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. 
Verdon, M., Zegarra, N., Achayra, R. et al. 2018. Floor feeding sows their daily allocation over multiple drops per day does not result in more equitable feeding opportunities in later drops. Animals 8(6), 86.

This research studied whether floor feeding group-housed sows their daily allocation over multiple feed drops per day provides more equitable feeding opportunities in later drops. Over four time replicates, 275 sows were mixed into groups...

McGreevy, P., Berger, J., de Brauwere, N. et al. 2018. Using the five domains model to assess the adverse impacts of husbandry, veterinary, and equitation interventions on horse welfare. Animals 8(3), 41.

The aim of this study was to conduct a series of paper-based exercises in order to assess the negative (adverse) welfare impacts, if any, of common interventions on domestic horses across a broad range of...

Hawkins, P., McBride, A., Paiba, G. et al. 2018. Report of the 2017 RSPCA/UFAW Rodent and Rabbit Welfare Group meeting. Animal Technology and Welfare 17(2), 75-83. [Meeting Report]

The RSPCA/UFAW Rodent (and now Rabbit) Welfare Group held a one-day meeting on 14 November 2017 in Weybridge, UK. The first session addressed meeting animals' needs and aiming for a 'good life', with the needs...

Zomeño, C., Birolo, M., Gratta, F. et al. 2018. Effects of group housing system, pen floor type, and lactation management on performance and behaviour in rabbit does. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 203, 55-63.

This work aimed at evaluating the effects of housing system, pen floor type, and lactation management on rabbit doe and kit performance throughout a reproductive cycle, including categorization of aggressiveness and injuries. Forty multiparous pregnant...

Rosvold, E. M., Newberry, R. C., Framstad, T. 2018. Nest-building behaviour and activity budgets of sows provided with different materials. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 200, 36-44.

Domestic sows are still highly motivated to build a nest before farrowing. Many pig houses have slurry systems that do not allow use of long straw or other bulky materials that could block the drains...

Ocepek, M., Goold, C. M., Busančić, M. et al. 2018. Drinker position influences the cleanness of the lying area of pigs in a welfare-friendly housing facility. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 198, 44-51.

Understanding eliminative behaviour in pigs is a priority for designing pig facilities. Pigs prefer to lie in areas separated from where they eliminate (urinate, defecate). Welfare-friendly housing facilities include separate areas for lying (solid floors)...

Rochais, C., Henry, S., Hausberger, M. 2018. “Hay-bags” and “Slow feeders”: Testing their impact on horse behaviour and welfare. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 198, 52-59.

The temporal distribution of feeding behaviour is of primary importance in grazing herbivores. Many domestic horses are managed under conditions far removed from the natural environment. For example, restricted access to roughage may induce health...

Clay, A. W., Crane, M., Merino, R. et al. 2018. Management of weight and body condition for captive adult and aging chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes). American Journal of Primatology 80(S1), 33 (40th Meeting of the American Society of Primatologists Scientific Program, Abstract #66).

With the goal of finding a practical way to improve and/or maintain the body condition of overweight chimpanzees to promote health and welfare, several feeding protocols’ effects on chimpanzee body condition scores (BCS) were evaluated...

King, R. L., Baxter, E. M., Matheson, S. M. et al. 2018. Sow free farrowing behaviour: Experiential, seasonal and individual variation. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 208, 14-21.

Although sow confinement at farrowing is inherently stressful, farrowing crates remain in widespread commercial use. Sows adapt to their environment, however adaptation may be counter-productive if the farrowing system changes. The current study observed the...

Clay, A. W., Bard, K. A., Bloomsmith, M. A. 2018. Effects of sex and early rearing condition on adult behavior, health, and well-being in captive chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes). Behavioural Processes 156, 58-76.

Scientific evaluation of management strategies for captive species is part of the establishment of best practices for animal welfare. Here we report the effects of sex, rearing, and a sex-by-rearing interaction on adult, captive chimpanzees’...

Omidi, A., Jafari, R., Nazifi, S. et al. 2018. Potential role for selenium in the pathophysiology of crib-biting behavior in horses. Journal of Veterinary Behavior 23, 10-14.

Crib-biting is a repetitive and compulsive behavior that is characterized by “grasping a fixed object with incisor teeth and aspirating air with an audible grunt.” Little is known about etiology and pathophysiology of crib-biting behavior...

Bulens, A., Van Beirendonck, S., Van Thielen, J. et al. 2018. Rearing finishing pigs with intact tails: Do they benefit from an enriched environment? Journal of Veterinary Behavior 24, 1-8.

In an attempt to prevent tail biting in pigs, tail docking is often done. This management procedure is painful for the pigs, so the question arises whether pigs can be raised with intact tails and...

Oelke, C. A., Lourdes Bernardi, M., Raymundo Nunes, P. et al. 2018. Physiological and behavioral response of sows fed with different levels of dietary fiber during gestation. Journal of Veterinary Behavior 28, 54-57.

Efficiency is not the only goal in animal production. Nowadays, consumers are very concerned about animal welfare and can decide their preferences based on this aspect. The present study evaluated the effect of variation in...

McMahen, R., Williams, A. 2018. An easy way to trim guinea pig nails. Laboratory Animal Science Professional 6(2) (June), 39-40.

Here, we provide a few easy steps on how to trim guinea pigs’ nails.

Wilson, L. A., Miller, J. J., Work, R. K. et al. 2018. Novel diet regimen for rabbits in a compromised oral wound healing study. Laboratory Animal Science Professional 6(1) (March), 49-51.

Rabbits are known to be finicky about food and will reject it based upon several factors: odor, texture, form, or method of presentation. It can be an even greater challenge to get rabbits to eat...

Iske, C. J., Morris, C. L., Colpoys, J. D. et al. 2018. Nutrient evaluation of a pork by-product and its use as environmental enrichment for managed large exotic cats. PLOS ONE 13(9), e0202144.

North American zoological institutions typically feed ground raw meat diets to large exotic cats. These diets typically are nutritionally complete, but lack physical properties characteristic of whole prey. Lack of mastication and prey manipulation may...

Ekesbo, I., Gunnarsson, S. 2018. Farm Animal Behaviour: Characteristics for Assessment and Welfare (2nd ed). CABI, Wallingford, UK.

Completely updated and revised, and with a new author team, this second edition of Farm Animal Behaviour continues to provide essential information on normal and stereotypic behaviors in a wide variety of farm animals to...

Diana, A., Manzanilla, E. G., Calderón Díaz, J. A. et al. 2017. Do weaner pigs need in-feed antibiotics to ensure good health and welfare? PLOS ONE 12(10), e0185622.

Antibiotics (AB) are used in intensive pig production systems to control infectious diseases and they are suspected to be a major source of antibiotic resistance. Following the ban on AB use as growth promoters in...

Morfeld, K. A., Brown, J.L. 2017. Metabolic health assessment of zoo elephants: Management factors predicting leptin levels and the glucose-to-insulin ratio and their associations with health parameters. PLOS ONE 12(11), e0188701.

Screening for metabolic-related health problems can enhance animal welfare, so the purpose of this study was to conduct the first metabolic health assessment of zoo elephants and use epidemiological methods to determine how factors in...

van der Meer, Y., Gerrits, W. J. J., Jansman, A. J. M. 2017. A link between damaging behaviour in pigs, sanitary conditions, and dietary protein and amino acid supply. PLOS ONE 12(5), e0174688.

The tendency to reduce crude protein (CP) levels in pig diets to increase protein efficiency may increase the occurrence of damaging behaviours such as ear and tail biting, particularly for pigs kept under suboptimal health...

Sommerville, R., Ruiz, R., Averós, X. 2017. A meta-analysis on the effects of the housing environment on the behaviour, mortality, and performance of growing rabbits. Animal Welfare 26(2), 223-238.

Although the number of rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) produced in Europe is important, they are under-represented in welfare research. Studies on the effects of housing conditions have focused on performance and mortality. We conducted a meta-analysis...

Peric, T., Comin, A., Corazzin, M. et al. 2017. Relocation and hair cortisol concentrations in New Zealand White rabbits. Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science 20(1), 1-8.

To investigate how long relocation modified hair cortisol concentrations in New Zealand white rabbits, 19 rabbits were subjected to a change in their breeding facility at the beginning of the trial and then were kept...

Lehmann, H., Blache, D., Drynan, E. et al. 2017. Optimum drug combinations for the sedation of growing boars prior to castration. Animals 7(8), 61.

Juvenile male pigs were sedated for castration. Eight five-month old boars were sedated twice (two weeks apart) with a combination of detomidine (0.1 mg/kg), midazolam (0.2 mg/kg) and either butorphanol (0.2 mg/kg) (Group MDB, n...

Vermeer, H., Dirx-Kuijken, N., Bracke, M. 2017. Exploration feeding and higher space allocation improve welfare of growing-finishing pigs. Animals 7(5), 36.

Lack of environmental enrichment and high stocking densities in growing-finishing pigs can lead to adverse social behaviors directed to pen mates, resulting in skin lesions, lameness, and tail biting. The objective of the study was...

Nordquist, R., van der Staay, F., van Eerdenburg, F. et al. 2017. Mutilating procedures, management practices, and housing conditions that may affect the welfare of farm animals: Implications for welfare research. Animals 7(2), 12.

A number of mutilating procedures, such as dehorning in cattle and goats and beak trimming in laying hens, are common in farm animal husbandry systems in an attempt to prevent or solve problems, such as...