Social Housing & Companionship

It takes a village: A case study in improving animal welfare with a team approach

There are many factors that need to be considered when caring for groups of nonhuman primates (NHPs) in research, including clinical, behavioral, and scientific issues. Otherwise, there is the potential that decisions are made without taking all these needs into...

Year Published: 2021Topics: Social Housing & CompanionshipAnimal Type: Macaque, Nonhuman Primate

Citation: Bader, L., Janavaris, M., Coleman, K. et al. 2021. It takes a village: A case study in improving animal welfare with a team approach. Laboratory Animal Science Professional 9(1) (January/February), 38-40.

A stepwise male introduction procedure to prevent inbreeding in naturalistic macaque breeding groups

Male introductions into captive primate breeding groups can be risky and unsuccessful. However, they are necessary to prevent inbreeding in naturalistic breeding groups. The procedure used to introduce new individuals may affect the success and influence the risks associated with...

Year Published: 2021Topics: Social Housing & CompanionshipAnimal Type: Macaque, Nonhuman Primate

Citation: Rox, A., van Vliet, A. H., Langermans, J. A. M. et al. 2021. A stepwise male introduction procedure to prevent inbreeding in naturalistic macaque breeding groups. Animals 11(2), 545.

Conspecific presence improves episodic-like memory in rats

A number of studies have provided evidence that animals, including rats, remember past episodes. However, few experiments have addressed episodic-like memory from a social perspective. In the present study, we evaluated Wistar rats in the WWWhen/ELM task as single setups...

Year Published: 2021Topics: Social Housing & CompanionshipAnimal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: de França Malheiros, M. A. S., Castelo-Branco, R., de Medeiros, P. H. S. et al 2021. Conspecific presence improves episodic-like memory in rats. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience 14, 572150.

Anxiety behavior in pigs (Sus scrofa) decreases through affiliation and may anticipate threat

Anxiety is a physio-psychological state anticipating an imminent threat. In social mammals it is behaviorally expressed via displacement activities and buffered via affiliation. Anxiety research on domestic pigs (Sus scrofa) has mostly focused on abnormal/stereotypic behavior associated with intensive farming....

Year Published: 2021Topics: Natural Behavior, Social Housing & CompanionshipAnimal Type: Pig

Citation: Norscia, I., Collarini, E.,Cordoni, G. 2021. Anxiety behavior in pigs (Sus scrofa) decreases through affiliation and may anticipate threat. Frontiers in Veterinary Science 8, 630164.

Implementing strategies to reduce singly housed male mice

There are different husbandry situations that lead to social isolation of male mice. Besides legal considerations, single housing has a negative impact on behavioural and molecular studies. We have implemented two strategies, the ‘companion mouse' and just-weaned male grouping, to...

Year Published: 2019Topics: Social Housing & CompanionshipAnimal Type: Mouse, Rodent

Citation: Azkona, G., Caballero, J. M. 2019. Implementing strategies to reduce singly housed male mice. Laboratory Animals 53(5), 508–510.

Attempting enrichment harmonization across multiple sites and embracing our differences

A glabal enrichment committee incorporates active members from each of the company's 6 sites and works towards harmonization of enrichment practices. One of the hot topics is attempting to standardize mouse enrichment and social housing practices. This has proven to...

Year Published: 2018Topics: Environmental Enrichment, Social Housing & CompanionshipAnimal Type: Mouse, Rodent

Citation: Allen, C., Duggan, L., Fox, M. et al. 2018. Attempting enrichment harmonization across multiple sites and embracing our differences. Laboratory Animal Science Professional 5(4) (December), 48-51.

Breaking down the barriers: Social housing of previously single-housed adult baboons

An important responsibility of each institution is to challenge preconceived notions that may limit social housing. At our institution's center for comparative medicine (CCM), we recently challenged a historical mindset that 2 large (>25 kg) male baboons with a long-term...

Year Published: 2018Topics: Social Housing & CompanionshipAnimal Type: Baboon, Nonhuman Primate

Citation: Camacho, J., Morris, J. 2018. Breaking down the barriers: Social housing of previously single-housed adult baboons. Laboratory Animal Science Professional 5(4) (December), 55-57.

An inexpensive approach to social housing enrichment for laboratory rabbits and guinea pigs

We analyzed our current enrichment protocols in order to develop and implement social experiences for our rabbit and guinea pig colonies. This article describes the development of an exercise pen for rabbits and a custom-made social housing enclosure for guinea...

Year Published: 2013Topics: Social Housing & CompanionshipAnimal Type: Guinea Pig, Rabbit, Rodent

Citation: Rose, A. M. 2013. An inexpensive approach to social housing enrichment for laboratory rabbits and guinea pigs. Laboratory Animal Science Professional 1(4) (December), 46-48.

Fight Club: Using housing conditions to curb male cage aggression

Those who have worked with C57BL/6 males know how aggressive they can be towards their cage mates. We poured over academic journals, reading every article we could find regarding male home cage aggression. Three articles piqued our interest and suggested...

Year Published: 2019Topics: Environmental Enrichment, Social Housing & CompanionshipAnimal Type: Mouse, Rodent

Citation: Sherrill, C., Kavanagh, K. 2019. Fight Club: Using housing conditions to curb male cage aggression. Laboratory Animal Science Professional 7(1) (March), 38-40.

Anxiety and pain in horses measured by heart rate variability and behavior

As a herd species, the horse strongly desires social contact and interaction with conspecifics. Anxiety associated with social isolation may confound the display and interpretation of behavior associated with pain. This study examined the effect of anxiety (social isolation) on...

Year Published: 2017Topics: Social Housing & Companionship, Welfare AssessmentAnimal Type: Equine

Citation: Reid, K., Rogers, C. W., Gronqvist, G. et al. 2017. Anxiety and pain in horses measured by heart rate variability and behavior. Journal of Veterinary Behavior 22, 1-6.