Refinement Database

Database on Refinement of Housing, Husbandry, Care, and Use of Animals in Research

This database, created in 2000, is updated every four months with newly published scientific articles, books, and other publications related to improving or safeguarding the welfare of animals used in research.

Tips for using the database:

  • This landing page displays all of the publications in the database.
  • Use the drop-down menus to filter these publications by Animal Type, Setting, and/or Topic.
  • Clicking on a parent category (e.g., Rodent) will include publications relating to all the items in that category (e.g., Chinchilla, Gerbil, Guinea Pig, etc.).
  • You may also add a keyword to further narrow your search.
  • Please note that at this time, only publications dated 2010 or later (with some exceptions) can be filtered by Animal Type and Topic, and only publications dated 2020 or later (with some exceptions) can be filtered by Setting. Most publications older than 2010 can only be searched by keyword. 
de Oliveira sans, E. C., Dahlke, F., Freitas Federici, J. et al. 2023. Welfare of broiler chickens in Brazilian free-range versus intensive indoor production systems. Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science 26(4), 505–517.

We compared broiler chicken welfare in free-range (FR) and intensive indoor (IN) systems using the Welfare Quality® Protocol. Ten FR and 11 IN farms in Brazil were assessed. Results are shown as either scores ranging...

Uskenov, R., Mirmanov, A., Tretyakov, I. et al. 2023. Automatic cattle weighing on pastures with behavioral analysis during drinking. Journal of Animal Behaviour Biometeorology 11(3), e2023020.

Livestock body weight (BW) and average daily weight gain (ADG) are primary indicators of beef cattle productivity. The conventional method of weighing involves moving the cattle to a weighing location, which is labor-intensive, stressful for...

Jimenez, I. A., Craney, M. C., Painter, M. C. et al. 2023. Behavioral evaluation of laboratory-housed ferrets (Mustela putorius furo) in different enclosure sizes. JAALAS 62(5), 382–394.

The domestic ferret (Mustela putorius furo) is a common research model for infectious disease and behavioral studies. Ferrets are social animals that are commonly pair-housed. The United States has no species-specific regulatory standards for housing...

Paul, E. S., Browne, W., Mendl, M. T. et al. 2022. Assessing animal welfare: A triangulation of preference, judgement bias and other candidate welfare indicators. Animal Behaviour 186, 151-177.

To assess the welfare of captive animals, validated measures, so-called ‘welfare indicators’, are required. We used a triangulation approach to investigate the extent to which different measures converged to provide corroborating evidence of welfare. Laying...

Mainau, E., Llonch, P., Temple, D. et al. 2022. Alteration in activity patterns of cows as a result of pain due to health conditions. Animals 12(2), 176.

The main conditions and diseases considered painful in dairy cows are mastitis, lameness, calving (including dystocia and caesarean section) and metritis. The cattle literature reports that deviation from normal daily activity patterns (both increased and/or...

Rana, M. S., Lee, C., Lea, J. M. et al. 2022. Commercial free-range laying hens’ preferences for shelters with different sunlight filtering percentages. Animals 12(3), 344.

Extreme sunlight might be aversive to free-range laying hens, discouraging them from going outside. Range enrichment with artificial shelters may protect hens from sunlight and increase range use. The preferences of 34–40-week-old Hy-Line Brown laying...

Rowe, E., Mullan, S. 2022. Advancing a “good life” for farm animals: Development of resource tier frameworks for on-farm assessment of positive welfare for beef cattle, broiler chicken and pigs. Animals 12(5), 565.

There is increasing recognition that farm animal welfare standards should ensure positive welfare, as well as prevent negative welfare. Resources that are valued by an animal and that provide opportunities to engage in motivated behaviours...

Cobb, M. L., Carter, A., Lill, A. et al. 2022. Perceived importance of specific kennel management practices for the provision of canine welfare. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 249, 105591.

There is public interest for the welfare of dogs that spend at least part of their lives housed in kennel facilities, such as working, shelter and sporting dogs. The impacts of living in environments that...

Mels, C., Niebuhr, K., Futschik, A. et al. 2022. Predictors for plumage damage and bloody lesions indicative of feather pecking in pullets reared in aviaries. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 250, 105607.

Feather pecking remains a serious problem in poultry farming. This study aimed to identify risk factors for plumage damage as a proxy for feather pecking, and the predictive value of practical animal-based parameters. Data were...

Hopper, L. M., Lake, B. R., Leinwand, J. G. et al. 2022. Assessing chimpanzees’ fluency of movement: Applications for monitoring health and welfare. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 250, 105612.

With age, primates’ activity levels and ease of movement may decline and changes in locomotory behaviour may reflect changes in health. Thus, developing quick and reliable measures of movement has important applications for measuring recovery...

Onbaşılar, E. E. 2022. Effect of alternative litter materials on the behaviour of male broilers. Behavioural Processes 195, 104566.

The welfare of broilers is strongly dependent on the litter material because they spend their life in contact with it. The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of alternative litter materials on...

Kalnins, L., Krüger, O., Krause, E. T. 2022. Plumage and fat condition scores as well-being assessment indicators in a small passerine bird, the zebra finch (Taeniopygia guttata). Frontiers in Veterinary Science 9, 791412.

The well-being of animals kept by humans in laboratories, farms, or as pets should always be of the highest importance, and a prerequisite for this is adequate housing. To assess the potential indicators for animal...

Janavaris, M., Bader, L., Hansen, J. J. et al. 2022. Bedding as an enrichment strategy in group-housed Mauritian cynomolgus macaques (Macaca fascicularis). JAALAS 61(2), 159-164.

The research community is committed to improving the well-being of nonhuman primates by providing opportunities to express species-specific behaviors such as foraging. In the wild, macaques spend a large part of their day foraging; this...

Stephenson, E., Haskell, M. J. 2022. The use of a “go/go” cognitive bias task and response to a novel object to assess the effect of housing enrichment in sheep (Ovis aries). Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science 25(1), 62-74.

It is widely acknowledged that environmental enrichment can improve animals’ welfare and emotional state. This study used cognitive bias and response to a novel object to assess the effect of enriched housing on emotional state...

Stammen, R. L., Cohen, J. K., Connor-Stroud, F. R. et al. 2022. Enhancing animal welfare by providing custom caging space for nonhuman primates. Laboratory Animal Science Professional 10(1) (January/February), 20-23.

The YNPRC recently renovated two NHP housing areas with a novel facility design and equipped with a customized caging system that offers additional outdoor access, socialization, and enrichment opportunities for NHPs assigned to infectious disease...

Buckmaster, C. L., Levesque, D., LaFollette, M. et al. 2022. Five hot topics in refinement of nonhuman primate neuroscience research. Laboratory Animal Science Professional 10(1) (January/February), 24-26.

Members of the North American 3Rs Collaborative (NA3RsC) refinement initiative have chosen to summarize developments in five hot topics of interest: 1. Tips for welfare-friendly transport, chairing, and restraint; 2. Guidance on refining food and...

Ahmadi, F., Ghasemi, E., Alikhani, M. et al. 2022. Effects of group housing and incremental hay supplementation in calf starters at different ages on growth performance, behavior, and health. Scientific Reports 12(1), 3190.

The present study examined the effects of age at group housing and age at incremental hay supplementation in calf starters from 7.5 to 15% (dry matter, DM) and their interaction on growth performance, behavior, health...

Thompson, J. S., Hudson, C. D., Huxley, J. N. et al. 2022. A randomised controlled trial to evaluate the impact of indoor living space on dairy cow production, reproduction and behaviour. Scientific Reports 12(1), 3849.

As a global society, we have a duty to provide suitable care and conditions for farmed livestock to protect animal welfare and ensure the sustainability of our food supply. The suitability and biological impacts of...

Alejandro, J., Huffman, M. A., Bercovitch, F. B. 2022. Costs and benefits of living in a vegetated, compared with non‐vegetated, enclosure in male Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata). Zoo Biology 41(2), 97-107.

Improving captive environments for primates has been an important tool to enhance animal welfare. One method has been to provide primates with naturalistic vegetated enclosures to promote species-specific behaviors, enhancing interactions with their social and...

Clay, A. W., Crane, M. M., Bloomsmith, M. A. 2022. Weight management towards physiological and behavioral wellbeing for chimpanzees living under human care. Zoo Biology 41(3), 200-217.

Across a period of 54 months, several changes were made to the feeding protocols of 32 adult chimpanzees living at the Yerkes National Primate Research Center Field Station. Before implementing any changes in diet, baseline...

Dell'Anna, F., Schino, G., Aureli, F. 2022. Anxiety in Geoffroy's spider monkeys (Ateles geoffroyi): Can scratching be used as an indicator? American Journal of Primatology 84(6), e23373.

Self-directed behavior, such as self-scratching (hereafter, scratching), occurs in several taxa across the animal kingdom, including nonhuman primates. There is substantial evidence that scratching is an indicator of anxiety-like emotions in a variety of nonhuman...

Dancer, A. M. M., Díez-León, M., Bizley, J. K. et al. 2022. Housing and environmental enrichment of the domestic ferret: A multi-sector survey. Animals 12(9), 1065.

Ferrets (Mustela putorius furo) are kept and used in multiple sectors of society, but little is known about how they are housed and what environmental enrichment (EE) they may benefit from. We aimed to help...

Knaebe, B., Weiss, C. C., Zimmermann, J. et al. 2022. The promise of behavioral tracking systems for advancing primate animal welfare. Animals 12(13), 1648.

Recent years have witnessed major advances in the ability of computerized systems to track the positions of animals as they move through large and unconstrained environments. These systems have so far been a great boon...

Witkowska, D., Ponieważ, A. 2022. The effect of housing system on disease prevalence and productive lifespan of dairy herds—A case study. Animals 12(13), 1610.

Selected technological solutions can impact health status of animals. The aim of this case study was to determine the effect of different housing systems on disease prevalence and the productive lifespan of dairy cows. In...

Campbell, A. M., Johnson, A. M., Persia, M. E. et al. 2022. Effects of housing system on anxiety, chronic stress, fear, and immune function in Bovan brown laying hens. Animals 12(14), 1803.

The scientific community needs objective measures to appropriately assess animal welfare. The study objective was to assess the impact of housing system on novel physiological and behavioral measurements of animal welfare for laying hens, including...