Onderzoek naar de geschikte ondergrond om voetproblemen bij konijnen te voorkomen. Uit dit onderzoek lijkt het er op dat plastic matten een positieve invloed hebben op het voorkomen van voetproblemen. Meer onderzoek is echter noodzakelijk om hierover meer zekerheid te krijge

Jong, I.C., de

Reimert, H.G.M.

Rommers, J.M.

English

Name not available

Effect of floor type on footpad injuries in does: a pilot study

Wageningen Yield 

Ethology and Welfare 
 
1171 
EFFECT OF FLOOR TYPE ON FOOTPAD INJURIES IN DOES: 
A PILOT STUDY 
 
 
De Jong I.C., Reimert H., Rommers J.M.* 
 
Animal Production Division, Animal Sciences Group of Wageningen UR, PO Box 65, 8200 AB Lelystad, The Netherlands 
*Corresponding author: Jorine.Rommers@wur.nl 
 
 
ABSTRACT 
 
In the Netherlands, welfare regulations indicate that rabbits should be housed on 3.02 mm wire floors 
instead of the ‘old’ 2 mm wire floors. It was expected that does on the new 3.02 mm wire floors had 
less footpad injuries as compared to does housed on the old 2 mm floors. However, there were no data 
supporting this suggestion. In addition, data on wire floors with plastic mats were also lacking. 
Therefore we studied footpad injuries in does housed on 2 mm, 3.02 mm wire floors and 3.02 mm 
wire floors with a plastic mat. Here we show the first results measured on three different rabbit farms 
with 2 and 3.02 mm floors. One farm also had 3.02 mm wire floors with a plastic mat. Footpads were 
scored in at least 20 does per floor type per farm during seven reproduction cycles. Results indicate 
that there are no differences between 2 and 3.02 mm wire floors. After two reproduction cycles 
footpads become injured which has a negative effect on the welfare of the does. Plastic mats seem to 
have a positive effect on the footpads, but this should be confirmed on more farms.  
 
Key words: Footpad injuries, Floor type, Welfare, Pain. 
 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
Footpad injuries are commonly observed in commercial rabbit production. Footpad injuries (also 
called pododermatitis or sore hocks) may cause pain and infections and will finally result in culling of 
the doe. Footpad injuries have a clear negative effect on rabbit welfare and on economic costs. 
Different factors may have an effect on the occurrence of footpad injuries, i.e. the rabbit breed, climate 
in the house, hygiene, the type of feed and the floor type. It has been suggested that the floor type is 
the key factor for the occurrence of footpad injuries in rabbits (Drescher and Schlender-Böbbis, 1996).  
 
In the Netherlands, welfare regulations for commercial rabbit farms have become effective since 2006 
(PVE, 2006). One of these welfare regulations is that the wire size should be increased from about 2 
mm to 3.02 mm, and that the space between the wires should be between 10-16 mm. It was expected 
that on these ‘new’ wire floors, footpad injuries would be less common than with the 2 mm ‘old’ wire 
mesh floors. However, there were no data supporting this suggestion. In the meantime also plastic slats 
(mats, 40 x 40 cm) have been developed that can be fixed to the wire mesh. Farmers indicate that does 
prefer to lie on these mats and that the incidence of footpad injuries decreased with the use of mats, 
but we also have no data supporting this suggestion. 
 
The objective of this study was to compare footpad injuries in rabbit does housed on ‘old’ 2 mm wire 
floors, ‘new’ 3.02 mm wire floors and 3.02 mm wire floors with plastic mats. In this paper we report 
the results of the first part of this study, in which we analyzed footpads in does on three different 
commercial rabbit farms.  
 
 
9th World Rabbit Congress – June 10-13, 2008 – Verona – Italy 
 
1172 
MATERIALS AND METHODS 
 
Animals and experimental design 
 
Three commercial rabbit farms, using cages with 2 mm and 3.02 mm wire floors, participated in the 
study. On each farm between 20 and 30 primiparous hybrid New Zealand White (approximately 4-4.5 
kg bodyweight) does were selected per floor type for the experiment. One of these farms had also 
cages with 3.02 wire mesh floors and plastic mats (Extrona). Does were housed on the different floor 
types and were not moved to other cages until they were excluded from the experiment due to 
mortality or selection. Farmers were asked not to treat footpad injuries. Footpads of all does were 
scored during a maximum of seven reproduction cycles (reproduction rhythm of 42 days) according to 
the method as described below. Regular farm management was applied. Does that were culled during 
the experiment were not replaced. 
 
Footpad scores 
 
Footpads were scored according to Table 1 (Rommers and Meijerhof, 1996). For each doe, both 
footpads were inspected and the worse scoring was noted. In case of plastic mats on the wire mesh, it 
was also noted if the plastic mats were damaged by gnawing and for all cages it was scored if the wire 
floors were clean or dirty. Does with footpad score 4 were culled from welfare point of view. 
 
Table 1: Footpad scoring according to Rommers and Meijerhof (1996) 
Score  
0 Footpads intact 
1 No hairs, callus formed (<2.5 cm) 
2 No hairs, callus formed (>2.5 cm) 
3 Callus open, crackes have been formed 
4 Wounds 
 
Statistical Analysis 
 
For 2 and 3 mm floors, analysis of variance was carried out using GLM procedure of SAS (SAS, Inc., 
Cary, NC, USA). Differences between LSM were analyzed by the PDIFF option of the GLM 
procedure of SAS. Differences in feed injuries between floor types were analyzed using an ANOVA 
with farm, production cycle, floor type and the interactions. Non-significant interactions were deleted 
from the model. 
 
For farm 1, who had three different types of floors an ANOVA was carried out with production cycle 
and floor type as fixed factors. 
 
 
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 
 
Figures 1 and 2 show the results for the different floor types averaged for the three farms for the 2 and 
3 mm floor type, respectively. In figure 1 and 2 the percentage of does per food pad score is presented 
for both floor types. There was no interaction between farm, production cycle and floor type. There 
were differences among farms and among production cycles (P<0.05). Food pad scores became more 
severe the longer the experiment lasted. On 2 as well as 3.02 mm wire floors intact footpads are only 
observed in the majority of the does during the first two reproduction cycles. Although we started with 
nulliparous does, sometimes does even start with damaged footpads. After two reproduction cycles 
scores rapidly increased, which means that the footpad conditions become worse. There were no 
differences between floor type 2 and 3 mm. The average score was 1.3 and 1.4 for 2 and 3 mm floor, 
respectively. In total 11 and 10 does had score 4 for respectively 2 and 3 mm floor type. It should be 
taken into account that the number of does in the experiment decreased with time due to selection and 
mortality and does with severely injured food pads (score 4). This may explain that, for example, does 
with score 4 in production cycle 4 are not present any more in production cycle 5. On average, on the 
Ethology and Welfare 
 
1173 
2 mm floors 50,3% of the does and on the 3.02 mm floors 30,3% of the does were lost due to mortality 
or selection after seven production cycles.  
In general, 2 and 3.02 mm wire floors were not dirty (data not shown). 
 
2 mm wire floor
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
production cycle
%
 
do
es
 
w
ith
 
sc
o
re 0
1
2
3
4
 
Figure 1: Percentages of does with the different scores for the footpads on the 2 mm wire floors, 
averaged for the three farms 
3.02 mm wire floor
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
production cycle
%
 
do
es
 
w
ith
 
fo
o
tp
ad
 
sc
o
re
 
0
1
2
3
4
 
Figure 2: Percentages of does with the different scores for the footpads on the 3.02 mm wire floors, 
averaged for the three farms 
 
Only one farm also had 3.02 mm wire floors with plastic mats. The results of the does on these floors 
are shown in Figure 3. In Figure 3 the percentage of does with the different footpad scores over the 
production cycles is presented. Figure 3 indicates that on floors with plastic mats footpad conditions 
are much better. On this particular farm, the wire floor with plastic mat had significantly (P<0.05) 
lower footpad scores than the wire floors without plastic mats, 0.9, 1.0 and 0.5 for 2 mm, 3 mm and 3 
mm with plastic mat, respectively. However, this should be repeated for more farms. These floors 
were not dirty and hardly any damage was observed for the mats (data not shown). On this floor type, 
loss of does due to selection and mortality was 27%. 
 
9th World Rabbit Congress – June 10-13, 2008 – Verona – Italy 
 
1174 
3.02 mm wire floor with plastic mats
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
production cycle
%
 
do
es
 
w
ith
 
fo
o
tp
ad
 
sc
o
re
0
1
2
3
4
 
Figure 3: Percentages of does with the different scores for the footpads on the 3.02 mm wire floors 
with mats (n=1 farm) 
 
It was expected that footpads would be better on 3.02 mm floors as compared to 2 mm floors. 
However, the results of this pilot experiment do not support this suggestion, although we should 
include more farms. This may be due to the fact that the 3 mm wire floors were new and had no 
‘smooth’ surface as compared to the old wire floors that were worn out. The experiment will therefore 
be repeated after two years, to study if the results on the 3.02 mm floors are better when these floors 
have a more ‘smooth’ surface. In addition, more farms will be visited. On the other hand, increasing 
the wire diameter may not be sufficient to improve footpad conditions in rabbits. It should be further 
studied if plastic mats indeed have a positive effect on footpad injuries, as our results suggested. 
Plastic mats may be a relative simple and cheap measure to improve rabbit welfare. 
 
The results of the 3.02 mm and 2 mm wire floors without mats indicate that does may suffer from 
decreased welfare after two production cycles, when footpad injuries became common. According to 
Drescher and Schlender-Böbbis (1996) welfare is decreased when callus is present on the footpads 
(score 1 in the present experiment). Although we are not completely sure that does with score 1 suffer 
from pain and thus have a decreased welfare, footpads with callus indicate a risk for higher footpad 
scores (callus open, crackes, wounds) and thus indicate a risk for rabbit welfare. It may be clear that 
footpads with scores 3 and 4 cause pain and a decreased welfare. 
 
 
CONCLUSIONS 
 
This pilot experiment indicates that footpad injuries do not decrease on 3.02 mm wire floors as 
compared with 2 mm wire floors. Whether this is caused by the fact that the 3.02 mm floors are new 
and have a more rough surface than the 2 mm floors should be studied in the future, as well as the 
positive effect plastic slats seem to have on prevention of footpad injuries.  
 
 
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 
 
This study was financially supported by the Dutch Productboards for Meat and Eggs.  
 
 
Ethology and Welfare 
 
1175 
REFERENCES 
 
Drescher B., Schlender-Böbbis I. 1996. Pododermatitis (sore hocks) in the rabbit. Kleintierpraxis 41, 99-103. 
Productschappen Vee, Vlees en Eieren 2006. Verordening Welzijnsnormen Konijnen. Zoetermeer, The Netherlands. 
Rommers J.M., Meijerhof R. 1996. The effect of different floor types on footpad injuries of rabbit does. In: Proc. 6th World 
Rabbit Congress, 1996 July, Toulouse, France, Vol. 2, 431-436. 
9th World Rabbit Congress – June 10-13, 2008 – Verona – Italy 
 
1176 
 


Effect of floor type on footpad injuries in does: a pilot study

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