Intensive farming and animal production are facing a crisis of legitimacy due to the use of pesticides, antibiotics and the lack of respect for animal needs. In contrast, organic agriculture and agroforestry systems are models contributing to a more sustainable agriculture. Organic farming bans the use of synthetic inputs, and agroforestry combining trees and animals provides various ecosystem services, among which nutrient cycling. However, those systems are not well developed nor studied. To fill this gap, we designed an organic agroforestry system to raise a small herbivore – the rabbit – in an apple orchard (AO) and evaluated the benefits and limits of this association for both plants (weeding, fertilisation and sanitation) and animals (food, microclimate, protection against predation and welfare). We started by designing prototypes relevant to this association that were improved following the proposals of farmers made during a workshop. We obtained a functional system: mobile-pens (18 m2 for 6 rabbits) placed within the apple tree rows after leaf fall. We then tested this association with 144 rabbits divided in two groups (72 in the AO and 72 in a grassland (GL) with no trees), resulting in three combinations: rabbits with apple trees, rabbits without apple trees, and apple trees without rabbits. Compared to GL, rabbits in the AO had a more propitious microclimate (thermal amplitude: 11.6 vs 13.1 °C), ingested a similar amount of grass (39 vs 36 g of dry matter/rabbit/day) and pelleted feed (147 vs 154 g/rabbit/day) and grew alike (33 vs 32 g/day). Moreover, rabbits in the AO ingested 58 g of apple/ rabbit/day. There was no predation, but one rabbit died of myxomatosis at the AO. Besides the weeding service (bare ground in one week), rabbits gnawed 35 out of 215 trees, despite the presence of physical protection. This association worked well in the autumn: little orchard management, plenty of food resources and mild weather for rabbits. Data on soil fertility and rabbit hair cortisol are under analysis. Globally AO and GL improved the welfare of rabbits, as we observed behaviours (grazing, hopping, digging, etc.) not expressed in caged systems.