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. 
Erwin, J., Anderson, B., Erwin, N. et al. 1976. Aggression in captive pigtail monkey groups: Effects of provision of cover. Perception and Motor Skills 42, 319-324.

To assess the influence of provision of "cover" on aggressive behavior in captive nonhuman primate groups, concrete cylinders were introduced into rooms in which six groups of pigtail monkeys resided. Basal incidence of aggression was...

Elvidge, H., Challis, J. R. G., Robinson, J. S. et al. 1976. Influence of handling and sedation on plasma cortisol in rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta). Journal of Endocrinology 70, 325-326.

The present study shows that it is possible by long-term regular training to achieve mean cortisol values which are significantly lower than in untrained or anaesthetized animals.

Werner, C., Anderson, D. F. 1976. Opportunity for interaction as reinforcer in a T-maze. Personality & Social Psychology Bulletin 2, 166-169.
Weiss, J. M., Pohorecky, L. A., Salman, S. et al. 1976. Attenuation of gastric lesions by psychological aspect of aggression in rats. Journal of Comparative and Physiological Psychology 90, 252-259.

In a study with 80 male albino rats, Ss that fought with each other in response to electric shock showed reduced gastric lesions in comparison with Ss that received the same shocks alone so that...

Van Putten, G., Dammers, J. 1976. A comparative study of the well-being of piglets reared conventionally and in cages. Applied Animal Ethology (Applied Animal Behaviour Science) 2, 339-356.

This study is a comparison between two types of housing for piglets: one type including a great variety of stimuli and which can therefore be called a rich environment, the other type apparently being monotonous...

Thompson, C. I. 1976. Growth in the Hubbard broiler: Increased size following early handling. Developmental Psychobiology 9, 459-464.

Regular gentle handling at a young age resulted in improved growth rate.

Sefton, A. E. 1976. The interactions of cage size, cage level, social density, fearfulness and production of Single Comb White Leghorns. Poultry Science 55, 1922-1926.

Hens housed in the top row of a double-tier caging system appeared more fearful than those caged in the bottom row.

Roper, T. J. 1976. Sex differences in circadian wheel running rhythms in the Mongolian gerbil. Physiology and Behavior 17, 549-551.

Gerbils run up to 8 km/24 h in running wheels.

Pfister, H. P., King, M. G. 1976. Adaptation of the glucocorticosterone response to novelty. Physiology and Behavior 17, 43-46.

Novelty of the environment is a powerful stimulus to activate the pituitary-adrenal axis. With respect to adaptation of the response to the novel environment, the present findings suggest that more than 2 hr and up...

Pfaff, J., Stecker, M. 1976. Loudness level and frequency content of noise in the animal house. Laboratory Animals 10, 111-117.

For a proper evaluation of the physical environment of laboratory animals we should know the loudness level (dB) and frequency (Hz) content of the noise in the animal house (Pfaff, 1974). Physical measurements are necessary...

Pearson, R. A., Mellor, D. J. 1976. Some behavioral and physiological changes in pregnant goats and sheep during adaptation to laboratory conditions. Research in Veterinary Science 20, 215-217.

Tame sheep and goats have more normal serum concentrations of cortisol than untame animals. They also do not show elevations in heart rates and plasma cortisol concentrations when they are handled. The adjustment to the...

Norris, M. L., Adams, C. E. 1976. Incidence of pup mortality in the rat with particular reference to nesting material, maternal age and parity. Laboratory Animals 10, 165-169.

Better breeding results were obtained when animals had access to woodwool instead of paper tissue as nesting materials. With paper tissues for nesting purposes 60% of the young were lost compared with 18% with woodwool.

Kilgour, R. 1976. Sheep behavior: its importance in farming systems, handling, transport and pre-slaughter treatment. in: Sheep Assembly and Transport Workshop. Truscott, G. M. C. a. T. F. H. (eds), xx-xx. Western Australian Department of Agriculture, Perth, Australia.
Hull, E. M., Kastaniotis, C., L'Hommedieu, G. et al. 1976. Environmental enrichment and crowding: Behavioral and hormonal effects. Physiology and Behavior 17, 735-741.

Environmental enrichment and available refuge did ameliorate the usual hormonal responses to crowding. [p. 740]

Hughes, B. O., Black, A. J. 1976. The influence of handling on egg production, egg shell quality and avoidance behaviour of hens. British Poultry Science 17, 135-144.

Regular gentle-handling of chickens reduced fear and avoidance of humans.

Hughes, B. O. 1976. Preference decisions of domestic hens for wire or litter floors. Applied Animal Ethology (Applied Animal Behaviour Science) 2, 155-165.

Caged hens show a preference for litter over wire floors.

Harper, L. V. 1976. Behavior. In: The Biology of the Guinea Pig. Wagner, J. E. , Manning, P. J. (eds), 31-51. Academic Press, New York, NY.

Possibly related to, or derived from grooming and perhaps also involving an element of aggression is one animal grasping the hair of another in its teeth and pulling it out; the mouthful is often ingested...

Goldsmith, J. F., Brain, P. F., Benton, D. 1976. Effects of age at differential housing and the duration of individual housing/grouping on intermale fighting behavior and adrenocortical activity in TO strain mice. Aggressive Behavior 2, 307-323.

When the mice were subjected to stress (e.g., open field exposure) corticosterone levels in single-housed subjects were consistently higher than in group-housed subjects.

Festing, M. F. W., Greenwood, R. 1976. Home-cage wheel activity recording in mice. Laboratory Animals 10, 81-85.

Laboratory mice run up to 16 km/24 h in running wheels.

Einon, D., Morgan, M. 1976. Habituation of object contact in socially-reared and isolated rats (Rattus norvegicus). Animal Behaviour 24, 415-420.

Rats reared in social isolation were found to contact fewer novel objects in an open-field than their socially reared litter mates. They also contacted a smaller variety of objects, and contacted them in different ways...

Diamond, M. C., Ingham, C. A., Johnson, R. E. et al. 1976. Effects of environment on morphology of rat cerebral cortex andhippocampus. Journal of Neurobiology 7, 75-85.

Cortical depth differences were found between male rats exposed to enriched or impoverished environmental conditions for successively shorter times.

Coid, C. R. 1976. Husbandry. In: The UFAW Handbook on the Care and Management of Laboratory Animals Fifth Edition. UFAW [Universities Federation for Animal Welfare] (ed), 397-319. Churchill Livingstone, London, UK.

The basic principles applicable to the housing and caging of laboratory animals in general also applies to simians. It is, for example, essential to ensure that they have a clean environment and are kept at...

Bergeron, J. A. 1976. Duke University primate facility. Lab Animal 5(4), 20-23.

Each animal in our colony has a name and a four-digit identification number.

Allyn, G., Deyme, A., Begue, I. 1976. Self-fighting syndrome in macaques: A representative case study. Primates 17, 1-22.

Romeo would fight himself when threatened .. be someone else with whom hes was very familiar. ... If a stranger threatened him, he would aggress directly against the stranger.

Yaroshevsky, F. 1975. Self-mutilation in Soviet prisons. Canadian Psychiatric Association Journal 20, 443-446.

These [single] 'cages' are so terrible that many prisoners prefer to maim themselves rather than stay there.