Maternal behavior in the rabbit: hair loosening during gestation

¹ Roscoe B. Jackson Memorial Laboratory, Hamilton Station, Bar Harbor, Maine

A method is presented for determining the degree of hair loosening in the rabbit by weighing the amount of hair obtained through a standardized combing technique. The results indicate that significant hair loosening occurs during gestation in the rabbit. The time of hair loosening may vary from the 5th day prepartum to the day of parturition and in one instance the phenomenon failed to appear. The response of hair loosening is believed to be a component of the nest building-maternal behavior complex in the rabbit. The loosened body hair is used in nest construction.