Farmed rabbits are among the most intensively confined production animals. The transition from wire cages to enriched pen systems represents a significant welfare improvement being advocated across Europe.
Farmed rabbit welfare represents a significant and largely invisible welfare crisis. Hundreds of millions of rabbits spend their lives in wire cages that prevent basic natural behaviours, cause chronic physical problems, and provide no environmental complexity for animals with documented curiosity and activity needs. Wire flooring is particularly damaging — rabbit feet are not calloused and prolonged contact with mesh causes ulcerative pododermatitis, a painful and progressive condition affecting a large proportion of cage-housed rabbits. The transition to enriched pen systems with solid flooring, nest boxes, elevated platforms, and foraging opportunities addresses most of these welfare deficits and represents a genuine improvement, not merely a cosmetic change. The barrier is economic — enriched pens cost more to build and manage — and the absence of legislation means welfare improvements depend on market pressure from retailers and consumers who are largely unaware that rabbit farming exists.