens compared to those in P pens. During the open-field test, the percentage of rabbits that spontaneously entered the arena was lower for rabbits from W pens than for those from P pens (60.0 vs. 72.5%; P<0.05). Finally, the hair corticosterone level was higher in the former than in the latter rabbits (on av. 14.0 vs. 12.5 ng/g; P<0.05). As the stocking density increased, only the time spent resting increased (66.7 to 69.1% observed time; P<0.01), and the percentage of rabbits that spontaneously entered the arena during the open-field test decreased (73.8 to 58.8%; P<0.01). When age increased, the rabbits were less active at the reactivity tests and interacted less with an unknown object or person. Differences according to gender were weak. In conclusion, the wooden slatted floor challenged the welfare of growing rabbits as it constrained their movement, conditioned their reactivity towards a new environment, and increased their stress level, whereas the increase in stocking density did not impair rabbit welfare.This work was supported by the Seventh Framework Programme of the European Commission [grant number 600376, CUP C91J13001170006]. The authors wish to thank Dr. Andrea Zuffellato (AIA S.p.A., Italy) for his technical support and assistance.Trocino, A.; Filiou, E.; Zomeño, C.; Birolo, M.; Bertotto, D.; Xiccato, G. (2018). Behaviour and reactivity of female and male rabbits housed in collective pens: effects of floor type and stocking density at different ages. World Rabbit Science. 26(2):135-147. https://doi.org/10.4995/wrs.2018.7747SWORD13514726

Effect of genotype, gender and feed restriction on growth, meat quality and the occurrence of white striping and wooden breast in broiler chickens

Due to their importance for the control of meat quality in broiler chickens, the present study aimed at identifying the factors associated with the occurrence of myopathies and characterizing the meat properties when affected by myopathies. To this aim, a total of 768 broiler chickens were reared until slaughter (46 d) to evaluate the effect of genotype, gender, and feeding regime (ad libitum vs. restricted rate, 80% from 13 to 21 d of age) on performance and meat quality. Standard broilers were heavier (3,270 vs. 3,139 g; P < 0.001) and showed lower feed conversion (1.56 vs. 1.61; P < 0.001) than the high-yield broilers. Males showed higher final live weight (3,492 vs. 2,845 g) and lower feed conversion (1.54 vs. 1.63) than females (P < 0.001). Feed restriction decreased final live weight (3,194 vs. 3,142 g; P < 0.01) and feed conversion (1.60 vs. 1.57; P < 0.01) compared to ad libitum feeding. At gross examination, feed restriction tended to increase white-striped breasts (69.5 vs. 79.5%; P < 0.10), whereas females showed less wooden breasts than males (8.0 vs. 16.3%; P < 0.05). White-striped fillets had higher pHu (5.87 vs. 5.83), and lower a 17 ( 120.81 vs. 120.59) and b 17 color indexes (13.7 vs. 14.5) (P < 0.05), whereas wooden breast fillets exhibited higher cooking losses (25.6 vs. 22.1%) and AK-shear force (4.23 vs. 2.84 kg/g) compared with normal fillets (P < 0.001). At histological examination, 3.1% of pectoralis major were normal, 26.6% mildly degenerated, 45.3% moderately degenerated, and 25.0% severely degenerated. In conclusion, genotype had a moderate effect on growth without modifying myopathy occurrence. In contrast, gender and feed restriction affected performance, meat quality, and breast abnormalities

Increasing Dietary Energy with Starch and Soluble Fibre and Reducing ADF at Different Protein Levels for Growing Rabbits

The effect of increasing dietary energy by increasing both starch (14% to 20%) and soluble fibre (9.6% to 11.6%) and decreasing ADF content (21% to 13%) at two crude protein levels (14% and 15%) was assessed on health, growth performance, caecal fermentative activity, gut mucosa traits, and carcass and meat quality of growing rabbits reared from 34 to 76 days of age. At weaning, 306 rabbits were divided into six groups and fed ad libitum six diets formulated according to a bi-factorial arrangement with 3 (starch+soluble fibre)/ADF ratio (L=1.2; M=1.8; H=2.8) x 2 protein levels. The contemporary increase of dietary starch and soluble fibre and the reduction of ADF linearly increased the digestibility of dry matter, energy and all nutrients, decreased feed intake and improved feed conversion (3.65 to 2.76 in rabbits fed diets L and H; P<0.001); it increased morbidity (P=0.09) but did not affect mortality due to epizootic rabbit enteropathy; at caecum, VFA production raised (52.1 to 61.9 mmol/L) and pH (5.90 to 5.67) and N ammonia lowered (4.85 to 1.93 mmol/L); the villi/crypts ratio (4.42 vs. 3.81 and 3.95 in rabbits fed diets L, M and H) decreased in a non linear mode. The decrease of the protein level did not affect growth performance, but nearly halved mortality (28.9% vs. 16.3%; P=0.01) and increased caecal pH (5.70 to 5.87; P=0.05). Weak effects of the dietary treatments were measured on carcass traits and meat quality

Comparison of pens without and with multilevel platforms for growing rabbits

This experiment compared the productive performance and location of growing rabbits in pens without and with two-level platforms (wire-mesh or plastic-mesh). A total of 174 rabbits of both sexes weaned at 5 weeks of age were randomly divided into three groups (n = 58 rabbits/group, 2 pens/treatment, 29 rabbits/pen). The floor area of pens was 1.0 × 1.83 m, and the floor was made of wire-mesh. Two pens were equipped with wire-mesh (WP) and two pens with plastic-mesh elevated platforms (PP) on two levels, and two pens were without platforms (NoP). Treatment had no effect on the productive performance of growing rabbits. Based on video recordings, animal density (rabbits/m2 in each location) was higher (p < .001) on the floor than on the platforms (in WP: 12.0 vs. 5.2, in PP: 10.2 vs. 7.4 rabbits/m2, respectively). Animal density on the floor was higher (p < .001) in front of the platforms than under the platforms (in WP 15.7 vs. 9.8 rabbits/m2 and in PP 13.3 vs. 8.3 rabbits/m2, respectively). The animal density on platforms was 1.4 times higher in group of PP than in WP (p < .001). The animal density was 1.6 and 2.9 times higher on the second floor than on the first one (p < .001), in group of PP and WP, respectively. The concentration of cortisol metabolites in faeces and the ratio of injured rabbits were similar in the three groups. The rabbits showed higher preference staying on the floor compared to the platform. Pens with platforms were not influencing productive performance. Keywords: Growing rabbit, pen, platform, production, welfar

Welfare and productivity of growing rabbits in collective housing systems

Public opinion asks for adopting welfare-friendly techniques during rearing of farm animals. The housing system in pairs within wire-net cages (2 rabbits/cage) or small groups (4-8 rabbits/cage), which is currently implemented for rabbits should change and alternative pen housing should be adopted to ameliorate animal welfare in respect of growth performance and meat traits. The farming environment should change and be adjusted to the presence of a large group of animals with diversified social relationships that could be influenced by gender composition and slaughter age. The passage from the conventional housing systems to the new alternative ones cannot be achievable without previous research on the effects of this new system on growth performance and welfare of animals. To achieve this general goal, four trials have been conducted under the present thesis and the summaries of the results obtained are reported below: Trial No. 1-Welfare and productivity of growing rabbits housed in bicellular cages and collective pens Trial No. 2 - Effect of floor type, stocking density, slaughter age, and gender on welfare and productivity of growing rabbits housed in collective pens Trial No. 3–Effect of environmental enrichment and slaughter age on welfare and productivity of growing rabbits housed in collective pens Trial No.4–Effect of different gender composition and floor combinations on welfare and productivity of growing rabbits housed in collective pens On the base of the results of the present Thesis, pen housing may be a succesfull way for growing rabbits giving productive results comparable with those obtained in the current cage systems, but only if housing conditions are suitable for the animalsL’Opinione pubblica richiede l’adozione di techniche “welfare-friendly” per l’allevamento degli animali di interesse zootecnico. L’allevamento del coniglio da carne in gabbie bicellulari (2 conigli/gabbia) oppure in gruppi piccoli (4-8 conigli/gabbia) in gabbie da riproduzione dovrà piuttosto cambiare in un sistema in colonia, in grado di migliorare il benessere animale mantenendo però le prestazioni produttive.Un sistema con gruppi di dimensioni elevate permetterebbe maggiori relazioni sociali, sulla qualità delle quali potrebbero avere un certo effetto la composizione per sessi e l’età di macellazione. Il passaggio dai sistemi convenzionali di gabbia a quelli nuovi e alternativi non potrebbe essere tuttavia possibile senza una valutazione delle conseguenze su prestazioni produttive e benessere animale. Per raggiungere questo obiettivo generale, sono stati realizzati quattro esperimenti di seguito riassunti: Esperimento No. 1–Benessere e produttività di conigli da carne allevati in gabbie bicellulari e recinti collettivi Esperimento No. 2–Effetto di pavimentazione, densità di allevamento, età di macellazione e sesso su benessere e produttività di conigli da carne allevati in recinti collettivi Esperimento No. 3– Effetto del tipo di arricchimento ambientale e dell’età di macellazione su benessere e produttività di conigli da carne allevati in colonia Esperimento No.4 – Effetto della composizione per sesso e del tipo di pavimentazione su benessere e prestazioni produttive in conigli da carne allevati in recinti in colonia Sulla base dei risultati ottenuti dalla Tesi presente, è possibile affermare che l’allevamento dei conigli da carne in recinti collettivi e con dimensioni del gruppo anche relativamente elevate può dare risultati produttivi paragonabili a quelli ottenuti nelle gabbie tradizionali, purché non ci siano condizioni in grado di causare un disagio agli animal

Robotics and cbt and entertainment in the enhancement of children with asd, mental disorders, dysfunctional emotions and irrational beliefs

Children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) frequently present symptoms of various mental disorders along with the features that define ASD. Problems with anxiety, depression, emotion regulation, cognitive problems, such as deficits in theory of mind, and associated behavioral problems, occur in children with autism of all ages [5]. In recent years, the application of robots in therapeutic interventions for children with neurodevelopment disorders and more specifically in children with ASD, has aroused the interest of the robotic community and experts in the field of autism [3]. Socially Assistive Robots are promising in their potential to promote and support mental health in children with ASD. There is a growing number of studies investigating the feasibility and effectiveness of robot interventions in supporting children’s mental wellbeing, such as helping in anxiety, depression and socio-emotional problems [3, 4]. Several authors have also suggested Cognitive and Behavior Therapy (CBT) as a very useful intervention therapy, which can apply in combination with a social assistive robot [5, 6, 8]. CBT has specific strategies that can be very supportive and particularly useful for individual’s problems. Many applications of this combination have shown substantial improvements in stress management, contextualized emotion recognition and theory of mind. With a coordinated effort, robot, cbt techniques and collaboration with mental health consultants, children with ASD can improve their social, emotional and behavioral competence [5]

Reactivity of growing rabbits under different housing systems

To evaluate the effect of housing system (bicellular cages vs collective pens) and, within collective systems, of pen size and stocking density on animal reactivity, a total of 456 rabbits was kept in pairs in bicellular cages or in large groups (20 to 54 animals) in collective cages of different sizes (small vs large) with wooden slatted floor and at two stocking densities (12 vs 16 rabbits/m2). The effects of the rearing system were assessed on rabbit reactivity to humans (tonic immobility test at 55 and 72 days of age) and against a new environment (open field test at 56 and 75 days of age). The reactivity of rabbits at the tonic immobility test was not affected by the age of the animals at the test, whereas at the open field test the younger rabbits spent less time in biting walls and edges of the enclosure (2.58 vs 6.33 sec; P<0.001) and showed a higher number of jumps (0.25 vs 0.01; P<0.01) and alerts (0.29 vs 0.05; P<0.01) than the older rabbits. With reference to the effect of the housing system, the percentage of rabbits that did not fall in immobility tended to be lower (6.2 vs 23.5%; P=0.09) and the amount of rabbits that rested in tonic immobility from 1 to 179 second tended to be higher (90 vs 73%; P=0.09) in the rabbits kept in bicellular cages than in those housed in collective cages. At the open field test, the rabbits reared in bicellular cages crossed more squares (47.5 vs 31.2, P<0.01) and moved more (58.3 vs 40.4 sec, P<0.01) than the rabbits in collective cages, whereas they stand in a vigilance position for a shorter time (38.7 vs 84.6 sec, P=0.04). Neither the cage size nor the stocking density in the collective pens significantly affected rabbit reactivity. In conclusion, the rabbits housed in bicellular cages showed a higher fear level against man but were more prone to exploration in a new environment in comparison with group-housed rabbits