The effect of journey time and stocking density during transport on carcass and meat quality in rabbits

450 hybrid commercial rabbits (half males and half females) at the end of their productive cycle (82 days old) were transported in cages (98x52x24 cm, length x width x height) at high or low density (75.5 kg/m2 or 49.0 kg/m2 - 15 or 10 animals per cage) on an uncovered truck for time lenghts of 1, 2 or 4 hrs. Live weight before and after transport as well as slaughter data were recordered for each rabbit. A subset of 180 carcasses were evaluated for meat quality on the basis of meat pH, colour (CIELab system), cooking loss, drip loss and shear force. As a representative of the whole carcass muscle/bone ratio, the left hind leg was separated, dissected and its meat analysed in order to determine its water, protein, ash and lipid content. Its was found that a longer journey significantly increases the live weight losses (3.3 % vs 2.0% vs 1.6 % for 4 hrs, 2 hrs or 1 hr respectively; P<0.001), as a result not only of urine and fecal losses, but also of a decrease in carcass weight (P<0.01) during the transport. Ultimate pH (pHu) was higher and pH drop lower in rabbits transported for 4 hrs compared to those transported for 2 hrs (P<0.05). Moreover, the meat from animals that had undergone the longest journey was more purple-red (P<0.05), darker (P<0.0001), and firmer when raw and showed less cooking loss than meat from those that undergone shorter journey. Transport density did not influence any of the considered parameters and there was no interaction between transport time and density.