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. 
Golledge, H., Richardson, C. (Eds.) 2024. The UFAW Handbook on the Care and Management of Laboratory and Other Research Animals (9th ed.). Wiley-Blackwell. 1040 p.

The latest edition of the seminal reference on the care and management of laboratory and research animals. The newly revised ninth edition of The UFAW Handbook on the Care and Management of Laboratory and Other...

Kaleel, K. L., Secoura, P. L., Muñoz-Pérez, J. P. et al. 2024. Endoscopy and rectal enema for fecal collection in wild sea turtles (Chelonia mydas, Eretmochelys imbricata) in a field setting. Zoo Biology 43(1), 55–60.

Forty-seven free-ranging sea turtles (46- Chelonia mydas, 1- Eretmochelys imbricata) were examined via novel use of an endoscopy combined with a rectal enema to obtain large fecal sample volumes. The cloaca was insufflated using an...

Contreras-Jodar, A., Varvaró-Porter, A., Velarde, A. et al. 2023. Relevant indicators of consciousness after waterbath stunning in turkeys and stunning efficiency in commercial conditions. Animals 13(4), 668.

The prevalence and inter-observer repeatability of the four most valid and feasible indicators of consciousness after waterbath stunning in turkeys were evaluated before bleeding (i.e., tonic convulsion, breathing, spontaneous blinking and vocalization) and during bleeding...

Marks, C. A., Allen, L., Lindeberg, H. 2023. Non-lethal dose-response models replace lethal bioassays for predicting the hazard of para-animopropiophenone to Australian wildlife. Animals 13(3), 472.

Para-aminopropiophenone (PAPP) is a potent methaemoglobin (MetHb) forming agent used for the lethal control of exotic carnivores and mustelids. To assess the sensitivity of Australian wildlife to PAPP we developed an in vivo assay that...

Baskir, E., Parsons, A., Elden, M. et al. 2023. Quantifying acute behavioral reactions of Bali mynas (Leucopsar rothschildi) to environmental and progressively challenging enrichment. Journal of Zoological and Botanical Gardens 4(1), 176–190.

Animals use specific behaviors and skills to overcome challenges and access resources. Environmental enrichment is provided to animals in human care to both promote species-appropriate behaviors and reduce undesired behaviors. Feather pecking in birds is...

Štrbenc, M., Kuhar, U., Lainšček, D. et al. 2023. Rehoming and other refinements and replacement in procedures using golden hamsters in SARS-CoV-2 vaccine research. Animals 13(16), 2616.

Effective vaccines are needed to fight the COVID-19 pandemic. Forty golden hamsters were inoculated with two promising vaccine candidates and eighteen animals were used in pilot trials with viral challenge. ELISA assays were performed to...

van Zeeland, Y. R. A., Schoemaker, N. J., Lumeij, J. T. 2023. Contrafreeloading indicating the behavioural need to forage in healthy and feather damaging Grey parrots. Animals 13(16), 2635.

Contrafreeloading (CFL) is a concept that describes the preference of an animal to work for food even when identical food is freely available, and reflects an intrinsic motivation to engage in foraging-related activities. However, altered...

Gardhouse, S., Beaufrere, H., Hawkins, M. G. et al. 2023. Evaluation of oral transmucosal administration of pentobarbital for euthanasia of conscious wild birds. Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science 26(1), 4–14.

This prospective study evaluated oral transmucosal pentobarbital sodium at three doses in 110 wild-caught wild birds requiring euthanasia. Birds received transmucosal pentobarbital at five (430 mg/kg), six (516 mg/kg), and seven times (602 mg/kg) the...

Mahdavi, I., Abdi-Hachesoo, B., Ansari-Lari, M. et al. 2023. Prevalence and risk factors of feather damaging behavior in companion parrots: A cross-sectional study in Iran. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 266, 106028.

A cross-sectional study was conducted to estimate the prevalence of feather damaging behavior (FDB) and evaluate the related risk factors among companion psittacine birds in Iran. For data collection, a structured questionnaire was prepared and...

Mitin, H., Idrus, Z., Meng, G. Y. et al. 2023. Effects of positive human contact on fear and physiological stress responses in Pekin ducks (Anas platyrhynchos domesticus) subjected to crating and transport. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 269, 106108.

A growing body of research shows that farm animals frequently seek and enjoy human interaction. However, there is a lack of information on how positive human contact affects ducks’ stress and fear responses. An experiment...

Schilling, A.-K., Mazzamuto, M. V., Romeo, C. 2022. A review of non-invasive sampling in wildlife disease and health research: What’s new? Animals 12(13), 1719.

In the last decades, wildlife diseases and the health status of animal populations have gained increasing attention from the scientific community as part of a One Health framework. Furthermore, the need for non-invasive sampling methods...

Lee, V. E., Arnott, G., Turner, S. P. 2022. Social behavior in farm animals: Applying fundamental theory to improve animal welfare. Frontiers in Veterinary Science 9, 932217.

A fundamental understanding of behavior is essential to improving the welfare of billions of farm animals around the world. Despite living in an environment managed by humans, farm animals are still capable of making important...

Li, W., Yan, C., Descovich, K. et al. 2022. The effects of preslaughter electrical stunning on serum cortisol and meat quality parameters of a slow-growing Chinese chicken breed. Animals 12(20), 2866.

Electrical stunning is widely utilized prior to a neck cut to induce unconsciousness in order to improve animal welfare and slaughter efficiency in the broiler production industry. However, slaughter without stunning is still very commonly...

Schwarzer, A., Erhard, M., Schmidt, P. et al. 2022. Effects of stocking rate and environmental enrichment on the ontogeny of pecking behavior of laying hen pullets confined in aviary compartments during the first 4 weeks of life. Animals 12(19), 2639.

The objective of this study was to describe the ontogeny of the severe feather pecking (SFP), gentle feather pecking (GFP), aggressive pecking (AP), and enrichment pecking (EP) of non-beak-trimmed Lohmann Brown (LB)-pullets during the first...

Hepps Keeney, C., Harrison, T. M. 2022. Euthanasia complications in non-domestic species. Journal of Zoological and Botanical Gardens 3(4), 616–623.

There are very few studies describing euthanasia complications in non-domestic species. The goal of this study was to survey veterinarians to determine what complications may commonly occur during the euthanasia of non-domestic species. An online...

Schwarzer, A., Rauch, E., Bergmann, S. et al. 2022. Risk factors for the occurrence of feather pecking in non-beak-trimmed pullets and laying hens on commercial farms. Applied Sciences 12(19), 9699.

Severe feather pecking (SFP) is a behavioral disorder, for which there are multifactorial reasons. Various aspects of pullet and laying-hen husbandry—including housing conditions, management, feeding, and genetics—must be considered, to prevent negative outcomes, such as...

Wotton, S., Grist, A., O’Callaghan, M. et al. 2021. Head-only stunning of turkeys Part 2: Subjective and objective assessment of the application of AC and DC waveforms. Animals 11(2), 286.

Electrical stunning is likely to remain an important stunning method for turkeys at slaughter. The purpose of this study is to understand the application of various waveforms of alternating current (AC) and pulsed direct currents...

Petek, M.,Çavuşoğlu, E. 2021. Welfare assessment of two free-range laying hen flocks in Turkey. Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science 24(1), 56-63.

This study aimed to determine the prevalence of keel bone deviations and feather damage of laying hens in two different free-range housing systems under commercial conditions. Both of the free-range systems had an indoor barn...

Martinic, G. 2021. Husbandry and healthcare of the Olive python (Liasis olivaceus). Animal Technology and Welfare 20(1), 44-50.

The article describes the care of the Olive python (Liasis olivaceus) including information on housing, feeding, handling, as well as the general health care of these animals. Some of the information presented is derived from...

Travain, T., Valsecchi, P. 2021. Infrared thermography in the study of animals’ emotional responses: A critical review. Animals 11(9), 2510.

Whether animals have emotions was historically a long-lasting question but, today, nobody disputes that they do. However, how to assess them and how to guarantee animals their welfare have become important research topics in the...

Schwarzer, A., Plattner, C., Bergmann, S. et al. 2021. Feather pecking in non-beak-trimmed and beak-trimmed laying hens on commercial farms with aviaries. Animals 11(11), 3085.

Severe feather pecking (SFP) is a major animal welfare problem in layers. It results in pain and injuries in the affected animal. It was the aim of this study to gain insight into the actual...

MacLellan, A., Fureix, C., Polanco, A. et al. 2021. Can animals develop depression? An overview and assessment of “depression-like” states. Behaviour 158(14/15), 1303–1353.

Describing certain animal behaviours as 'depression-like' or 'depressive' has become common across several fields of research. These typically involve unusually low activity or unresponsiveness and/or reduced interest in pleasure (anhedonia). While the term 'depression-like' carefully...

Campbell, D. L. M., Lee, C. 2021. A perspective on strategic enrichment for brain development: Is this the key to animal happiness? Frontiers in Veterinary Science 8, 720422.

Livestock animals are sentient beings with cognitive and emotional capacities and their brain development, similar to humans and other animal species, is affected by their surrounding environmental conditions. Current intensive production systems, through the restrictions...

da Silva Medeiros Elidio, H., Coelho, J. W. R., Cavalcanti Pereira da Silva, L. C. et al. 2021. Housing density and aggression in Syrian hamsters. JAALAS 60(5), 506-509.

The Syrian hamster (Mesocricetus auratus) is a solitary and naturally territorial animal, with female hamsters being more aggressive than males. This behavior makes handling difficult because they are usually housed in groups, which can lead...

Anderson, M. G., Campbell, A. M., Crump, A. et al. 2021. Environmental complexity positively impacts affective states of broiler chickens. Scientific Reports 11(1), 16966.

Affective state can bias an animal’s judgement. Animals in positive affective states can interpret ambiguous cues more positively (“optimistically”) than animals in negative affective states. Thus, judgement bias tests can determine an animal’s affective state...