The rabbit sector faces significant challenges with antimicrobial usage (AMU) and antimicrobial resistance (AMR). A focus group involving nine rabbit sector stakeholders identified key issues contributing to high AMU and the need for veterinarians’ training. Participants emphasized the lack of clear legislation, biosecurity standards, and the importance of training on best practices to reduce AMU. To address these concerns, a blended learning course for rabbit veterinarians was organized, focusing on responsible drug use to lower AMU. The course design promoted participant interaction using group exercises and online discussions. The output was an operational tool, encompassing crucial elements to reduce drug dependence, covering housing, environmental conditions, feed, reproduction, disease prevention, diagnosis, and treatments. Validated in veterinarians’ daily practices, the tool proved valuable. The tool, presented as a checklist, assists veterinarians in supporting field activities regarding proper drug use and AMR issues. It also helps farmers address knowledge gaps in breeding management and adopt biosecurity practices for disease prevention. Participants were encouraged to use the tool during farm visits and collaborate with farmers. The project presented in the manuscript is a crucial step towards the development of effective strategies for responsible AMU and AMR mitigation in the rabbit sector and beyond.

The quantification of antimicrobial usage (AMU) in food-producing animals can help identify AMU risk factors, thereby enhancing appropriate stewardship policies and strategies for a more rational use. AMU in a sample of 34 farms in the Province of Trento (north-eastern Italy) from 2018 to 2020 was expressed as defined daily doses for animals per population correction unit according to European Surveillance of Veterinary Antimicrobial Consumption guidelines (DDDvet) and according to Italian guidelines (DDDAit). A retrospective analysis was carried out to test the effects of several husbandry practices on AMU. Overall, the average AMU ranged between 6.5 DDDAit in 2018 and 5.2 DDDAit in 2020 (corresponding to 9 and 7 DDDvet, respectively), showing a significant trend of decrement (−21.3%). Usage of the highest priority critically important antimicrobials (HPCIA) was reduced by 83% from 2018 to 2020. Quarantine management, available space, water supply, animals’ cleanliness and somatic cell count had no significant association with AMU. Rather, farms with straw-bedded cubicles had lower AMU levels than those with mattresses and concrete floors (p < 0.05). In conclusion, this study evidenced a decrement in AMU, particularly regarding HPCIA, but only a few risk factors due to farm management.

This study assessed the occurrence of keel bone lesions and prominence, breast blisters, and footpad lesions at slaughtering on carcasses of laying hens in 50 commercial flocks in Italy. The effects of housing systems (enriched cages, floor system, multi-tier system), supplementary ramps, hen genotype (white vs. brown), age (≤90 vs. >90 weeks), flock size (80,000 hens), and slaughter season (spring, summer, autumn, winter) were evaluated using multivariate logistic regression with 95% confidence intervals. As for footpad lesions, compared to hens in multi-tier systems, odd ratio (OR) of occurrence was higher in floor systems (1.43) and lower in enriched cages (0.75); it increased with the slaughtering age (1.41); it was lower in white (0.41) compared to brown hens, and in medium (0.54) and big (0.47) compared to small flocks; then, it was higher in autumn (2.45) and winter (3.37) compared to spring (P<0.001). As for keel bone deviations, OR was lower in hens in floor systems (0.78) and higher in enriched cages (1.41) compared to multi-tier systems (P<0.001); it was higher in white (1.26) compared to brown hens and in medium (1.50) compared to small flocks (P<0.001); it was lower in flocks slaughtered after 90 weeks (0.84) than before and in flocks slaughtered in winter (0.70) compared to spring (P<0.001). As for keel bone fractures, OR was higher in enriched cages (1.66) compared to multi-tier systems; lower in white (0.69) compared to brown hens (P<0.001) and in flocks slaughtered after 90 weeks of age (0.69) than before (P<0.001); then OR was higher both for medium (1.69) and big flocks (1.83) compared to small flocks (P<0.001), and in winter (2.94) compared to spring (P<0.001). In conclusion, keel bone and skin lesions are important on-farm welfare indicators, with genotype and housing system playing key roles in their occurrence. Further research is needed to better understand the impacts of flock size and slaughter season on the welfare of laying hens.

The aim of this study was to compare the carcass traits and meat quality of growing rabbits reared in four types of commercially available housing systems (i.e. bicellular cages, dual-purpose cages, enriched cages and elevated pens) across three production cycles covering different seasons (i.e. autumn, winter and summer) under field conditions. The rabbits originated from 12 commercial farms (three farms per housing system) located in the Northeast of Italy and were slaughtered in five commercial slaughterhouses at a slaughter age from 71 to 90 d. Twenty carcasses per farm and cycle were randomly selected at the slaughterhouse and carcass and meat quality traits were evaluated 24 h post-mortem. The heaviest carcass weights were found in rabbits reared in enriched cages, followed by those in parks, while the lightest carcasses were found in rabbits from bicellular cages. Carcass fat and longissimus lumborum proportions were higher and hind legs proportion lower in carcasses of rabbits kept in enriched cages compared to those from the other systems. Based on significant differences for meat quality traits (i.e. pH, L*, thawing losses and shear force) among housing systems, ante-mortem stress was likely lower in rabbits from enriched cages and parks than in those from bicellular and dual-purpose cages. Nevertheless, these differences were not translated into noticeable changes in meat quality because of the small variations among housing systems. Overall, the observed differences could not be strictly and exclusively related to the enclosure in which the animals were housed, but also to other production and ante-mortem factors. The rearing season significantly affected slaughter traits, with lower slaughter and carcass weights in summer compared to winter and autumn. Despite the limit in the sample size of investigated farms, this study highlighted that under field conditions the final product quality of rabbits is not clearly distinguishable based on the housing system per se.