Department of Laboratory Animal Science, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands
Preference tests have been developed to study choice behaviour and of animals, based on the idea that in daily life animals also express preferences. These tests can be used in animal welfare research.
Some 10 years ago, the Department of Laboratory Animal Science, Utrecht University, developed a preference test system for rodents. This system is used to test housing conditions for laboratory mice and rats in order to improve their living environments.
The system essentially consists of test cages connected to a central cage. The time the animals spend in a cage is registered and this dwelling time is used as a measure of preference or avoidance for a cage and/or its contents. Applications of the test system for the study of housing conditions include preferences for bedding and nesting material, cage temperature, cage height and nest boxes. Over the years the test system has been improved and presently allows collecting test data fully automated.
In future, the preference test system will be combined with an automated behavioural data collection system (LABORAS). The simultaneous collection of telemetric measurements of physiological parameters may further enhance this type of animal welfare research.
This poster was presented by H.A. van de Weerd