A critical appraisal of rabbit preslaughter conditions in a commercial production chain

A study was conducted in order to assess the preslaughter conditions of rabbits in a commercial chain and to determine the effect of the season, journey (short: <220 min; medium: 220-320 min; long: >320 min) and lairage (short: <134 min; medium: 134-235 min; long: >235 min) on mortality, live weight loss, slaughter yield and carcass quality. A total of 831 flocks (average of 2,207 rabbits/flock) from 79 farms of 9-12 weeks-old growing rabbits shipped for slaughtering during the year 2006 towards a major Italian abattoir was considered. Transport and lairage at abattoir of the rabbits were mainly conducted during the night and early morning. The overall average of mortality rate and live weight loss were found to be 0.082 and 3.39%, respectively. As for carcass evaluation, incidence of downgraded and condemned carcasses were 0.40 and 0.46%, respectively, while bruised carcass level was 2.22%. During the winter, it was observed lower (P<0.01) live weight loss (3.12%), while carcass yield (57.9%) was higher (P<0.01) during the summer. The shortest transport time (<220 min) exhibited lower mortality rate (0.053 vs. 0.080 vs. 0.113%; P<0.01) and live weight loss (2.43 vs. 3.47 vs. 4.26%; P<0.01) as well as higher slaughter yield (58.0 vs. 57.3 vs. 57.0%; P<0.01) in respect with medium and long transport times. Flocks laired for less than 150 min also exhibited a significantly lower mortality rate (0.065 vs. 0.075 vs. 0.105%; P<0.01) and higher carcass yield (57.8 vs. 57.4 vs. 57.1%; P<0.01) if compared to medium and long lairage times. Carcass bruising had the higher (P<0.01) incidence during the summer in respect with other seasons, while downgraded carcasses prevalence was higher (P<0.05) during the autumn. Longer journeys determined a higher (P<0.01) incidence of bruised carcasses, but did not influence downgraded and condemned carcass rates. This study has shown that the preslaughter conditions of the rabbits in a commercial integrated chain production are rather satisfying as a consequence of the effective coordination of transport and lairage based on slaughtering daily programme. Main critical points are represented by long transport and lairage which can impair mortality rate, slaughtering yields and carcass quality. On the other hand, a minor role is played by the season probably because transport was mainly conducted during the night and early morning moderating the effect of high temperatures during the summer.