Rabbits benefit significantly from access to outdoor spaces where they can express natural behaviours including grazing, binkying and exploring, but outdoor access must be carefully managed for safety.
Outdoor access provides rabbits with the natural foraging environment they are strongly motivated to use. The ability to graze fresh grass, explore varied terrain, dig, binky and feel sun and wind represents genuine enrichment that indoor environments cannot replicate. The welfare case for outdoor access is strong, but it must be balanced against the real risks of predation, toxic plant ingestion and flystrike. Secure purpose-built runs that allow safe outdoor access while managing these risks represent the optimal solution. The welfare gain from outdoor access for rabbits that receive appropriate predator protection and daily monitoring substantially outweighs the managed risk.