High ambient temperature represents an increasingly frequent challenge for animal farming, especially for those animal species more susceptible to heat stress (HS), like the rabbit. The present research studied the impact of different ambient temperatures (T: 20 °C—Control vs. 28 °C—High) on the meat quality of two rabbit lines (L: Fat line, Lean line) obtained after 5 generations of divergent selection for total body fat content. After slaughter, the ground meat of 60 carcases (15 rabbits/treatment) was used for physicochemical and sensory quality evaluation. Overall, high T affected hind leg weight (p < 0.001), pHu (p = 0.001), and oxidative status (p = 0.004) during a shelf-life trial. High T increased meat haem-iron (p < 0.001), decreased lipids (p < 0.001), MUFA (p < 0.001), and PUFA classes (p < 0.001), and consequently, increased water content (p < 0.001). Regarding L effect, Fat line was richer in lipids (p < 0.001) and ash (p = 0.008), but less rich in water (p < 0.001) than Lean line. The content of all fatty acid (FA) classes was therefore significantly higher in Fat line meat (p < 0.001). It can be concluded that the two genotypes differed for proximate composition, haem-iron, FA, and amino acid profiles of carcase meat. High T increased meat pHu, water, haem-iron, and reduced polyunsaturated FA (PUFA) amount. At high T the meat of the Fat line showed higher TBARS, whereas Lean line had higher lysine content. Sensory analysis revealed that high T improved tenderness and extinguished onion off-flavour.

The study aimed to investigate adult chinchillas’ preferences when choosing between cages with different floor areas, heights, or both. The size of the cages with a larger floor area was double that of the standard-sized cages in the farms (0.25 and 0.50 m²), while their height was 2.4 times that of the standard-sized cages (0.4 and 1 m). The chinchillas (10–14 in each cohort) were housed in blocks of cages where they could move freely between the smaller and larger cages. The chinchillas’ location preferences were monitored continuously over five days using infrared video recording. The chinchillas were observed in the cages with smaller floor areas 1.9 and 2.7 times more frequently than in the larger ones (p < 0.001) during the dark (active) and light (resting) periods of the day, respectively. When the cage height was 0.4 m, they chose it 3.4 and 6.7 times more frequently, respectively, than the cage that was 1 m high (p < 0.001). When both the floor size and the height were increased, the chinchillas still favored the smaller and lower cages (p < 0.001). The study findings suggest that adult chinchillas show a preference for smaller and shorter cages when the small and large cages are not environment enrichment barren, especially during the rest period of the day, even when the floor area, height, or both are increased. In the future, it would be important to investigate different forms of cage enrichment.

This study investigated the cage size preferences of juvenile chinchillas using enclosures that allowed free choice between different dimensions. Three comparisons were tested: (1) small floor area (0.15 m²) vs. double floor area (0.30 m²) at constant height; (2) low height (0.4 m) vs. high height (1.0 m) at constant floor area (0.15 m²); and (3) small–low cage (0.15 m² × 0.4 m) vs. large–high cage (0.30 m² × 1.0 m). The juveniles consistently preferred the smaller or lower enclosures across all trials. In the floor area tests, chinchillas spent about 66–75% of their time in the small cage compartments (p < 0.001). In the height comparison, the low cage was preferred by 70% (p < 0.001). When both floor area and height were increased, the small–low cage was preferred by 79% (p < 0.001). Differences in preference were most evident during the daytime period. At night, however, cage utilization was more even. These results indicate that young chinchillas strongly prefer smaller, lower spaces. Based on these preference tests alone, simply providing larger cages (without other modifications) did not result in greater use by juvenile chinchillas. These unexpected results suggest that factors such as safety or familiarity drive juveniles to choose smaller enclosures. Further research is needed to clarify the motivation behind these preferences and to determine how best to incorporate them into improved welfare-oriented housing designs.

The effects of heat stress and feed restriction were evaluated on a total of 180 weaned rabbits divided into three experimental groups (60 animals/group): 2 groups were fed ad libitum and reared under different temperatures (20 °C – 20AD and 30 °C – 30AD), while a third group was housed under controlled temperature (20 °C) but pair-fed to 30AD rabbits, thus feed restricted (20FR). During the trial, both 30AD and 20FR groups exhibited reduced growth performance, including body weight and daily weight gain (both, P < 0.001), although feed conversion ratio improved (P = 0.016). The reference carcasses of 20FR and 30AD rabbits were lighter and leaner (both, P < 0.001) than that of 20AD rabbits, while the slaughter yield decreased only in 20FR rabbits (P = 0.001). Regarding meat physical traits, 20FR rabbits exhibited the highest pHu (P < 0.001) and the lowest total losses (P < 0.001), whereas the meat-to-bone ratio decreased in both 20FR and 30AD groups (P = 0.007). As for meat proximate composition, protein and lipid contents were lower (P = 0.008 and P = 0.0002, respectively) in 20FR and 30AD rabbits, while water content was greater (P < 0.001) compared to 20AD rabbits. At the lipid level, higher TBARS (P = 0.001) were found in both 20FR and 30AD groups. The 20FR and 30AD groups showed some differences in their carcass and meat quality traits, however the majority of changes induced by chronic heat stress were mostly attributed to the reduced feed intake.