Effect of environmental enrichment on behaviour performance and welfare of Newzealand rabbits

en males and ten females white NewZealand rabbits approximately 4 months of age were divided into two equal groups five females were housed separately in conventional cages (50 – 80 – 40 cm) and five males and five females were housed in enriched cages (50 – 80 – 40 cm) at the back 40 cm of the cage were raised to 80 cm in height and a box of (50 – 25 20 cm) made of wood with aroof perforaled plastic like in the bottom plate was inserted to study the effect of environmental enrichment on behavior, performance and welfare of rabbits.Results showed that, rabbits kept in the conventional cage system especially the females showed more restlessness, excessive grooming, bar-gnawing and timidity than rabbits kept in the enriched cage system, this indicates increased stress in the rabbits kept in the conventional cage system. Only few rabbits particularly the females used the box as a shelter or resting place. On the other hand, they more often used the roof of the box as a resting place. Also the rabbits indicate that rabbits kept in an enriched cage system particularly the females had better welfare and performance than rabbits kept in the conventional cage system which might be due to they had an access to shelter and a better chance of interacting and copy with the environment