Effects of loading methods on rabbit welfare and meat quality

The effects of different loading methods on the welfare, carcass characteristics and meat quality traits of hybrid commercial rabbits were investigated. 384 male rabbits, 82 days old, were transported from the farm to the slaughterhouse. At the farm, 192 rabbits were loaded onto the truck smoothly (S) and 192 rabbits were loaded roughly (R). The S loading method consisted of carefully placing each rabbit into the transport crates. In the R method, the loading was hurriedly and carelessly executed by the transport operator, throwing each animal into the crates fixed on the truck. Live weight before and after transport as well as slaughter data were recorded for each rabbit, and a subset of 80 carcasses were evaluated for meat quality. Blood samples from 80 rabbits were analysed for haematological and biochemical parameters. A significant neutrophilia (P < 0.001), lymphocytopaenia (P < 0.001) and an increase in serum aspartate aminotransferase (AST) (P < 0.01), alanine aminotransferase (ALT) (P < 0.001) and creatine kinase (CK) activities (P < 0.001) were recorded in all rabbits after transport, independent of the loading method. A twofold increase in serum corticosterone concentration (6.23 vs. 14.88 ng/mL; P = 0.001) was observed in all rabbits following transport. Results suggest that the stress parameters analysed were more influenced by transport and handling itself rather than by the different loading methods. The results showed that there was no adverse effect of loading method on carcass traits. Furthermore, the stress condition evidenced by haematological and biochemical parameters prior to slaughter did not affect meat quality.