Housing

Separating the effects of shelter from additional cage enhancements for group-housed BALB/cJ mice

Enrichment studies with rodents have demonstrated that cage enhancements can improve animal welfare and performance on common behavioral measures, but few studies have compared more than one type of enrichment or controlled for confounds, and some have revealed undesirable effects...

Year Published: 2011Topics: Environmental Enrichment, HousingAnimal Type: Mouse, Rodent

Citation: Swetter, B. J., Karpiak, C. P., Cannon, J. T. 2011. Separating the effects of shelter from additional cage enhancements for group-housed BALB/cJ mice. Neuroscience Letters 495(3), 205-209.

Comparison of housing and welfare of group housed rabbits

This poster is based on welfare improvements gained from group housing rabbits in floor pens in the new Antibody Production Facility with a focus on development, behaviours and environmental enrichment in both male and female animals. We established floor pens...

Year Published: 2016Topics: Environmental Enrichment, Housing, Social Housing & CompanionshipAnimal Type: Rabbit

Citation: Enser, S. 2016. Comparison of housing and welfare of group housed rabbits. Animal Technology and Welfare 15(1), 77-79.

Non-human primate housing facility at Newcastle University

Monkeys first arrived in the Comparative Biology Centre (CBC) at Newcastle University in 2000. They were housed in three small separate units consisting of steel and wooden cages. In 2011 a decision was made to centralise the NHP facilities as...

Year Published: 2016Topics: Environmental Enrichment, HousingAnimal Type: Baboon, Capuchin, Chimpanzee, Lemur, Macaque, Marmoset, Nonhuman Primate, Other Nonhuman Primate, Owl Monkey, Squirrel Monkey, Vervet (African Green Monkey)

Citation: O'Keefe, S. 2016. Non-human primate housing facility at Newcastle University. Animal Technology and Welfare 15(2), 131-132.

Ultrasonic vocalisation as a measure of positive welfare in rats

Studies of animal welfare in laboratory animals have historically relied on the measurement of negative indicators rather than the assessment of positive indicators of welfare. Practical methods of welfare assessment are required to allow refinement of housing and experimental protocols....

Year Published: 2017Topics: Environmental Enrichment, Housing, VocalizationAnimal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Jones, T., Robinson, M., Leach, M. et al. 2017. Ultrasonic vocalisation as a measure of positive welfare in rats. Animal Technology and Welfare 16(2), 127-129.

Social interaction for non-sibling pregnant New Zealand white rabbits on reproductive toxicology

Rabbits are gregarious animals that live in social groups in the wild so individually housing our animals, while meeting the present scientific objectives, restricts their natural social behaviour. How to meet the social needs of our rabbits while maintaining a...

Year Published: 2017Topics: Environmental Enrichment, HousingAnimal Type: Rabbit

Citation: Holmes, J., Waters, D., Maisonave, I. et al. 2017. Social interaction for non-sibling pregnant New Zealand white rabbits on reproductive toxicology. Animal Technology and Welfare 16(2), 139-141.

Improving rabbit enrichment: Developing a rolling enrichment plan

A three-week enrichment preference study trialling different substrates, food and pen structures was carried out in three, group-housed female New Zealand White Rabbits (NZW). Preference results: structural - rabbits spent the most time with a circular table (repurposed empty wooden...

Year Published: 2018Topics: Environmental Enrichment, HousingAnimal Type: Rabbit

Citation: Pearson, K., Gant, J. 2018. Improving rabbit enrichment: Developing a rolling enrichment plan. Animal Technology and Welfare 17(2), 121-123.

Introduction of gang caging for group housed rats

Using an existing gang cage designed for ferrets, we developed a version that would be suitable for housing rats. Caging consisted of 3 floors with a combined floor area of 11620m, connected by 2 ladders. Each individual unit can be...

Year Published: 2018Topics: Environmental Enrichment, HousingAnimal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Clarke, D., Ioannou, L. 2018. Introduction of gang caging for group housed rats. Animal Technology and Welfare 17(2), 136-137.

Assessing the exploratory and anxiety-related behaviors of mice

Ample studies have shown that housing can affect the health, welfare and behavior of mice and therefore, the outcomes of certain experiments. The aim of this study was to investigate if three widely used housing systems, Open Top Cages (OTC),...

Year Published: 2017Topics: Emotion, Pain, & Sentience, HousingAnimal Type: Mouse, Rodent

Citation: Polissidis, A., Zelelak, S., Nikita, M. et al. 2017. Assessing the exploratory and anxiety-related behaviors of mice. Do different caging systems affect the outcome of behavioral tests? Physiology & Behavior 177, 68-73.

Female rats display fewer optimistic responses in a judgment bias test in the absence of a physiological stress response

Metabolic cages are a type of housing used in biomedical research. Metabolic cage housing has been demonstrated to elicit behavioural and physiological changes in rodents housed within them. The nature of this effect has been characterized as anxiogenic. However, few...

Year Published: 2017Topics: Emotion, Pain, & Sentience, HousingAnimal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Barker, T. H., Bobrovskaya, L., Howarth, G. S. et al. 2017. Female rats display fewer optimistic responses in a judgment bias test in the absence of a physiological stress response. Physiology & Behavior 173, 124-131.

Daily travel distances of zoo-housed chimpanzees and gorillas: Implications for welfare assessments and space requirements

The degree to which the relatively smaller area of artificial environments (compared with natural habitats) has measureable effects on the behavior and welfare of captive animals has been debated for many years. While there is little question that these spaces...

Year Published: 2016Topics: Housing, Natural BehaviorAnimal Type: Chimpanzee, Nonhuman Primate, Other Nonhuman Primate

Citation: Ross, S. R., Shender, M. A. 2016. Daily travel distances of zoo-housed chimpanzees and gorillas: Implications for welfare assessments and space requirements. Primates 57(3), 395-401.