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. 
Ekman, L., Nyman, A.-K., Landin, H. et al. 2018. Hock lesions in dairy cows in freestall herds: A cross-sectional study of prevalence and risk factors. Acta Vererinaria Scandinavica 60(1), 47.

Hock lesions (HL) in dairy cows are a common animal welfare problem in modern dairy production with freestall housing systems, but there are no large-scale studies addressing its epidemiology in Sweden. The aims of this...

Damián, J. P., Hötzel, M. J., Banchero, G. et al. 2018. Growing without a mother during rearing affects the response to stressors in rams. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 209, 36-40.

Early maternal care contributes to the normal development of the physiological, social and emotional functions of the offspring. As sheep are a strongly gregarious species, separation and isolation of an individual from the flock provokes...

Campler, M. R., Jensen, M. B., Munksgaard, L. 2018. The effect of deep straw versus cubicle housing on behaviour during the dry period in Holstein cows. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 209, 1-7.

The present observational study assessed the effect of deep straw bedding compared to cubicles during the dry period on lying-, feeding- and agonistic behaviour in Holstein cows. A total of 74 primi- (heifers) and multiparous...

Schou, T. M., Malmkvist, J. 2018. Maternal nest building and choice of nest site are temperature dependent in mink: Parent-offspring temperature conflict? Applied Animal Behaviour Science 209, 88-98.

We investigated whether nest building and nest site preference are temperature dependent in female mink. We designed two experiments: in Experiment 1, female mink had access to unheated (7 °C, Room7C group) or heated (25...

Witaifi, A. A., Ali, A. B. A., Siegford, J. M. 2018. Stall and feed bunk stocking rates impact cows' diurnal behavior and activity in automatic milking system farms. Journal of Veterinary Behavior 24, 48-55.

High stall stocking rates have been shown to alter behavior of cows in parlor-milked systems; however, no studies have examined stocking rates for cows milked with automatic milking systems (AMSs). Therefore, we examined the influence...

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.

Foris, B., Zebunke, M., Langbein, J. et al. 2018. Evaluating the temporal and situational consistency of personality traits in adult dairy cattle. PLOS ONE 13(10), e0204619.

Recent research suggests that personality, defined as consistent individual behavioral variation, in farm animals could be an important factor when considering their health, welfare, and productivity. However, behavioral tests are often performed individually and they...

Rooke, J. A., Arnott, G., Dwyer, C. M. et al. 2017. Impact of maternal stress and nutrition on behavioural and physiological outcomes in young lambs. Animal Welfare 26(4), 403-415.

The pre-natal period is of critical importance in defining how individuals respond to their environment throughout life. Stress experienced by pregnant females has detrimental effects on offspring behaviour, health and productivity. The sheep (Ovis aries)...

Miranda, A., Pego, J. M., Correia-Pinto, J. 2017. Animal facility videoendoscopic intubation station: Tips and tricks from mice to rabbits. Laboratory Animals 51(2), 204-207.

Endotracheal intubation of laboratory animals is a common procedure shared by several research fields for different purposes, such as mechanical ventilation of anaesthetized animals, instillation of cytotoxic nanoparticles, infectious agents or tumour cells for induction...

Lemos Teixeira, D., Hötzel, M. J., Pinheiro Machado Filho, L. C. et al. 2017. Designing better water troughs: Does trough color influence dairy cows’ preference? Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science 20(2), 192-197.

Eighteen lactating dairy cows were used to elucidate their preference for green, grey, or red troughs. The herd was managed under a rotational grazing system with ad-libitum access to water until 11:30 h. For 9...

Sadiq, M., Ramanoon, S., Shaik Mossadeq, W. et al. 2017. Association between lameness and indicators of dairy cow welfare based on locomotion scoring, body and hock condition, leg hygiene and lying behavior. Animals 7(11), 79.

Dairy cow welfare is an important consideration for optimal production in the dairy industry. Lameness affects the welfare of dairy herds by limiting productivity. Whilst the application of LS systems helps in identifying lame cows...

Fournel, S., Ouellet, V., Charbonneau, É. 2017. Practices for alleviating heat stress of dairy cows in humid continental climates: A literature review. Animals 7(5), 37.

Heat stress negatively affects the health and performance of dairy cows, resulting in considerable economic losses for the industry. In future years, climate change will exacerbate these losses by making the climate warmer. Physical modification...

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...

von Keyserlingk, M. A. G., Amorim Cestari, A., Franks, B. 2017. Dairy cows value access to pasture as highly as fresh feed. Scientific Reports 7, 44953.

Many dairy cows in the developed world are now housed exclusively indoors with fewer than 5% of the 10 million lactating cows in the United States having access to pasture during the grazing season. Indoor...

Carlson, A., Allen, C., Skoumbourdis, E. et al. 2017. Cooked food for non-human primates: A discussion by the Laboratory Animal Refinement & Enrichment Forum. Animal Technology and Welfare 16(2), 124-126.

"Do any of you give cooked food like pasta, potatoes or vegetables to non-human primates? What’s your experience? Do the animals benefit from cooked food; do they like it; does it affect their health in...

Mandel, R., Nicol, C. J. 2017. Re-direction of maternal behaviour in dairy cows. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 195, 24-31.

In the milk producing industry, most aspects of maternal behaviour are discouraged, but milk production is actively maintained in the absence of the calf. The process of milk let down, is mediated, at least partly...

Van Os, J. M. C., Mintline, E. M., DeVries, T. J. et al. 2017. Motivation of naïve feedlot cattle to obtain grain and individual responses to novelty. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 197, 68-74.

Beef cattle may be fattened before slaughter using a high-energy, grain-based diet. Although previous research suggests cattle prefer grain, their motivation to obtain this feed has not been quantified. The objective of this study was...

Buchli, C., Raselli, A., Bruckmaier, R. et al. 2017. Contact with cows during the young age increases social competence and lowers the cardiac stress reaction in dairy calves. Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 187, 1-7.

Separating calf and cow within 24h after birth is common practice in dairy farms. Some dairy farmers, however, practice a rearing system in which the calves are nursed by their dam or by foster cows...

Meagher, R. K., Weary, D. M., von Keyserlingk, M. A. G. 2017. Some like it varied: Individual differences in preference for feed variety in dairy heifers. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 195, 8-14.

Motivation to explore is believed to be widespread among animals, but exploratory behaviour varies within populations. Offering variety in feed is one simple way of allowing intensively housed dairy cattle to express exploratory foraging behaviour...

Sutherland, M. A., Lowe, G. L., Watson, T. J. et al. 2017. Dairy goats prefer to use different flooring types to perform different behaviours. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 197, 24-31.

Flooring is an important component of indoor housing systems for livestock as it can impact animal hygiene and welfare. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the lying and elimination preferences of goats...

Hempstead, M. N., Waas, J. R., Stewart, M. et al. 2017. Behavioural response of dairy goat kids to cautery disbudding. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 194, 42-47.

Behavioural changes associated with cautery disbudding of female Saanen dairy goat kids were assessed. At 4±2days of age, kids were randomly assigned to one of two treatment groups: (i) disbudded with a cautery iron (CAUT...

Birch, J. M., Agger, J. F., Dahlin, C. et al. 2017. Risk factors associated with diarrhea in Danish commercial mink (Neovison vison) during the pre-weaning period. Acta Veterinaria Scandinavica 59(1), 43.

Pre-weaning diarrhea in mink, also known as “sticky kits”, is a syndrome and outbreaks occur every year on commercial mink farms in all mink producing countries. Morbidity and mortality can be considerable on a farm...

Earley, B., McNamara, J. D., Jerrams, S. J. et al. 2017. Effect of concrete slats, three mat types and out-wintering pads on performance and welfare of finishing beef steers. Acta Veterinaria Scandinavica 59(1), 34.

The objective was to investigate the effect of placing mats on concrete slatted floors on performance, behaviour, hoof condition, dirt scores, physiological and immunological variables of beef steers, and to compare responses with animals on...

Schwarzer, A., Kaesberg, A.-K., Bergmann, S. et al. 2017. Activity rhythms and use of nest boxes of juvenile mink in seminatural group housing. Journal of Veterinary Behavior 18, 13-22.

The aim of this study was to investigate the activity patterns of American mink (Neovison vison). Twenty mink from a commercial mink farm were housed in a free-range enclosure (290 m2) at the age of...

Pilatti, J. A., Corrêa Vieira, F. M. 2017. Environment, behavior and welfare aspects of dairy cows reared in compost bedded pack barns system. Journal of Animal Behaviour and Biometeorology 5(3), 97-105.

The compost bedded pack barns is a loose housing confinement system for dairy cows, which aims to provide greater comfort in the resting area. Therefore, objective of this review was to investigate the environment, behavior...