JONGBO, Ayoola Olawole. Alternative small-scale rabbit hutch and its environmental monitoring using internet of things (IoT) based sensors. []. , 15, 2, e03.   22--2024. ISSN 2027-4297.  https://doi.org/10.24188/recia.v15.n2.2023.971.

Rabbits are easily affected by heat stress which could be linked to inappropriate housing systems. Most rabbit growers hardly have a standard housing system for their rabbits. They used any design they considered to house the rabbits because they do not have access to appropriate housing designs for the rabbits. An appropriate housing system should adequately consider animal welfare; space requirements per rabbit and the height of the cage. Therefore, the objective of this study was to develop a rabbit hutch suitable for humid tropical climates and to evaluate the thermal conditions, heat stress index and the total heat production of rabbits subjected to hot weather conditions. A hutch was developed and tested. The thermal conditions of the hutch were evaluated using internet of thing (IoT) based sensors. The result showed that the indoor air temperature of the hutch was 23.79 % lower than that of the outdoor and the indoor relative humidity of 74.07 % higher than that of the outdoor. It was also discovered that with a unit increase in heat stress index, there could be an increase of 1.342 kW in the total heat production of rabbits. With the rabbit hutch in this study, there is a possibility for rabbits not to be subjected to heat stress during hot weather conditions since the indoor air temperature was significantly minimised. The hutch was developed at a total cost of two hundred and twenty-eight US dollars ($228.00).

: Air temperature; Air relative humidity; Total heat production; Humid tropical climate; Rabbit housing design; DHT sensors; Heat stress index.

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