Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-lnqnp Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-25T18:51:41.980Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Preference of domestic rabbits for grass or coarse mix feeds

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 January 2023

TK Leslie
Affiliation:
Department of Clinical Veterinary Medicine, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB3 OES, UK
L Dalton
Affiliation:
Department of Clinical Veterinary Medicine, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB3 OES, UK
CJC Phillips*
Affiliation:
Department of Clinical Veterinary Medicine, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB3 OES, UK
*
* Correspondence: c.phillips@uq.edu.au
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

The motivation of juvenile rabbits to graze was tested by offering a choice of coarse mix or grass as rewards to rabbits fed a nutritionally adequate diet of carrots and hay. Before measuring the motivation of the 16 rabbits, eight were offered access to grass for 16 days and the remaining eight were kept in outdoor hutches. An initial preference test was then conducted using a Y-maze apparatus, in which the rabbits were offered a choice of grass or coarse mix for 3 min. The rabbits that had not previously been offered grass had a strong preference for the grass reward, whereas those that had chose coarse mix and grass equally. Measurement of rabbits’ behaviour during the reward period revealed that rabbits spent longer eating if their reward was grass; this difference was particularly notable toward the end of the 3 min period. If they received a coarse mix reward, they spent more of the 3 min self-grooming, standing still and chewing the wire of the cage. Feeding rabbits with a coarse mix diet may therefore increase the likelihood of problem behaviours including inactivity and trichophagia. The rabbits were also trained in a novel operant test of motivation for the two rewards, in which they were required to circumnavigate an object several times before receiving a reward. The number of circumnavigations before a reward was offered was progressively increased, and rabbits were offered two opportunities to take the reward at each level. Although the rabbits were prepared to circumnavigate the object up to II times on average, there was little evidence that they would work harder for a grass reward than for a coarse mix reward. This may have been because they had previously had experience of grass during the preference tests. It is concluded that juvenile rabbits show a strong initial preference for a grass reward, compared with coarse mix, but that this preference disappears after brief exposure to grass. There was no strong evidence that rabbits will work harder to receive a grass reward than to receive a coarse mix reward.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© 2004 Universities Federation for Animal Welfare

Footnotes

*

Current address: School of Veterinary Science, University of Queensland, Gatton 4343, QLD, Australia

References

Berthelson, H and Hansen, LT 1999 The effect of hay on the behaviour of caged rabbits. Animal Welfare 8: 149157Google Scholar
Berthelson, H and Hansen, LT 2000 The effect of environmental enrichment on the behaviour of caged rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus). Applied Animal Behaviour Science 68: 163178Google Scholar
Brummer, H 1975 Trichophagia: a behavioural disorder in the domestic rabbit. Deutsche Tierarztliche Wochenschrift 82: 350351Google Scholar
Cooke, B 1990 Rabbit burrows as environments for European rabbit fleas, Spilopsyllus cuniculi (Dale), in arid South Australia. Journal of Australian Zoology 38: 317325CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dumont, B, Dutronc, A and Petit, M 1998 How readily will sheep walk for a preferred forage? Journal of Animal Science 76: 965971CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Held, SDE, Turner, RJ and Wootton, RJ 1995 Choices of laboratory rabbits for individual or group-housing. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 46: 8191CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Huls, WL, Brooks, DL and Bean-Knudsen, D 1992 Responses of adult New Zealand White rabbits to enrichment objects and paired housing. Laboratory Animal Science 31: 609612Google Scholar
Kamphues, J 2001 The species-specific feeding of rabbits in pet husbandry. Deutsch Tierarztlich Wochenschrift 108: 131135Google ScholarPubMed
Lehmann, M 1990 Activity requirement for young domestic rabbits: raw fibre consumption and animal welfare. Schweiz Archiv Tierheilkeld 132: 375381Google Scholar
Lidfors, L 1997 Behavioural effects of environmental enrichment for individually caged rabbits. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 52: 157169CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Meredith, A 1998 The Rabbit: Online Information for Veterinary Students at the Royal School of Veterinary Studies, University of Edinburgh, UK. http://www.aquavet.i12.com/Rabbit.htmGoogle Scholar
Minitab 1995 Minitab Reference Manual, Release lOXtra for Windows and Macintosh. Minitab Inc: Pennsylvania, USAGoogle Scholar
Morisse, JP, Boilletot, E and Martrenchar, A 1999 Preference testing in intensively kept meat production rabbits for straw on wire grid floor. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 64: 7180CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mulder, A, Nieuwenkamp, AE, van der Palen, JG, van Rooijen, GH and Beynen, AC 1992 Supplementary hay reduces fur-chewing in rabbits. Tijdschrift fur Diergeneeskunde 1 17: 655658Google Scholar
National Research Council (NRC) 1966 Nutrient Requirements of Rabbits. National Academy of Sciences: Washington DC, USAGoogle Scholar
Parsons, AJ, Newman, JA, Penning, PD, Harvey, A and Orr, R J 1994 Diet preference of sheep — effects of recent diet, physiological state and species abundance. Journal of Animal Ecology 63: 465478CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Phillips, CJC 2002 Cattle Behaviour and Welfare, Edn 2. Blackwell Publishing: Oxford, UKCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ruckebusch, Y, Grivel, ML and Fargeas, MJ 1971 Electrical activity of the intestine and feeding associated with a visual conditioning in the rabbit. Physiology and Behavior 6: 359365CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Stodart, E and Myers, K 1964 A comparison of behaviour, reproduction and mortality of wild and domestic rabbits in confined populations. CSIRO Wildlife Research 9: 144159CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tawfik, ES, Sherif, SY, El-Hindawy, M, Attia, Al and AbouEla, S 1997 The role of fibre in rabbit nutrition. Der Tropenlan, Beitrage zur Tropischen Landwirtschaft und Veternarmedizin 98: 7381Google Scholar
Williams, RT 1973 Establishment and seasonal variation in abundance of the European rabbit flea, Spilopsyllus cuniculi (Dale), on wild rabbits in Australia. Journal of Entomology A 48: 117127Google Scholar