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. 
Vindevoghel, T. V., Fleming, P. A., Hyndman, T. H. et al. 2019. Qualitative Behavioural Assessment of Bos indicus cattle after surgical castration. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 211, 95-102.

There are various methods to perform castration of cattle, but surgical castration is the most common. Although it is well documented that surgical procedures inflict pain, analgesic use is usually omitted for surgical castration of...

Gladden, N., Ellis, K., Martin, J. et al. 2019. A single dose of ketoprofen in the immediate postpartum period has the potential to improve dairy calf welfare in the first 48 h of life. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 212, 19-29.

The welfare impact of birth on newborn calves has rarely been studied. Dystocia in particular may have significant welfare costs for calves. While analgesia is sometimes provided to calves born to difficult parturition by veterinary...

O’Driscoll, K., Lewis, E., Kennedy, E. 2019. Effect of feed allowance at pasture on the lying behaviour of dairy cows. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 213, 40-46.

In temperate climates where cows are primarily managed at pasture shortages of grass could result in nutritional deficits for the cow and may have a variety of behavioural consequences. Lying behaviour is one of the...

Tuomisto, L., Huuskonen, A., Jauhiainen, L. et al. 2019. Finishing bulls have more synchronised behaviour in pastures than in pens. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 213, 26-32.

The objective of the present study was to compare the synchronisation of the lying, feeding and standing behaviour of bulls housed in an uninsulated barn and in a pasture. Dairy (Ayrshire and Holstein-Friesian) and beef...

Verdon, M., Morrison, R. S., Rault, J.-L. 2019. Sow and piglet behaviour in group lactation housing from 7 or 14 days post-partum. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 214, 25-33.

Under natural conditions, sows and piglets abandon the nest between 7 and 14 days postpartum and re-join the group. If given the choice, commercially housed sows begin to nurse piglets communally around this time. The...

Yi, R., Wang, C., Zhang, X. et al. 2019. Maternal behavior, posture change, and production performance of lactating sows housed in an enriched environment. Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science 22(3), 298-308.

This study aimed to evaluate whether adding straw to a loose-farrowing house promotes maternal functions and production. Forty-eight sows (Landrace× Large White) were housed in either a farrowing pen without straw (C, n = 24)...

Schmitt, O., O'Driscoll, K., Baxter, E. M. et al. 2019. Artificial rearing affects the emotional state and reactivity of pigs post-weaning. Animal Welfare 28(4), 433-442.

Artificial rearing involves removing piglets from their mother at seven days of age and feeding them milk replacer until weaning. Earlylife rearing conditions can influence piglets' mental development, as reflected by their emotional state and...

Viscardi, A. V., Turner, P. V. 2019. Use of meloxicam, buprenorphine, and Maxilene® to assess a multimodal approach for piglet pain management, part 1: surgical castration. Animal Welfare 28(4), 487-498.

Surgical castration of piglets is a routine procedure on commercial pig farms, to prevent boar taint and reduce aggression. This procedure is known to cause pain, yet piglets are often not provided appropriate analgesia for...

Viscardi, A. V., Turner, P. V. 2019. Use of meloxicam, buprenorphine, and Maxilene® to assess a multimodal approach for piglet pain management, part 2: tail-docking. Animal Welfare 28(4), 499-510.

Piglets on commercial pig farms are often tail-docked to reduce the incidence of tail-biting. While this is a painful procedure, piglets are often not provided analgesia or anaesthesia for pain relief. The objectives of this...

Orihuela, A., Galina, C. S. 2019. Effects of separation of cows and calves on reproductive performance and animal welfare in tropical beef cattle. Animals 9(5), 223.

Nursing a calf suppresses postpartum ovarian activity prolonging the period of anestrus. Diverse methods are used to reduce the effect of suckling; the most popular, restricted suckling, reduces the number of encounters mother-calf. Temporal weaning...

O'Connor, C., Dowling, S., Cave, V. et al. 2019. Cow lying behaviour and bedding quality changes during five weeks on a stand-off pad. Animals 9(5), 257.

Bedding quality and cow lying time were measured during five weeks in a normal farm practice (NFP) off-paddock system with no bedding refreshment. Two groups of 100 non-lactating dairy cows were compared to groups of...

Greenwood, E., van Dissel, J., Rayner, J. et al. 2019. Mixing sows into alternative lactation housing affects sow aggression at mixing, future reproduction and piglet injury, with marked differences between multisuckle and sow separation systems. Animals 9(9), 658.

Alternative lactation housing could reduce aggression when sows are mixed. We aimed to compare the effects of mixing sows in lactation (with or without piglets), at weaning or after insemination, and determine the effects of...

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...

Lambert, H., Carder, G., D'Cruze, N. 2019. Given the cold shoulder: A review of the scientific literature for evidence of reptile sentience. Animals 9(10), 821.

We searched a selection of the scientific literature to document evidence for, and explorations into reptile sentience. The intention of this review was to highlight; (1) to what extent reptile capability for emotions have been...

Ebertz, P., Krommweh, M. S., Büscher, W. 2019. Feasibility study: Improving floor cleanliness by using a robot scraper in group-housed pregnant sows and their reactions on the new device. Animals 9(4), 185.

Successful pig farming needs the best conditions of cleanliness in the housings. The present study examined for the first time whether a robot scraper usually applied in dairy farming is usable in sow housings for...

Nowland, T. L., van Wettere, W. H. E. J., Plush, K. J. Allowing sows to farrow unconfined has positive implications for sow and piglet welfare. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 221, 104872.

To reduce piglet mortality from overlay, farrowing crates confine the sow, restricting nest building activities. The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of confinement in the lead up to and during parturition...

Baeckens, S., De Meester, W., Tadić, Z. et al. 2019. Where to do number two: Lizards prefer to defecate on the largest rock in the territory. Behavioural Processes 167, 103937.

Many animals use their excrements to communicate with others. In order to increase signal efficacy, animals often behaviourally select for specific defecation sites that maximize the detectability of their faecal deposits, such as the tip...

Ede, T., von Keyserlingk, M. A. G., Weary, D. M. 2019. Assessing the affective component of pain, and the efficacy of pain control, using conditioned place aversion in calves. Biology Letters 15(10), 20190642.

Pain in animals is typically assessed using reflexive and physiological responses. These measures allow inferences regarding nociception but provide little basis for conclusions about the affective component of pain (i.e. how negatively the experience is...

Nash, C. G. R., Kelton, D. F., Vasseur, E. et al. 2019. A survey of practices implemented to improve cow comfort following an initial assessment on Canadian dairy farms. Canadian Journal of Animal Science 99(1), 107-115.

The objectives of this study were to determine the difficulty of implementing changes to improve cow comfort on Canadian dairy farms, to determine if any changes were implemented to improve dairy cow comfort following an...

Marti, S., Meléndez, D. M., Pajor, E. A. et al. 2019. Effect of a single dose of subcutaneous meloxicam before knife castration alone or combined with hot-iron branding on scrotal healing, inflammatory response, and behaviour in 2-mo-old beef calves over 42 d post procedure. Canadian Journal of Animal Science 99(1), 179-190.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of a single subcutaneous injection of meloxicam on scrotal healing, inflammatory response, and behaviour in castrated or castrated and branded beef calves for 42 d...

Lee, C. H., Yun, W., Lee, J. H. et al. 2019. Effects of artificial sweeteners on feed palatability and performance in weaned pigs. Canadian Journal of Animal Science 99(2), 307-314.

In experiment 1, a total of 30 weaning pigs were allotted to three dietary treatments to check the palatability of the dietary feed. Diet treatments were as follows: reference diets = basal diets + 0.05%...

Kelln, L., Newkirk, R. W., Smillie, J. et al. 2019. Does pellet size affect the ability of beef heifers to consume a pelleted supplement in a simulated grazing model? Canadian Journal of Animal Science 99(4), 943-950.

The objective was to evaluate pellet consumption and refusals as affected by pellet size. Six ruminally cannulated heifers were used in a replicated 3 × 3 Latin square. Heifers were individually housed and fed a...

Winn, C. B., Issa, E. B., Curcillo, C. P. et al. 2019. Daily water intake by common marmosets (Callithrix jacchus) and recommendations regarding fluid regulation. JAALAS 58(1), 16-20.

The typical daily water intake of common marmosets (Callithrix jacchus) in a research setting has not been well characterized. Because these New World primates are in demand as animal models for neurobehavioral experiments, which can...

Smith, A. A., Halliday, L. C., Lindeblad, M. O. et al. 2019. Evaluation of analgesic patches in cynomolgus macaques (Macaca fascicularis). JAALAS 58(3), 356-361.

Opioids are widely used in veterinary and human medicine to manage pain. However, there is a paucity of information in the literature regarding the pharmacokinetics of opioid transdermal patches (TDP) in NHP. Therefore, to determine...

National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2019. Care, Use, and Welfare of Marmosets as Animal Models for Gene Editing-Based Biomedical Research: Proceedings of a Workshop. The National Academies Press: Washington, DC, 122 pp.

The marmoset, a type of small monkey native to South America, is a research model of increasing importance for biomedical research in the United States and globally. Marmosets offer a range of advantages as animal...