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Review

Feed and Bedding

Ronald L. Carter, Neil S. Lipman
Robert H. Weichbrod, Gail A. (Heidbrink) Thompson, John N. Norton
, editors.
In: Management of Animal Care and Use Programs in Research, Education, and Testing. 2nd edition. Boca Raton (FL): CRC Press/Taylor & Francis; 2018. Chapter 27.
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Review

Feed and Bedding

Ronald L. Carter et al.
Free Books & Documents

Excerpt

Providing for an animal’s nutritional needs, as well as an appropriate environment to reside, is the cornerstone of animal husbandry. Feed and bedding can directly influence experimental outcomes, as their chemical and physical characteristics can affect the animal’s physiology (Baker and Lipman 2015). The production and subsequent handling of feed and bedding, whether by the manufacturer or distributor, and continuing within the animal facility, can also affect the quality of the product in use. The selection, management, and provision of high-quality feed and bedding is essential to ensure the health and welfare of the animals and the integrity of the results obtained from them.

In this chapter, feed and bedding are reviewed separately. The importance of, and the methods by which, feed and bedding are selected and their impact on research are discussed. Processing, handling, and storage of feed and bedding is also reviewed. The reader is provided an overview of the concepts relevant to selecting and managing feed and bedding in the laboratory animal setting. As the scope of this topic is broad, the reader should consult the references for additional information.

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