Rabbits are farmed in vast numbers for meat and fur, often in conditions that severely restrict their natural movement and behavioral repertoire — but higher-welfare alternatives are gaining ground.
Conventional rabbit farming imposes severe welfare costs. Rabbits are highly active, social prey animals with strong motivations to run, burrow, hide, and forage — all behaviors made impossible in wire cages. The physical consequences are equally serious: wire flooring causes pododermatitis on feet; isolation from natural diet causes cecotrope mismanagement; reproductive pushing causes metabolic disease in does. The good news is that enriched colony systems are commercially viable and have been demonstrated across several European countries. These systems allow locomotion, social grouping (with careful management of aggression), and substrate exploration. Consumer and retailer pressure — particularly from food service companies committing to higher-welfare rabbit sourcing — has driven meaningful industry change in Europe.