Organic Rabbit Farming: Should We Be Afraid Of Gastro-Intestinal Parasites?

Summary

Gastro-intestinal parasitism in pasture raised rabbits was studied during three seasons: winter 2014, summer 2015, spring 2016. For every season, two groups of five movable cages (3 rabbits/cage) were disposed from weaning to 100 d. old, on a sainfoin or on a grass plot. A high prevalence of Trichostrongylus sp. (93% of rabbits) and a 50% increase in the fecal excretion of oocysts was found in spring, particularly in sainfoin pasture (6.5 M. OPG) where the rotation times was shorter. No diarrhoea was observed during the trials, and at slaughter (100 d old) no intestinal macro-lesions were found, but 64% of the livers had whitish nodules (E. stiedae). Infection by Trichostrongylus sp. was negatively correlated to the daily weight gain. Fecal excretion of E. flavescens may explain partly the lower daily weight gain (-5 g/d) in spring. Our results suggested to increase the pasture rotation delay over the two months requested by organic rabbit farming regulation.