13th World Rabbit Congress: Techna's scientific advances on rabbit prolificacy, health and welfare Logo Feedia

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November 26, 2024

The 13th World Rabbit Congress (WRC), held in Tarragona, Spain, from October 2 to 4, brought together over 300 participants from 26 countries, creating a platform for the exchange of scientific knowledge and innovation in rabbit farming. Techna was represented by Gwénaël Rebours and Pamela Vastel, who presented three cutting-edge studies, each contributing valuable insights into rabbit does prolificacy, health management through rationing, and welfare improvement.

WRC 2024 - World Rabbit Congress

Prolificacy as a reliable indicator of productivity

The first Techna study at the WRC 2024, titled “Relationship between prolificacy at first birth and performances throughout the career of rabbit does,” delved into the connection between prolificacy in first kindling and the overall productivity of does. Prolificacy at first kindling was found to be a strong predictor of future performance throughout a rabbit's breeding career.

Key findings include:

  • Significant impact on career length:
    prolificacy  in First kindling had a significant impact on career length .
     
  • Overall performance enhancement:
     Born alive rabbits in first part had a significant impact on performance throughout the career such as born alive on the whole career, weaned rabbits and mortinatality.
     
  • Growth influences prolificacy in first part:
     Additionally, the study highlighted that the average daily gain (ADWG) of young females between 14 and 20 weeks old impacted the born alive rabbits at first kindling. This suggests that ensuring adequate growth in young does is essential for optimizing future productivity.

These findings underscore the importance of prolificacy in first kindling as a reliable indicator of the doe productivity, offering rabbit breeders:
- valuable insights for managing their breeding stock
- elements to master in order to avoid these low prolificacy in first part.

Techna's Pamela Vastel at the World Rabbit Congress 2024

Twice a week fasting in fattening rabbits: implications for health and performance

Techna's second study at WRC 2024, “Effect of a twice a week fasting on performance, health, and feeding behavior of fattening rabbits,” explored the potential benefits of a twice a week 16-hour fasting as a strategy to improve the health of fattening rabbits and its impact on growth.

The key results were as follows:

  • Reduction in feed intake: the fasting group reduced the average daily feed intake by 8.8%.
  • Decrease in final live weight: this reduction in feed intake also resulted in a 4.3% decrease in the final live weight of the rabbits.
  • No improvement in feed conversion ratio (FCR): the study did not observe any significant improvement in the FCR, a key measure of feed efficiency.
  • No digestive health benefits: the reduced feed intake did not lead to a lower risk of digestive disorders. In fact, the study suggested that the compensatory feeding behavior observed on the days following the fasting periods might suppress potential health benefits.

In conclusion, this study presented at the World Rabbit Congress (WRC) highlights the limitations of fasting as a health management strategy  and a way to improve feed efficiency for fattening rabbits.

Housing systems and rabbit welfare: insights from behavioural analysis

The latest study presented by Techna, “Study of the Fattening rabbit behaviour according to four housing systems,” focused on understanding the behavioural patterns of fattening rabbits from 32 to 71 days old raised in different housing environments. The Techna experts compared rabbit behaviour across four systems: conventional cages, wired pens, floor pens with outside access, and floor pens without outside access.

The study's behavioural observations revealed:

  • Resting as the main activity: regardless of the housing system, the predominant behaviour of the rabbits was resting, with 66% of the animals exhibiting this activity. Other behaviours observed included feeding and drinking (12%), grooming (9%), and moving (8%).
  • Significant behavioural differences across systems: the type of housing had a significant effect on the rabbits' behaviour. Rabbits housed in floor pens move around more and exhibit less grooming stereotypy.
  • Challenges in floor systems: while floor systems better satisfied some of the rabbits’ behavioural needs, performance levels appeared to be lower in these systems, indicating the need to adapt feed intake to combine well-being and productivity. 

These findings should help to develop a multi-criteria evaluating method more suitable to large groups including animal welfare and performances as well as working comfort of breeders.

Gwenael Rebours from Techna at the World Rabbit Congress 2024

Conclusion

Techna's presentations at the 13th World Rabbit Congress (WRC 2024) demonstrated the company's commitment to advancing rabbit production through scientific research. Whether investigating the links between prolificacy at firts birth and long-term productivity throughout rabbit doe career, evaluating the effects of a twice a week fasting on health and growth, or exploring the impact of housing systems on rabbit behaviour, Techna continues to pioneer solutions that address both performance and welfare concerns. These studies offer actionable insights for the rabbit industry, enabling to make more informed decisions that benefit both the animals and the breeding.

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