The group housing system for rabbit does is a new trend that considers aspects of welfare, a subject highly searched in current days. However, there is a lack of scientific knowledge that supports the production efficiency of these animals in more social systems. In order to evaluate the influence of the semi-group housing system on aspects of health, behaviour and management, 48 rabbit does were distributed in collective cages (six does per cage) or in individual cages. The aspects related to elimination rate, death, occurrenceof skin injuries, pododermatitis, dirtiness, behaviour after regrouping, location place of kits, corticosterone levels and management were evaluated. The elimination of does was mainly associated with their behaviour (P = 0.0292). It was observed high frequency of skin injuries from agonistic behaviour, mainly in first cycle. A higher frequency ofpododermatitis was observed in does from individual cages in 4th cycle. The first 30 minutes after regrouping was a critical time and the agonistic behaviour was performed mainly by dominant does. After 24 hours of regrouping, all kits were already mixed, and the does did not distinguish their own offspring for suckling. The corticosterone level was higher in the first cycle than in the fourth cycle (71,2 vs 39,8 ng/g, P=0.0001) and in general higher values were measured in the part-time system, mainly in the period before kindling. The handling time for palpation was greater in part-time systems and can contribute to the increased costs of production. In general terms, the semi group housing system negatively affected aspects of health, behavior and management, requiring further research that seeks to minimize the effects related to agonistic interactions between rabbit does.

Rabbits’ skin is considered an excellent by-product and has several purposes, such as making clothes and artifacts in general. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of the inclusion of banana peel (BP) and sweet potato vines (SPV) on the length of the fur of rabbits fed different levels of these ingredients. Twenty-five New Zealand White rabbits, of both sexes, weaned at 35 days old, were randomly distributed in individual cages, in five treatments with five replications each, in a completely randomized design. The animals received one of the following diets: control (0BP+SPV) without BP and SPV; (25BP+SPV) experimental diet with 25% BP and SPV replacing maize and alfalfa hay; (50BP+SPV) experimental diet with 50% BP and SPV replacing maize and alfalfa hay; (75BP+SPV) experimental diet with 75% BP and SPV replacing maize and alfalfa hay; and (100BP+SPV) experimental diet with 100% BP and SPV replacing maize and alfalfa hay. The biological assay lasted 49 days, where food and water were provided ad libitum. At the end of the test, a portion of hair was removed from the nape, loin and thigh region to measure the length. Means were compared through analysis of variance, followed by Tukey test (0.05). The hair length results obtained showed that there were no differences between treatments. In this way, it is concluded that it is possible to completely replace maize and alfalfa hay by the combination of BP+SPV in rabbit rations, for fur generation, without changing the characteristics of the fur.