RU1774846C - Bedding for test animals - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to agriculture and can be used for keeping laboratory animals. The purpose of the invention is to improve animal welfare. The litter for laboratory animals includes flat woody flat particles, each of which is compacted to a density of 0.6-0.8 g / cm3 at 10-12% moisture and has a length and width of 3-10 mm and a thickness of 0.2-2 mm

Description

The invention relates to the field of biomedical research and can be used in the production of wood particles used as bedding for keeping and breeding small laboratory animals in nurseries, vivariums and experimental biological clinics.

Known litter for laboratory animals comprising flat wood particles.

The disadvantages of the known litter include the deteriorated tactile properties of its constituent wood particles, and the reduced adaptability of laboratory animals to them, which affects their reproductive ability.

The purpose of the invention is to improve animal welfare.

This goal is achieved by the fact that in the litter for laboratory animals, including flat wood particles, each flat wood particle is compacted to a density of 0.6-0.8 g / cm at 10-12% humidity and has dimensions of a length and a width of 3-10 mm and a thickness of 6.2-2 mm.

Distinctive features of the litter for laboratory animals are the implementation of each component of it a flat wood particle, compacted to a density of 0.6-0.8 g / cm3 at 10-12% humidity and length and width of 3-10 mm and a thickness of 0 , 2-2 mm.

For the manufacture of litter with compacted wood particles, the barked tree trunk is fed to a chopping machine, with which a technological chip is obtained in the form of one thin layer, crimping it between the rollers to a thickness of 0.2-2 mm and achieving a density of 0.6-0.8 g / cm3, crushed in a crusher to form flat particles with dimensions in length and width of 3-10 mm, then dried to reach 10-12% moisture. The resulting material, if necessary, is separated and packaged.

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To assess the effectiveness of the litter, studies were carried out to study the adaptability and reproductive ability of laboratory animals. Aspen particles with the above dimensions and properties were used as the litter.

The adaptability of laboratory animals was studied by the preference of the choice of material in a system consisting of four cells connected to one another by passages. Litter material was poured into each of the cells with a layer of 20 mm thickness, sexually mature male and female were planted and monitored for one month until an offspring was obtained.

In the experiments, mice of the C57B1 / 6 and BAIB / c lines were used. Conducted 20 experiments, the results of the study of adaptability are presented in Gabl. 1,

As can be seen from taOl. 1, most often the mice selected a litter from compacted flat particles of aspen. This is because this litter is softer, with improved tactile properties, which are achieved by compressing flat wood particles. Litter with. uncompressed particles of the mouse were not selected.

The reproductive ability of mice was evaluated by the value of the animal reproduction coefficient, which is an integral indicator for assessing the conditions of keeping and breeding laboratory animals. This indicator reflects all the components of the reproductive process — the rate of gentle maturation of the female, the litter size, and the ability of the mother to feed him.

Reproductive ability was studied on the same lines. The data characterizing the value of the reproduction rate of mice are presented in table. 2.

As can be seen from the table. 2, the reproduction rate substantially depends on the quality of the litter of wood particles, in particular on the degree of compaction. The highest values of the reproduction coefficient were obtained when the mice of both lines were kept on the litter with flat densified particles at a density of 0.6-0.8 g / cm, the smallest on the litter, with particles not densified in thickness. Litter of compacted particles with a density of more than 0.8 g / cm3 is not practical due to the increase in the number of fine fractions (dust) that adversely affect the health of laboratory animals. The separation of fine fractions sharply reduces the yield of high-quality litter

quantitatively.

Thus, the positive effect of using litter of flat wood particles with a density of 0.6-0.8 g / cm3 with dimensions along the length and width of 3-10 mm,

a thickness of 0.2-2 mm and a moisture content of 10-12% is to improve animal welfare. The litter is suitable for widespread use in laboratory animal husbandry.

Claims (1)

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A litter for laboratory animals comprising flat wood particles, characterized in that, in order to improve the animal welfare condition, each flat wood particle is compacted to a density of 0.6-0.8 g / cm3 at 10-12% humidity and has dimensions along the length and width of 3-10 mm and a thickness of 0.2-2.0 mm. Table 1 The frequency of animal litter selection (%) The reproductive ability of mice Litter Chashi density g / cm3 table 2