Can seeds help mice with the daily grind? (2013)

Pritchett-Corning, K. R., Keefe, R., Garner, J. P. et al.

Abstract

Some laboratory mice gnaw food pellets without ingesting much of the gnawed material, resulting in the production of waste material. The fact that this food grinding behavior is not seen in all individuals of a particular strain suggests that it might be abnormal, and thus indicate a welfare concern. Furthermore, the increased rate of feed consumption and cage soiling is undesirable from a husbandry perspective. To try to determine possible motivations for the behavior, and identify potential treatments, outbred Crl:CD1(Icr) mice exhibiting food grinding were selected for one of three treatments placed in the feeder: no enrichment, a chewing device, or sunflower seeds. Both enrichment groups showed a significant decrease (P?