Lifting laboratory rats: a survey of methods, handlers’ reasons and concerns, and rat behavioural responses (2023)
Journal Article
Burn, C., Camacho, T., & Hockenhull, J. (2023). Lifting laboratory rats: a survey of methods, handlers’ reasons and concerns, and rat behavioural responses. Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 268, Article 106077. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.applanim.2023.106077

Lifting mice by the tail is of animal welfare and scientific concern, but rat lifting methods are little researched, potentially differing from mice. Using an online questionnaire we explored different methods for lifting laboratory rats, alongside h... Read More about Lifting laboratory rats: a survey of methods, handlers’ reasons and concerns, and rat behavioural responses.

Individual Monitoring of Activity and Lameness in Conventional and Slower-Growing Breeds of Broiler Chickens Using Accelerometers (2023)
Journal Article
Pearce, J., Chang, Y. R., & Abeyesinghe, S. (2023). Individual Monitoring of Activity and Lameness in Conventional and Slower-Growing Breeds of Broiler Chickens Using Accelerometers. Animals, 13(9), 1432. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani13091432

Accelerometers are increasingly being investigated to detect animal behaviour as a method for monitoring individual welfare that overcomes manual challenges associated with time, re-source, and discrete sampling. We investigated the effects of broile... Read More about Individual Monitoring of Activity and Lameness in Conventional and Slower-Growing Breeds of Broiler Chickens Using Accelerometers.

Housing and Environmental Enrichment of the Domestic Ferret: A Multi-Sector Survey (2022)
Journal Article
Dancer, A. M., Díez-León, M., Bizley, J. K., & Burn, C. C. (2022). Housing and Environmental Enrichment of the Domestic Ferret: A Multi-Sector Survey. Animals, 12, Article 1065. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani12091065

Ferrets (Mustela putorius furo) are kept and used in multiple sectors of society, but little is known about how they are housed and what environmental enrichment (EE) they may benefit from. We aimed to help guide caretakers about what housing and EE... Read More about Housing and Environmental Enrichment of the Domestic Ferret: A Multi-Sector Survey.

The effect of needle reuse on piglet skin puncture force (2022)
Journal Article
Gibson, T., Blackie, N., & Owen, K. (2022). The effect of needle reuse on piglet skin puncture force. Veterinary Sciences, https://doi.org/10.3390/vetsci9020090

The study investigated whether repeat-use of needles used to inject piglets with iron, influences the force required to puncture into piglet cadaver skin. Pig units were surveyed on needle reuse and injection practices, these findings informed subseq... Read More about The effect of needle reuse on piglet skin puncture force.

A tunnel is not enough: Mice benefit from in-cage provision of a communal shelter as well as a handling tunnel (2021)
Journal Article
Burn, C., & Popat, R. (2021). A tunnel is not enough: Mice benefit from in-cage provision of a communal shelter as well as a handling tunnel. Animal Technology and Welfare, 20, 203-210

Mouse shelters can provide mice with security, help them thermoregulate, offer darkness to prevent damage to their eyes and enable climbing and gnawing opportunities. For laboratory mice, there is a vast array of commercially available cage furniture... Read More about A tunnel is not enough: Mice benefit from in-cage provision of a communal shelter as well as a handling tunnel.

Associations between behaviour and health outcomes in conventional and slow-growing breeds of broiler chicken (2021)
Journal Article
Abeyesinghe, S., Abeyesinghe, S., Chancellor, N., Hernandez Moore, D., Chang, Y., Pearce, J., …Nicol, C. (2021). Associations between behaviour and health outcomes in conventional and slow-growing breeds of broiler chicken. animal, 15(7), Article 100261. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.animal.2021.100261

Broiler chickens are prone to a range of complex health and welfare issues. To support informed selection of welfare traits whilst minimising impact on production efficiency and to address a major gap in understanding, we systematically explored asso... Read More about Associations between behaviour and health outcomes in conventional and slow-growing breeds of broiler chicken.

Social buffering in horses is influenced by context but not by the familiarity and habituation of a companion (2021)
Journal Article
C, R., CJ, N., T, R., & DS, M. (2021). Social buffering in horses is influenced by context but not by the familiarity and habituation of a companion. Scientific Reports, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-88319-z

Social buffering applies when a companion can help to reduce the subject’s stress response during a stressful event and/or help to recover more quickly from a stressful event. The aim of this study was to determine if the social buffering function of... Read More about Social buffering in horses is influenced by context but not by the familiarity and habituation of a companion.

The Impacts of Waterproof Insulated Jackets on Lamb Performance on a UK Lowland Farm (2021)
Journal Article
Collins, E. B., & Blackie, N. (2021). The Impacts of Waterproof Insulated Jackets on Lamb Performance on a UK Lowland Farm. Animals, 11(1), 217. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani11010217

The majority of lamb losses occur within the first two weeks of life, with cold stress being a major cause of lamb morbidity and mortality. This study investigated the effect of insulating lamb jackets on newborn lambs. One hundred and four newborn l... Read More about The Impacts of Waterproof Insulated Jackets on Lamb Performance on a UK Lowland Farm.