Legal minimum requirements

Currently, most rabbits are still kept in cages in small groups. These cages are most often unstructured, and their floor is made from wire mesh. However, in countries like Belgium, Germany, and the Netherlands, there is a trend towards pen housing/park systems with larger groups on slatted plastic floors. In Switzerland, such systems, with the floor partially covered with litter, have been in use for some time.

Breeding does are kept almost exclusively in individual housing, in more or less structured cages/boxes. So far, there are no practicable systems for group housing of breeding does.

In general, there are few specific legal regulations throughout the EU that regulate the husbandry of rabbits. In certain countries, such as Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, Austria, and Switzerland, there are specific minimum requirements for the keeping of rabbits.

Examples for legal minimum requirements:

Apart from legal minimum requirements, there are husbandry programmes in some countries, whose requirements go beyond the minimum requirements, e.g., in organic farming. Due to feasibility problems (e.g., regarding free range housing, outdoor access, group housing of breeding does) these requirements are often lower than for other species in comparable programmes.