Nutrition of laboratory rodents

Precise definition and control of the characteristics of laboratory rodent models and their environment are fundamental for the animal welfare as well as to guarantee the validity and reproducibility of the experimental results obtained from them. Feed is one such key environmental component, both before and after the animals are included in an experimental procedure. In animal production, meeting the nutritional needs of animals at the different stages of their growth allows to obtain homogeneous batches of healthy animals. During the experimental procedure, it is also crucial to prevent interferences that may be caused by poor feed management. In the case of diet-induced diseases, this control is obviously even more important. The working group's aims was to develop recommendations for nutrition of laboratory rodents. These recommendations should be a guide to feed suppliers, animal facility managers and researchers on how animal experiments can be carried out under some better environmentally standardized conditions so that these recommendations also will contribute to the three R’s. The WG is now closed, the WG did not produce recommendations.