Dental disease is a significant welfare concern in farmed rabbits, linked to diet and genetic selection; prevention through appropriate nutrition is achievable in progressive systems.
Farmed rabbit dental welfare is directly linked to management decisions. Rabbits require high-fiber hay consumption not just for gut health but for correct molar tooth wear — without adequate hay, cheek teeth overgrow and develop sharp edges that lacerate cheek mucosa, causing chronic pain and reduced food intake. Intensive farming systems that provide only pellets create a dental welfare problem that compounds over the rabbit's productive life. Genetic selection for rapid growth in commercial breeds has also been associated with skull conformation changes that predispose to dental problems. The welfare-positive solution — enriched housing with ad libitum hay — simultaneously addresses dental welfare and multiple other behavioral needs, making it a comprehensively better system.