American Journal of Environmental Policy and Management 2015; 1(3): 51-56 Published online August 10, 2015 (http://www.aascit.org/journal/ajepm) Keywords Animal Welfare, Cage, Environment, Housing, Thermo-Comfortability Received: July 24, 2015 Revised: July 30, 2015 Accepted: July 31, 2015 Environment and Different Management Systems in Rabbit Does- A Review Wasiu Agunbiade Lamidi College of Agriculture, Ejigbo Campus, Osun State University, Osogbo, Nigeria Email address lwasiuagunbiade@yahoo.com (W. A. Lamidi), wasiu.agunbiade@uniosun.edu.ng (W. A. Lamidi) Citation Wasiu Agunbiade Lamidi. Environment and Different Management Systems in Rabbit Does - A Review. American Journal of Environmental Policy and Management. Vol. 1, No. 3, 2015, pp. 51-56. Abstract Animal welfare and productivities are products of enriched housing systems integrated with their environment in rabbits’ production. Housing designs that do not incorporate environmental modifications for rabbits in it can impair thermo-comfortability and some behavioural characteristics in them, especially at different seasons of the year in tropical climate. Housing systems with environment that may result in the best reproductive performance in rabbit may be complex and usually demands integrated management practices. One strategy that has attracted the interest of researchers is the use of different houses, some with automations and equipment, others with traditional/conventional cages, and improvised cages and underground shelter for rabbits’ rearing. Moreover, housing and managerial systems complement one another and together with seasons of rearing may directly affect weights of rabbits, their feeding systems, their productivity and litter size at birth and at weaning. The last few years have witnessed many researches in search of efficient rearing methods via natural housing systems with environmental considerations that give higher productivity in rabbits. The aim of this review is to present some of the results of these works. 1. Introduction The housing of rabbits is related to behavioural, hygienic, environmental and welfare aspects. Welfare in rabbits is the same as in other animals on the farm as it is measured in rabbits by same indicators used for other animals. Listed among others factors by [1] are the following indicators for rabbits’ welfare: Mortality: no or low (unavoidable) mortality; Morbidity: pathologies (internal diseases’, infectious factorial diseases); injuries e.t.c. Physiology: hormone levels, heart rate variation, immune reactions- the physiological parameters species- specific standard, Behaviour: ethogram, reaction to behavioural tests- species- specific behaviour and Performance (production): growth, feed conversion, fertility rate- the performance should be on a high level. Added to the above is: Environmental considerations: climatic conditions of the area; integrated housing systems; dust particles in the air; management systems; husbandmen skills e.t.c. [2] Just like all other farm animals, to reduce amount of particulate matter (PM), dust particles that can penetrate into the deeper respiratory airways, thereby compromising animals’ and human’s respiratory health, certain steps need to be taken [2, 3]. Housing management, husbandry techniques, feeding, rabbits’ stage and some environmental parameters are some of the factors to be designed and controlled by housing systems