Health, performance and use of medication in professional Swiss meat rabbit production

Schwarz, Julia; Schädler, J.; Albini, S.; Peter-Egli, J.; Probst, Stefan; Schüpbach-Regula, G.; Wiederkehr, Danja (2021). Health, performance and use of medication in professional Swiss meat rabbit production Schweizer Archiv fuer Tierheilkunde, 164(10), pp. 623-634. Gesellschaft Schweizer Tierärztinnen und Tierärzte (GST) 10.17236/sat00317

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Husbandry conditions for rabbits in Switzerland are at a high animal welfare level in international comparison. Wire mesh flooring is prohibited and group housing is mandatory up to the age of eight weeks. Despite these animal-friendly husbandry standards, animal losses seem to be a significant problem, although reliable data on professional Swiss meat rabbit production is lacking to date. A herd survey was carried out in 52 rabbit farms to address this situation. At the same time, each new litter and each fattening group was documented with a standardized form focusing on animal death and the use of medication by the farmer over a one year period. In the case of increased mortality or new health problems, dead rabbits were sent to the National Reference Center for Poultry and Rabbit Diseases (Zurich) for pathological examination including bacteriological and parasitological diagnostics. Data from 32 farms were evaluated. The average mortality of young animals (birth to weaning) was 14.9% (1.0–30.0%) and of fattening rabbits (weaning to slaughter) 17.3% (4.3–31.8%). Intestinal diseases, mainly dysentery, intestinal coccidiosis and mucoid enteropathies, were the primary cause of death (68.2%). Eimeria spp., Escherichia coli and Clostridium perfringens were identified as the most frequent pathogens. Respiratory diseases were found in 18.7% of the examined rabbits, with Pasteurella multocida identified as the most common pathogen. 60.0% of the farms used antibiotics during the study period and a third (34.7%) of all the fattening animals were medicated with at least one antibiotic. The present results confirm that despite high animal welfare standards infectious diseases and mortality rates represent a considerable problem in professional Swiss meat rabbit production. Risk factors of increased morbidity and mortality should be identified to improve rabbit health, to reduce the high mortality rate and the extensive use of antibiotics in professional Swiss meat rabbit production. Practicable management improvements with specific prevention strategies should be developed.

Item Type:	Journal Article (Original Article)
Division/Institute:	School of Agricultural, Forest and Food Sciences HAFL School of Agricultural, Forest and Food Sciences HAFL > Agriculture School of Agricultural, Forest and Food Sciences HAFL > Agriculture > Livestock and Horses
Name:	Schwarz, Julia; Schädler, J.; Albini, S.; Peter-Egli, J.; Probst, Stefan0000-0003-4703-8789; Schüpbach-Regula, G. and Wiederkehr, Danja
Subjects:	S Agriculture > SF Animal culture
ISSN:	0036-7281
Publisher:	Gesellschaft Schweizer Tierärztinnen und Tierärzte (GST)
Language:	German
Submitter:	Simon Lutz
Date Deposited:	01 Dec 2021 14:45
Last Modified:	16 Sep 2022 09:02
Publisher DOI:	10.17236/sat00317
Additional Information:	Die Erlaubnis, diese PDF-Datei im ARBOR-Repository zu veröffentlichen, wurde eingeholt
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Causes of death, antibiotics, rabbit diseases, fattening rabbits, mortality rates, farm animal rabbits Abgangsursachen, Antibiotika, Kaninchenkrankheiten, Mastkaninchen, Mortalitätsraten, Nutztierkaninchen Causes de perte, antibiotiques, maladies du lapin, lapins à l’engraissement, taux de mortalité, Lapins de rente Cause del decesso, antibiotici, malattie del coniglio, conigli da ingrasso, tasso di mortalità, conigli da reddito
ARBOR DOI:	10.24451/arbor.15876
URI:	https://arbor.bfh.ch/id/eprint/15876