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. 
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...

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...

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%...

Costa, J. H. C., Cantor, M. C., Adderley, N. A. et al. 2019. Key animal welfare issues in commercially raised dairy calves: social environment, nutrition, and painful procedures. Canadian Journal of Animal Science 99(4), 649-660.

Dairy calf welfare concerns are growing and new evidence suggests that the early life environment influences appropriate physical, behavioral, and cognitive development lasting into adulthood. This review highlights key evidence for the impacts of housing...

Musk, G. C., Kershaw, H., He, B. 2019. Multiple refinements to the anaesthetic protocol for laparoscopic orthotopic kidney auto-transplantation in a pig model. Laboratory Animals 53(1), 72–78.

Fifty-four pigs (Sus scrofa, Large White cross) from a commercial pig farm were anaesthetised over a six-year period from October 2011. The procedural stages included initial instrumentation for intra-operative monitoring, laparoscopic nephrectomy, preparation of the...

Middelkoop, A., Costermans, N., Kemp, B. et al. 2019. Feed intake of the sow and playful creep feeding of piglets influence piglet behaviour and performance before and after weaning. Scientific Reports 9, 16140.

Creep feed intake is variable and may be partly homeostatically and exploratory driven. We studied effects of maternal feed restriction and a ‘play-feeder’ on piglet behaviour and performance. 37 Litters received creep feed in a...

Schoos, A., Devreese, M., Maes, D. G. 2019. Use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs in porcine health management. Veterinary Record 185(6), 172.

Objective: Treatment of inflammation and pain management is an important topic in the welfare of pigs. It is very difficult for veterinary practitioners to choose the most appropriate product for a certain problem. This review...

Hill, R. L., Huskisson, S. M., Weigel, E. et al. 2019. Growth rates of juvenile Boa constrictor under two feeding regimes. Zoo Biology 38(2), 209-213.

Many husbandry routines in zoo herpetology are based on tradition, authoritarianism, anecdote, or speculation. However, relatively few empirical studies underlie many very common practices. We compared growth rates among littermates of Boa constrictor raised under...

Kallio, P. A, Janczak, A. M., Valros, A. E. et al. 2018. Case control study on environmental, nutritional and management-based risk factors for tail-biting in long-tailed pigs. Animal Welfare 27(1), 21-34.

A case control study with a questionnaire was carried out to compare feeding practices, diet composition, housing and management in 78 herds with or without a history of tail-biting in undocked pigs (Sus scrofa) in...

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...

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...

Backus, B. L., McGlone, J. J. 2018. Evaluating environmental enrichment as a method to alleviate pain after castration and tail docking in pigs. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 204, 37-42.

Castration and tail docking are common management practices performed on commercial swine farms in the US and around the world to reduce adverse behaviors and the occurrence of boar taint. However, these practices themselves are...

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)...

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...

Naik, R., Witzel, A., Albright, J. D. et al. 2018. Pilot study evaluating the effect of feeding method on overall activity of neutered indoor pet cats. Journal of Veterinary Behavior 25, 9-13.

Indoor housing of cats is associated with a higher incidence of multiple diseases, including obesity. Increased exercise is often recommended as a method of creating or increasing the negative energy balance required for weight loss...

Villeneuve-Beugnet, V., Beugnet, F. 2018. Field assessment of cats' litter box substrate preferences. Journal of Veterinary Behavior 25, 65-70.

Cats living inside a home without any possibility of outdoor access have to defecate in a litter box. To suit the cats' needs, several recommendations seem to be agreed upon. The litter box has to...

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...

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...

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...

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...