Faculty of Animal Science, Kaposvár University, PO Box 16, 7401 Kaposvár, Hungary.
Animal. 2012 Apr;6(4):650-5. doi: 10.1017/S1751731111001819.
The addition of platforms to rabbit cages increases their accessible area and provides rabbits greater freedom and mobility. Different types of platforms enable rabbits to situate themselves where they are most comfortable. The objective of this experiment was to analyse preference of growing rabbits between different areas of the pen depending on the elevated platforms' floor-type. Pens with a basic area of 0.84 m2 were equipped with platforms of 0.42 m2. Three types of flooring of the elevated platforms were used as treatments: deep-litter floor and an open wire-net floor (Experiment 1), and a deep-litter floor and a wire-net floor with a manure tray beneath it (Experiment 2). Growing rabbits (n = 168; 42 per treatment) between the ages of 5 and 11 weeks were studied, based on 24 h video recordings from infra-red cameras (one recording per week) applying scan sampling method with a frequency of 30 min. When the platform was deep-litter, significantly (P < 0.001) more rabbits used the area under the platform (53.7% and 54.3% in Experiments 1 and 2, respectively) than stayed on the platform (16.7% and 7.6%). In treatments of wire-net platform with and without tray beneath the platform also significantly (P < 0.001) more rabbits stayed under the platform (43.7% and 34.7%, respectively) than on the platform (19.5% and 29.9%, respectively). The differences from the expected 33.3% staying on the platform or under the platform were significant at least at the level of P < 0.05. The results show that the wire-net platform with the manure tray provides the optimal environment as it leads to the rabbits spreading themselves more evenly in the pen (i.e. the platform expands available floor area) without the risk of soiling from above, and without adverse effects on heat dissipation, and with the possibility of seeking cover when desired.
笼架的增设增加了兔子的可活动面积，使它们获得了更大的自由和活动空间。不同类型的平台可使兔子处于最舒适的位置。本实验的目的是分析生长兔在不同围栏区域的偏好，这取决于高架平台的地板类型。基本面积为 0.84 平方米的围栏配备了 0.42 平方米的平台。高架平台的三种地板类型被用作处理方法：深垫料地板和开放式铁丝网地板（实验 1），以及深垫料地板和下方有粪便托盘的铁丝网地板（实验 2）。5 至 11 周龄的生长兔（n = 168；每个处理 42 只）进行了研究，基于每个星期一次的来自红外线摄像机的 24 小时视频记录（每个记录一次），应用扫描采样法，频率为 30 分钟。当平台为深垫料时，显著（P < 0.001）更多的兔子使用平台下方的区域（实验 1 和 2 分别为 53.7%和 54.3%），而留在平台上的兔子（实验 1 和 2 分别为 16.7%和 7.6%）较少。在有和没有托盘的铁丝网平台处理中，显著（P < 0.001）更多的兔子待在平台下方（分别为 43.7%和 34.7%），而留在平台上的兔子（分别为 19.5%和 29.9%）较少。与预期的 33.3%留在平台或平台下方的比例相比，差异至少达到 P < 0.05 的显著水平。结果表明，带托盘的铁丝网平台提供了最佳的环境，因为它使兔子更均匀地分布在围栏中（即平台扩大了可用的地面面积），而不会有来自上方的污染风险，不会对散热产生不利影响，并且可以在需要时寻求掩护。
