Husbandry & Management

An explorative study on the effect of provision of preferred and non-preferred enrichment on behavioural and physiological parameters in laboratory ferrets (Mustela putorius furo)

Environmental enrichment is often advocated to refine animal studies. Despite the increasing use of ferrets as an animal model in biomedical research, the knowledge on effects of the provision of enrichment on these animals is limited. Additionally, it is unknown...

Year Published: 2018Topics: Environmental Enrichment, Husbandry & ManagementAnimal Type: Ferret

Citation: Reijgwart, M. L., Vinke, C. M., Hendriksen, C. F. M. et al. 2018. An explorative study on the effect of provision of preferred and non-preferred enrichment on behavioural and physiological parameters in laboratory ferrets (Mustela putorius furo). Applied Animal Behaviour Science 203, 64-72.

Behavioral and cortisol responses of adult marmoset monkeys (Callithrix penicillata) to different home-cage social disruption intervals

Social separation is an increasingly used strategy to experimentally assess psychogenic stress in nonhuman primates, yet it is also inherently required for captive management. Surprisingly, little is known on the effects of an individual left alone in a highly familiar...

Year Published: 2018Topics: Husbandry & Management, Social Housing & CompanionshipAnimal Type: Macaque, Nonhuman Primate

Citation: Duarte, R. B., Maior, R. S., Barros, M. 2018. Behavioral and cortisol responses of adult marmoset monkeys (Callithrix penicillata) to different home-cage social disruption intervals. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 201, 117-124.

Nest-building behaviour and activity budgets of sows provided with different materials

Domestic sows are still highly motivated to build a nest before farrowing. Many pig houses have slurry systems that do not allow use of long straw or other bulky materials that could block the drains, which provides an incentive to...

Year Published: 2018Topics: Environmental Enrichment, Husbandry & ManagementAnimal Type: Pig

Citation: Rosvold, E. M., Newberry, R. C., Framstad, T. 2018. Nest-building behaviour and activity budgets of sows provided with different materials. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 200, 36-44.

The effects of kennel size and exercise on the behaviour and stress physiology of individually-housed greyhounds

Greyhounds are routinely bred and managed for racing and are usually housed in individual kennels. To address the question of whether greyhounds would benefit from an increase in the minimum kennel size specified in the Victorian Code of Practice, the...

Year Published: 2018Topics: Housing, Husbandry & ManagementAnimal Type: Dog

Citation: Jongman, E.C., Butler, K.L., Hemsworth, P.H. 2018. The effects of kennel size and exercise on the behaviour and stress physiology of individually-housed greyhounds. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 199, 29-34.

Effect of litter material and stocking density on bone and tendon strength, and productive performance in broilers

Litter material and stocking density were evaluated on welfare-related variables and productive performance in broilers. Male chicks (n = 744, “Ross 308” strain) were raised on either tezontle (TEZ) or wood shavings (WS) litter, with a stocking density of either...

Year Published: 2017Topics: Husbandry & Management, Stocking DensityAnimal Type: Bird, Chicken

Citation: Vargas-Galicia, A. J., Sosa-Montes, E. Rodríguez-Ortega, L. T. et al. 2017. Effect of litter material and stocking density on bone and tendon strength, and productive performance in broilers. Canadian Journal of Animal Science 97(4), 673-682.

Effect of continuous access to feeding stalls during mixing on behavior, welfare, and performance of group-housed gestating sows in different social ranks

This study was conducted to evaluate a strategy of using feeding stalls to protect low-ranking sows in group-housing systems. Sows (n = 150, parity 1–9) were mixed at weaning in pens of 15 sows. Control pens allowed sows to access...

Year Published: 2016Topics: Husbandry & ManagementAnimal Type: Pig

Citation: Wang, L. H., Li, Y. Z. 2016. Effect of continuous access to feeding stalls during mixing on behavior, welfare, and performance of group-housed gestating sows in different social ranks. Canadian Journal of Animal Science 96(3), 386-396.

Providing laying hens in group-housed enriched cages with access to barley silage reduces aggressive and feather-pecking behaviour

Two trials were conducted to study the effect of feeding barley silage on the behaviour and performance of beak-trimmed laying hens. In each trial, 20 hens and 2 roosters were housed in each of eight group-housed enriched cages, with four...

Year Published: 2016Topics: Husbandry & ManagementAnimal Type: Bird, Chicken

Citation: Johannson, S. G., Raginski, C., Schwean-Lardner, K. et al. 2016. Providing laying hens in group-housed enriched cages with access to barley silage reduces aggressive and feather-pecking behaviour. Canadian Journal of Animal Science 96(2), 161-171.

Review: Zebrafish environmental enrichment

Recently environmental enrichment for laboratory housed fish has received increasing levels of attention from a variety of interested parties from hobbyists, through animal technologists and aquaculturists, to scientists. Over the last few years, the growth in use of Zebrafish demonstrates...

Year Published: 2016Topics: Environmental Enrichment, Husbandry & ManagementAnimal Type: Fish, Zebrafish

Citation: Nichols, C., Wilson, C. 2016. Review: Zebrafish environmental enrichment. Animal Technology and Welfare 15(1), 23-25.

Going outside ASPA guidelines

This article will discuss an improved and refined technique used for working and caring for a group of diabetic mice. As a team of animal technologists, academics and named veterinary surgeon, we developed a new husbandry care regime to improve...

Year Published: 2016Topics: Disease/Experimental Model, Drug/Substance Administration, Environmental Enrichment, Husbandry & ManagementAnimal Type: Mouse, Rodent

Citation: Gardiner, P. 2016. Going outside ASPA guidelines. Animal Technology and Welfare 15(1), 47-52.

Refinement in post-surgical recovery

Pre- and post-surgical care includes providing the animals with a soft version of their standard Irradiated diet. Food pellets are soaked in sterile water and this turns into a mash. This ensures that the animals are well hydrated prior to...

Year Published: 2016Topics: Disease/Experimental Model, Husbandry & ManagementAnimal Type: Mouse, Rodent

Citation: Robertson, A. 2016. Refinement in post-surgical recovery. Animal Technology and Welfare 15(1), 62-63.