Housing and welfare in laboratory rats: time-budgeting and pathophysiology in single-sex groups

• Published in: Animal behaviour Vol. 52; no. 2; pp. 335 - 360
• Main Authors: HURST, J.L., BARNARD, C.J., HARE, R., WHEELDON, E.B., WEST, C.D.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Kent Elsevier Ltd 01.08.1996; Elsevier; Harcourt Brace Jovanovich Ltd
• Subjects: Animal behavior; Animal ethology; Biological and medical sciences; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Housing; Mammalia; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Rodents; Vertebrata; Laboratory study; Pathophysiology; Corticosterone; Body weight; Rodentia; Rattus norvegicus; Sex; Well being; Glucocorticoid; Social status; Vertebrata; Mammalia; Social dominance; Social interaction; Adrenal hormone; Rearing; Time budget; Agonistic behavior

Alderley Park (Wistar-derived) rats, Rattus norvegicus, were maintained in single-sex groups of eight for 9 weeks under open-room conditions. Both sexes could be categorized into more or less discrete social classes based on the directionality of aggression within dyads. The difference in the number...