TEMPERATURE AND CAGE FLOOR ENRICHMENT AFFECT THE BEHAVIOR OF GROWING RABBITS

The effects of temperature and cage floor enrichment on some behavioral activities of growing rabbits and the effect of temperature on cage floor choice were investigated. Forty-eight rabbits from the Botucatu genetic group, weaned at 35 d of age, were housed at low density (1,500 cm2), four per cage, in wire net cages up to 10 weeks of age. Cages were placed either in a natural temperature chamber or in a refrigerated one. In each chamber, half of the cages had part of the floor surface covered with a wooden board enriched with litter straw such that, in enriched cages, rabbits had free choice between the straw and the wire net floor. In all cages, rabbits had free access to water and feed on both sides of the cage. In enriched cages, the number of rabbits on the wire net floor and on the litter straw was recorded by scan sampling every 5 minutes in five 24-h observation periods carried out once a week over five weeks. The behavior of animals was evaluated in the same five 24-h observation periods. The mean daily temperature and relative humidity were higher in the natural temperature chamber than in the refrigerated one (23.6ºC and 78.7 % vs. 20.6°C and 71.0%, respectively). In the natural temperature chamber, rabbits preferred the wire net floor over the litter straw (77.9 vs. 22.1%, P<0.01), whereas in the refrigerated chamber they did not show any preference (45.9 vs. 54.1%