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. 
Edwards, L. E., Plush, K. J., Ralph, C. R. et al. 2019. Enrichment with lucerne hay improves sow maternal behaviour and improves piglet survival. Animals 9(8), 558.

This study investigated the effects of providing lucerne hay on the behaviour and the performance of sows housed in farrowing crates during farrowing and lactation. Seventy-two mixed parity sows received either 1 kg lucerne hay...

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...

van Staaveren, N., Hanlon, A., Boyle, L. A. 2019. Damaging behaviour and associated lesions in relation to types of enrichment for finisher pigs on commercial farms. Animals 9(9), 677.

EU legislation states that all pigs must have access to material that allows them to perform investigation and manipulation activities, thereby reducing the risk of pigs performing damaging behaviours (e.g., tail, ear and flank biting)...

Fàbrega, E. 2019. How far are we from providing pigs appropriate environmental enrichment? Animals 9(10), 721.

Limitations to the fulfilment of ethological and physiological needs can cause countless negative effects on animal welfare and lead to the development of abnormal behaviours. EU legislation on pig welfare does not allow routine tail...

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...

Glencorse, D., Plush, K., Hazel, S. et al. 2019. Impact of non-confinement accommodation on farrowing performance: A systematic review and meta-analysis of farrowing crates versus pens. Animals 9(11), 957.

There are conflicting reports regarding the effect of farrowing house accommodation on piglet performance. The aim of this investigation was to use a systematic review and meta-analyses to summarise the results of publications that focused...

Ninomiya, S. 2019. Grooming device effects on behaviour and welfare of Japanese black fattening cattle. Animals 9(4), 186.

In livestock farming, a stark or barren environment compromises animal welfare. Environmental enrichment has been used to address the issue. For this study, after fattening cattle were provided with a grooming device (a brush), its...

Larsen, M. L. V., Jensen, M. B., Pedersen, L. J. 2019. Increasing the number of wooden beams from two to four increases the exploratory behaviour of finisher pigs. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 216, 6-14.

Pigs are highly motivated to perform exploratory behaviour and must have permanent access to manipulable material according to the EU Directive 2008/120/EC. A commonly used type of manipulable material is wooden beams. The beams are...

Rosvold, E. M., Newberry, R. C., Andersen, I. L. 2019. Early mother-young interactions in domestic sows – Nest-building material increases maternal investment. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 219, 104837.

Nest building is important in sow preparation for motherhood. However, straw or other bulky materials can block drains, and a finer-grained material such as peat is of interest as an alternative. The main aim of...

Tatemoto, P., Bernardino, T., Alves, L. et al. 2019. Environmental enrichment for pregnant sows modulates HPA-axis and behavior in the offspring. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 220, 104854.

Our goal was to assess the effects of environmental enrichment during gestation on the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis (HPA) and behavior of offspring. In order to test our hypothesis, we kept 18 sows (Sus scrofa domesticus) in...

Duckett, L., Phelon, L., Wheeler, L. 2018.Three little pigs! straw, sticks and bricks: ‘I’ll blow your house down’. Animal Technology and Welfare 17(3), 201-203 (IAT Congress 2018 Poster Presentation).

In order for a scientific project involving animals to run smoothly, it is essential that the Animal Technologists have a good understanding of both the animals they are dealing with and of the project itself...

King, J. 2019. Team awesome: Why we can be proud. Animal Technology and Welfare 18(2), 127-131.

The presentation I gave at IAT Congress 2019 was based on the changes and refinements the University of Dundee, Medical School Resource Unit (MSRU) has made over the past 18 months. These changes, described in...

Moser, J., Burla, J.-B., Gygax, L. 2019. Executing specific foraging behaviours does not represent a general goal state of foraging in dry sows (Sus scrofa). Behavioural Processes 164, 115-122.

Intensively housed domestic pigs (Sus scrofa) have little opportunity to perform diverse foraging behaviour though they still seem strongly motivated to do so. Here, we investigated whether the execution of specific behaviours may in itself...

Association of Primate Veterinarians. 2019. Association of Primate Veterinarians’ Position Statement: Cerebrospinal fluid aspiration for nonhuman primates in biomedical research. JAALAS 58(4), 428-429.

The Association of Primate Veterinarians (APV) recognizes that CSF collection may be required for both clinical and research purposes in nonhuman primates (NHP). Because there are inherent risks associated with the technique, the laboratory animal...

Animal Welfare Institute. 2019. Let’s get serious about animal play. AWI Quarterly 68(3) Fall, 19.

This article describes the importance of providing laboratory animals with opportunities to engage in play, and provides a few practical ideas for how to do this.

Animal Welfare Institute. 2019. Rabbit enrichment items: Getting bang for the buck (and doe). AWI Quarterly 68(1) Spring, 24-25.

A recent discussion on the Laboratory Animal Refinement and Enrichment Forum (LAREF) focused on new enrichment ideas for rabbits. Contributors shared their experiences about which toys and treats get rave reviews from rabbits.

ur Rahman, M. A., Xia, C., Ji, L. et al. 2019. Nutrient intake, feeding patterns, and abnormal behavior of growing bulls fed different concentrate levels and a single fiber source (corn stover silage). Journal of Veterinary Behavior 33, 46-53.

Twenty-eight bulls weighing 227 ± 6.8 (SD) kg were randomly assigned to four concentrate levels (1-1.5 kg [low level of concentrate {LC}], 1.5-2 kg [medium level of concentrate], 2-2.5 kg [high level of concentrate {HC}]...

Kop Fogsgaard, K., Bertelsen, M., Winther Christensen, J. 2019. Does shelter design matter? A note on the effect of two shelter types on shelter use by cattle during winter. Journal of Veterinary Behavior 34, 18-21.

Little is known about the effect of shelter design on sheltering behavior in out-wintered cattle. In this pilot study, we explored the effects of two different shelter designs (rectangular: 50 m2 vs. hexagonal 53 m2...

Durán, E., Churio, O., Lagos, J. et al. 2019. Development of edible environmental enrichment objects for weaned pigs. Journal of Veterinary Behavior 34, 7-12.

Studies on environmental enrichment for weaned pigs have predominantly focused on stimulating exploration through “nonedible toys.” The research on edible enrichment objects is very limited. For this reason, the aim of this study was to...

Cornale, P., Macchi, E., Miretti, S. et al. 2015. Effects of stocking density and environmental enrichment on behavior and fecal corticosteroid levels of pigs under commercial farm conditions. Journal of Veterinary Behavior 10(6), 569-576.

In intensive pig farming of Western and Southern Europe, welfare concerns are still often related to barren environments and crowded conditions. Pig producers need to balance the requirements to improve welfare conditions at farm with...

Heyworth, C. 2019. Revamping porcine enrichment. Laboratory Animal Science Professional 7(3) (September), 63-65.

Pigs may exhibit stereotypic behaviors due to lack of proper mental stimulation. Stereotypic behaviors include self-inflicted wounds, biting at the pen, polydipsia, cage destruction, and loud vocalizations. These behaviors may be alleviated with proper daily...

Bogins, C., Beale, C. 2019. Conscious urine sampling and quantification from indwelling catheterization of female Yucatan swine. Laboratory Animal Science Professional 7(3) (September), 44-46.

In addition to routine diagnostic testing of urine for health status, data from urine collection is often necessary to support various nutritional, metabolic, biochemical, and physiologic studies. Collection methods can be stressful to the animal...

Bracke, M. B. M., Koene, P. 2019. Expert opinion on metal chains and other indestructible objects as proper enrichment for intensively-farmed pigs. PLOS ONE 14(2), e0212610.

EC Directive 2001/93 requires that all pigs have access to proper investigation and manipulation materials. Intensively farmed pigs in Europe are frequently provided with a short metal chain with or without an indestructible object attached...

Morgan, L., Itin-Shwartz, B., Koren, L. et al. 2019. Physiological and economic benefits of abandoning invasive surgical procedures and enhancing animal welfare in swine production. Scientific Reports 9, 16093.

Food-animal welfare is a major ethical and social concern. Pork is the most consumed meat worldwide, with over a billion pigs slaughtered annually. Most of these pigs routinely undergo painful surgical procedures (surgical castration, tail...