Animal Sciences Unit, Institute for Agricultural and Fisheries Research, Scheldeweg 68, B-9090 Melle, Belgium.
Physiol Behav. 2011 Sep 1;104(3):469-73. doi: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2011.05.008. Epub 2011 May 13.
The concentration of glucocorticoid metabolites (GCM) in rabbit faeces has been suggested as a non-invasive indicator of stress. In the present study, GCM concentrations were measured in faeces of fattening rabbits kept in groups of eight, at seven different stocking densities (between 5 and 20 animals/m(2)), with or without environmental enrichment (a wooden structure used mainly for gnawing and resting). Transport (30 min) was used as an acute novel stressor to assess the glucocorticoid response to stress under the different housing conditions. GCM concentrations were elevated post-transport (P<0.001). Whilst cage size had no influence on GCM, enrichment reduced GCM concentrations before as well as after transport (P=0.007 in both cases). Effects of cage size and enrichment on growth characteristics were negligible, whilst enrichment decreased cage manipulation and social contact. The results indicate that even short transport durations may be stressful for rabbits, and that enrichment may decrease housing stress. They suggest that measuring baseline GCM concentrations in faeces is a useful tool to evaluate chronic stress in rabbits, whilst measuring the response to a novel stressor did not provide additional insight.
兔粪便中糖皮质激素代谢物（GCM）的浓度被认为是应激的一种非侵入性指标。本研究以 8 只兔为一组，在 7 种不同的饲养密度（5 至 20 只/平方米）下，研究了兔粪便中 GCM 的浓度，这些兔有的饲养在有环境丰容（一种主要用于啃咬和休息的木质结构）的环境中，有的则没有。运输（30 分钟）被用作急性新异应激源，以评估在不同饲养条件下，兔对应激的糖皮质激素反应。运输后兔粪便中 GCM 的浓度升高（P<0.001）。虽然笼舍大小对 GCM 没有影响，但丰容在运输前后均降低了 GCM 的浓度（两种情况的 P 值均为 0.007）。笼舍大小和丰容对生长特性的影响可以忽略不计，而丰容减少了笼舍操作和社会接触。研究结果表明，即使是短暂的运输也可能对兔造成压力，而丰容可能会降低饲养压力。这些结果表明，测量粪便中的基础 GCM 浓度是评估兔慢性应激的有用工具，而测量对新异应激的反应则不能提供额外的信息。
