Farmed rabbits have significant behavioural needs that barren wire cage systems entirely fail to meet. Understanding their needs clarifies the scale of the welfare problem.
Farmed rabbit welfare in conventional wire cage systems is among the most severely compromised of any farmed species — a highly active, socially complex animal that covers kilometres daily confined to a space where it cannot take a single hop. The behavioural poverty of wire cage systems produces predictable stereotypies that document the frustration of fundamental motivational systems. The commercial infrastructure and economics of European rabbit farming have made transition to enriched systems slow. Where enriched systems have been implemented — with platform areas, gnawing enrichment, social housing, and adequate space — rabbits show dramatically different behaviour with much higher activity and exploration. The welfare case for enriched rabbit housing is clear, but consumer awareness and market pressure for change remain insufficient to drive widespread industry transition.