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. 
Tahamtani, F. M., Riber, A. B. 2020. The effect of qualitative feed restriction in broiler breeder pullets on fear and motivation to explore, Applied Animal Behaviour Science 228, 105009.

Restrictively fed broiler breeders are known to have increased motivation to explore and reduced fearfulness because hunger increases the motivation to search for and to acquire food, forcing the birds to face and engage with...

Soliman, F. N. K., El-Sabrout, K. 2020. Light wavelengths/colors: Future prospects for broiler behavior and production. Journal of Veterinary Behavior 36, 34-39.

Assessing animal welfare is necessary from animal behavior and product quality/quantity perspectives. Birds have a unique visual system and see in the range of 315-750 nm. Most of their behavior is mediated by vision. Lighting...

Yamahachi, H., Zai, A. T., Tachibana, R. O. et al. 2020. Undirected singing rate as a non-invasive tool for welfare monitoring in isolated male zebra finches. PLOS ONE 15(8), e0236333.

Research on the songbird zebra finch (Taeniopygia guttata) has advanced our behavioral, hormonal, neuronal, and genetic understanding of vocal learning. However, little is known about the impact of typical experimental manipulations on the welfare of...

Kneeland, M. R., Spagnuolo, V. A., Evers, D. C. et al. 2020. A novel method for captive rearing and translocation of juvenile common loons. Zoo Biology 39(4), 263–270.

Common loons (Gavia immer) are diving waterbirds that are particularly challenging to keep in captivity due to their specific behavioral and physiologic needs, special housing requirements, and susceptibility to stress‐related disease. We report a novel...

Brown, M. E., Torkelson, M. R., Olsen, G. H. et al. 2020. Comparison of fecal glucocorticoid metabolite concentrations in hand‐ versus parent‐reared whooping cranes (Grus americana). Zoo Biology 39(4), 276–280.

Endangered whooping cranes (Grus americana ) have been produced in captivity for reintroduction programs since the 1980s, using techniques such as artificial insemination, multiple clutching, and captive‐rearing to speed recovery efforts. Chicks are often hand‐reared...

Bari, M. S., Downing, J. A., Dyall, T. R. et al. 2020. Relationships between rearing enrichments, range use, and an environmental stressor for free-range laying hen welfare. Frontiers in Veterinary Science 7, 480.

Enrichments during pullet rearing may improve adaptation and welfare of hens as they move from indoor rearing to a free-range system. Individual variation in outdoor ranging may also affect welfare. This study assessed the effects...

Tahamtani, F. M., Moradi, H., Riber, A. B. 2020. Effect of qualitative feed restriction in broiler breeder pullets on stress and clinical welfare indicators. Frontiers in Veterinary Science 7, 316.

The feed restriction applied during rearing of broiler breeders inflicts chronic hunger, and frustration due to unfulfilled behavioural needs for feeding. To alleviate the welfare problems associated with feed restriction, qualitative feed restriction allows a...

Nordquist, R. E., Zeinstra, E. C., Dougherty, A. et al. 2020. Effects of dark brooder rearing and age on hypothalamic vasotocin and feather corticosterone levels in laying hens. Frontiers in Veterinary Science 7, 19.

Chickens cannot independently thermoregulate at hatch and lack opportunity to behaviorally thermoregulate with a hen in the egg layer industry, thus barns are heated to thermoneutral temperatures. Dark brooders are low-energy-consuming hot plates, which may...

Stracke, J., Klotz, D., Wohlsein, P. et al. 2020. Scratch the surface: Histopathology of foot-pad dermatitis in turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo). Animal Welfare 29(4), 419-432.

Foot-pad dermatitis (FPD) is an important indicator of animal welfare in turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo). The present study aimed to evaluate the reliability and validity of a commonly used five-point visual score (VC), assessing FPD based...

Augustin, A. J., Crabbs, M. A., Sour, M. C. et al. 2020. Efficient, effective, reusable, and customizable social housing for chickens in the laboratory. Laboratory Animal Science Professional 8(5) (September/October), 56-58.

The Iowa State University Laboratory Animal Resources Department needed caging specifically designed and purposed to socially house chickens in the laboratory. As indoor housing requests for chickens increased, the need for a dedicated caging system...

Acharya, R., Rault, J.-L. 2020. Risk factors for feather-damaging behavior in companion parrots: A social media study. Journal of Veterinary Behavior 40, 43-49.

Studies on the etiology of behavioral problems often involve interference in the animal's routine or reliance on owners' self-reports like surveys. Gathering data from videos posted on social media, a technique coined ‘video mining’, offers...

Chapa, J. M., Maschat, K., Iwersen, M. et al. 2020. Accelerometer systems as tools for health and welfare assessment in cattle and pigs – A review. Behavioural Processes 181, 104262.

Welfare assessment has traditionally been performed by direct observation by humans, providing information at only selected points in time. Recently, this assessment method has been questioned, as ‘Precision Livestock Farming’ technologies may be able to...

Gebhardt-Henrich, S. G., Jordan, A., Toscano, M. J. et al. 2020. The effect of perches and aviary tiers on the mating behaviour of two hybrids of broiler breeders. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 233, 105145.

Broiler breeders are kept for the production of fertile eggs. They face serious welfare problems like aggressive behaviour of the males towards females during mating. Furthermore, broiler breeders are usually kept without perches which are...

Ipema, A. F., Gerrits, W. J. J., Bokkers, E. A. M. et al. 2020. Provisioning of live black soldier fly larvae (Hermetia illucens) benefits broiler activity and leg health in a frequency- and dose-dependent manner. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 230, 105082.

Fast-growing broilers spend most their time inactive and are therefore prone to experience leg problems. Environmental enrichment that facilitates intrinsically motivated behaviours can potentially promote activity and reduce leg problems, thereby improving broiler welfare. A...

Liu, Z., Torrey, S., Newberry, R. C. et al. 2020. Play behaviour reduced by environmental enrichment in fast-growing broiler chickens. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 232, 105098.

The objective of this study was to evaluate effects of environmental enrichment on play behaviour in fast-growing broiler chickens. Chicks (19 of each sex) were randomly assigned to 6 non-enriched (NE) pens and 6 pens...

Meyer, M. M., Johnson, A. K., Bobeck, E. A. 2020. Development and validation of broiler welfare assessment methods for research and on-farm audits. Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science 23(4), 433-446.

Required auditing of on-farm broiler welfare in the United States has increased; however, a lack of validated tools exists for assessment of enrichment. National Chicken Council (NCC) guidelines were used on a subset of 300...

Moroki, Y. 2020. Impact of flooring type on the sham dustbathing behaviour of caged laying hens. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 230, 105066.

Feed particles are preferred for foraging and they are also a stimulus for sham dustbathing. Most sham dustbathing bouts start with bill raking in the feed by caged hens. As hens often exhibit a floor...

Ross, M., Rausch, Q., Vandenberg, B. et al. 2020. Hens with benefits: Can environmental enrichment make chickens more resilient to stress? Physiology Behavior, 226, 113077.

Resilience, the degree to which individuals are physiologically and behaviourally impacted by stressors, can be enhanced by positive experiences (e.g. positive moods in human, environmental enrichment in rodents). Such effects are important for human health...

Bari, M. S., Downing, J. A., Dyall, T. R. et al. 2020. Relationships between rearing enrichments, range use, and an environmental stressor for free-range laying hen welfare. Frontiers in Veterinary Science 7, 480.

Enrichments during pullet rearing may improve adaptation and welfare of hens as they move from indoor rearing to a free-range system. Individual variation in outdoor ranging may also affect welfare. This study assessed the effects...

Campbell, D. L. M., Dyall, T. R., Downing, J. A. et al. 2020. Rearing enrichments affected ranging behavior in free-range laying hens. Frontiers in Veterinary Science 7, 446.

Within Australia, free-range systems are prevalent, but pullets destined for range access are reared indoors. This mismatch between rearing and layer housing may hinder adaptation to the free-range environment. Rearing enrichments could enhance pullet development...

Fanning, L., Larsen, H., Taylor, P. S. 2020. A preliminary study investigating the impact of musical concerts on the behavior of captive Fiordland penguins (Eudyptes pachyrhynchus) and collared peccaries (Pecari tajacu). Animals 10(11), 2035.

Captive animal welfare is important for establishments that exhibit species for education, conservation, and research. However, captive animals are often exposed to a number of potential stressors, such as visitors and anthropogenic noise. We aimed...

Gent, T. C., Gebhardt-Henrich, S., Schild, S.-L. A. et al. 2020. Evaluation of poultry stunning with low atmospheric pressure, carbon dioxide or nitrogen using a single aversion testing paradigm. Animals 10(8), 1308.

Low atmospheric pressure stunning (LAPS) has been suggested for use in poultry under 4 kg in the abattoir as a more humane alternative to carbon dioxide (CO2). However, there are currently no studies offering a...

Jung, L., Brenninkmeyer, C., Niebuhr, K. et al. 2020. Husbandry conditions and welfare outcomes in organic egg production in eight European countries. Animals 10(11), 2102.

In the European research project HealthyHens, welfare indicators as well as husbandry and management conditions were recorded in 107 organic laying hen farms in eight countries. Farms were visited at peak and end of lay...

Miller, L. J., Vicino, G. A., Sheftel, J. et al. 2020. Behavioral diversity as a potential indicator of positive animal welfare. Animals 10(7), 1211.

Modern day zoos and aquariums continuously assess the welfare of their animals and use evidence to make informed management decisions. Historically, many of the indicators of animal welfare used to assess the collection are negative...

Monckton, V., Ellis, J. L., Harlander-Matauschek, A. 2020. Floor substrate preferences of chickens: A meta-analysis. Frontiers in Veterinary Science 7, 584162.

Environmental enrichment promotes sensory and motor stimulation for species-typical behaviors, which in turn enhance animal well-being. For farmed Galliformes, housing systems often limit enrichment to bedding and litter, that simultaneously act as material for dustbathing...