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. 
Kobek-Kjeldager, C., Moustsen, V. A., Theil, P. K. et al. 2020. Effect of litter size, milk replacer and housing on behaviour and welfare related to sibling competition in litters from hyper-prolific sows. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 230, 105032.

Litter sizes where piglets are supernumerary to teats leads to the practice of fostering to nurse sows or to artificial rearing systems, which is associated with compromised welfare. An alternative strategy is to leave the...

Weller, J. E., Turner, S. P., Futro, A. et al. 2020. The influence of early life socialisation on cognition in the domestic pig (Sus scrofa domestica). Scientific Reports 10(1), 19077.

Previously, the benefits of early-life socialisation on later-life social development have been reported in pigs. Here we investigated the effect of pre-weaning socialisation on the later-life cognitive ability of pigs using a range of techniques...

Camerlink, I., Chou, J.-Y., Turner, S. P. 2020. Intra-group lethal gang aggression in domestic pigs (Sus scrofa domesticus). Animals 10(8), 1287.

Intraspecific coalitional aggression is rare among all species, especially within stable social groups. We report here numerous cases of intraspecific lethal gang aggression within stable groups of domestic pigs. The objective was to describe this...

Newman, R., McKeown, S., Power, T. et al. 2020. Introducing three new males into a captive lion-tailed macaque (Macaca silenus) group. Journal of Zoo and Aquarium Research 8(3), 212-217.

The introduction of an unfamiliar animal to a new individual or group can be highly stressful for any animal. Various studies have tried to determine the best method for introducing unfamiliar animals to each other...

Greenwood, E. C., Dickson, C. A., van Wettere, W. H. E. J. 2019. Feeding strategies before and at mixing: The effect on sow aggression and behavior. Animals 9(1), 23

Hierarchy formation in domestic sows results in aggression and stress, which might be ameliorated through nutritional satiety. The effect on aggression in group housed, gestating sows provided a standard or high volume of a “standard”...

Greenwood, E. C., van Wettere, W. H. E. J., Rayner, J. et al. 2019. Provision point-source materials stimulates play in sows but does not affect aggression at regrouping. Animals 9(1), 8.

When sows are mixed into groups, hierarchies form and resulting aggression and stress can affect production and welfare. This study determined the effect of providing point-source materials on aggressive and play behaviors in gestating sows...

Wallgren, T., Larsen, A., Lundeheim, N. et al. 2019. Implication and impact of straw provision on behaviour, lesions and pen hygiene on commercial farms rearing undocked pigs. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 210, 26-37.

According to the European Union Council Directive 2008/120EC, measures to minimise the risk for tail biting shall be taken before practicing tail docking, e.g. provision of manipulable material. Still, >90% of the pigs within EU...

Grimberg-Henrici, C. G. E., Büttner, K., Lohmeier, R. Y. et al. 2019. The effect of group-housing with free-farrowing pens on reproductive traits and the behaviour of low-risk and high-risk crushing sows. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 211, 33-40.

Free-farrowing systems and group-housing systems for lactating sows are sensitive systems and require an optimal interaction of different environmental factors to be successful. The aim of the present study was to compare sows’ reproductive traits...

Naya, A., Traulsen, I., Gertz, M. et al. 2019. Is tail biting in growing pigs reduced by a prolonged suckling period? Applied Animal Behaviour Science 211, 41-46.

It was the aim of the study to investigate the effect of a prolonged suckling period and group housing before weaning on tail biting in undocked nursery pigs. To do this, experiments with three treatment...

Beisner, B. A., Wooddell, L. J., Hannibal, D. L. et al. 2019. High rates of aggression do not predict rates of trauma in captive groups of macaques. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 212, 82-89.

Socially inflicted traumas are a major concern for the management of captive groups of rhesus macaques. Rhesus macaques are the most commonly used nonhuman primate in biomedical research, and social housing is optimal for promoting...

Berg, M. R., Heagerty, A., Coleman, K. 2019. Oxytocin and pair compatibility in adult male rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta). American Journal of Primatology 81(8), e23031.

Pair housing is considered one of the best ways of promoting psychological wellbeing for caged macaques. However, incompatible partnerships can result in stress or aggression. Though previous studies have analyzed the role of variables such...

Bill, J., Rauterberg, S. L., Stracke, J. et al. 2019. Prevalence and severity of tail lesions as a possible welfare indicator for rabbit does. Animal Welfare 28(4), 511-518.

The impact of behavioural disorders on animal welfare in modern animal husbandry has been much debated. While other abnormal behaviours have been explored at length, there are a paucity of studies on tail-biting in rabbits...

Larsen, M. L. V., Pedersen, L. J., Jensen, D. B. 2019. Prediction of tail biting events in finisher pigs from automatically recorded sensor data. Animals 9(7), 458.

Tail biting in pigs is an animal welfare problem, and tail biting should be prevented from developing into tail damage. One strategy could be to predict events of tail biting so that the farmer can...

Dal Bosco, A., Mugnai, C., Martino, M. et al. 2019. Housing rabbit does in a combi system with removable walls: Effect on behaviour and reproductive performance. Animals 9(8), 528.

We evaluated the effects of two types of colony cages, in which rabbit does were always in a group (C1), and where they were in combi cages furnished with removable internal walls to allow both...

Trocino, A., Zomeño, C., Filiou, E. et al. 2019. The use of environmental enrichments affects performance and behavior of growing rabbits housed in collective pens. Animals 9(8), 537.

This study assessed the effects of an elevated plastic-slatted platform and/or a plastic hiding tube in collective pens with large group sizes (27 or 36 rabbits/pen; 16 rabbits/m2) on the performance and welfare of rabbits...

Chou, J.-Y., O'Driscoll, K., D'Eath, R. B. et al. 2019. Multi-step tail biting outbreak intervention protocols for pigs housed on slatted floors. Animals 9(8), 582.

Solutions are needed to keep pigs under commercial conditions without tail biting outbreaks (TBOs). However, as TBOs are inevitable, even in well managed farms, it is crucial to know how to manage TBOs when they...

Gerencsér, Z., Matics, Z., Szabó, R. et al. 2019. Aggressiveness, mating behaviour and lifespan of group housed rabbit does. Animals 9(10), 708.

Aggressiveness is one of the main problems in group housing of rabbit does. The aim of the experiment was to investigate the frequency of aggressiveness and mating behaviour as well as the lifespan of does...

Wallgren, T., Lundeheim, N., Wallenbeck, A. et al. 2019. Rearing pigs with intact tails—Experiences and practical solutions in Sweden. Animals 9(10), 812.

Tail biting is a common issue within commercial pig production. It is mainly an indicator of inadequate housing environment and results in reduced health welfare and production. To reduce the impact of tail biting, pigs...

Buijs, S., Muns, R. 2019. A review of the effects of non-straw enrichment on tail biting in pigs. Animals 9(10), 824.

Tail biting remains a common problem in pig production. As producers are reluctant to use straw to reduce this behaviour, we review studies on the effectiveness of other types of enrichment. Roughage, hessian sacks, compost...

Gentz, M., Lange, A., Zeidler, S. et al. 2019. Classification of pigs with tail lesions from different farrowing and rearing systems during rearing and fattening period. Animals 9(11), 949.

The aim of the present study was to classify and characterise pigs with tail lesions using a combined parameter based on the frequency and duration of tail lesions and to find out whether biologically relevant...

Finkemeier, M.-A., Oesterwind, S., Nürnberg, G. et al. 2019. Assessment of personality types in Nigerian dwarf goats (Capra hircus) and cross-context correlations to behavioural and physiological responses. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 217, 28-35.

The assessment of personality in farm animals and its relation to other behavioural and physiological traits is of growing scientific and practical interest. Therefore, the aims of the present study were first to assess the...

O’Malley, C. I., Turner, S. P., D’Eath, R. B. et al. 2019. Animal personality in the management and welfare of pigs. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 218, 104821.

Personality is defined as individual behavioral differences that are consistent over time and across contexts and is constructed from a number of underlying traits. Over the last 27 years, studies on pig personality have investigated...

Stevens, C., Hawkins, P., Lovell-Badge, R. et al. 2019. Report of the 2018 RSPCA/UFAW Rodent and Rabbit Welfare Group meeting. Animal Technology and Welfare 18(2), 81-91.

The RSPCA/UFAW Rodent (and now Rabbit) Working Group has held a one-day meeting every autumn for the last 25 years, so that its members can discuss current welfare research, exchange views on welfare issues and...

McNamara, A., Allen, L. 2019. Bottle or bowl? Feeding and dosing in juvenile Göttingen minipigs. Animal Technology and Welfare 18(2), 153-154. (IAT Congress 2018 Poster Presentation)

The Laboratory Animal Technology department at Envigo were engaged to perform a toxicity study in juvenile Göttingen Minipigs. The test compound was a human milk formula additive. Therefore, to mimic the conditions of clinical administration...

Horback, K.M., Parsons, T.D. 2019. Judgement bias testing in group-housed gestating sows. Behavioural Processes 159, 86-92.

Societal concerns about animal welfare have triggered the movement of gestating sows from individual stalls to group housing in many countries. Common methods of assessing sow welfare focus on overt physical ailments, and potentially neglect...