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Hello! I'm Christina

I'm a Postdoctoral Scholar at the Center of Animal Welfare (Department of Animal Science) at UC Davis. I'm currently working with poultry, but I'm broadly interested in the welfare of all farm animals. My passion is to navigate within the area of conflict between the needs for productivity and the behavioral, physiological and emotional demands of the animals. Facing this challenge "from the animal's point of view", I'm aiming to understand how housing systems and management affect individuals and how we can provide practical solutions for farmers to improve the welfare of farm animals.

RESEARCH EXPERIENCE

2019 - now

Postdoctoral Scholar

CENTER FOR ANIMAL WELFARE

Makagon & Blatchford labs

Animal Science Department, UC Davis

United States

Projects: Poultry behavior and welfare

2015 - 2018

PhD Student

CENTER FOR PROPER HOUSING:

POULTRY & RABBITS

Animal Welfare Division

Veterinary Public Health Institute, University of Bern
Switzerland

Project: Keel bone fractures in laying hens – effects on individual productivity and mobility

2015

Internship

CENTER FOR PROPER HOUSING:

RUMINANTS & PIGS

Swiss Federal Food Safety and Veterinary Office

Switzerland

Project: Animal welfare indicators within the scope of the development of a sustainability assessment program

2014 - 2015

Master student

ETHOLOGY AND ANIMAL WELFARE UNIT

Institute of Agricultural Sciences, ETH Zurich

Switzerland

Project: Effect of varying dimensions of the littered lying area on the lying behaviour of horses housed in groups

2013

Research Assistant

ETHOLOGY AND ANIMAL WELFARE UNIT

Institute of Agricultural Sciences, ETH Zurich

Switzerland

Project: Welfare related problems of bells in cattle and goats

2013

Training Course

ETHOLOGY AND ANIMAL WELFARE UNIT

Institute of Agricultural Sciences, ETH Zurich

Switzerland

Project: Group housing of horses

EDUCATION

BACHELOR OF SCIENCE

AGRICULTURAL SCIENCES

ETH Zurich, Switzerland

MASTER OF SCIENCE

AGRICULTURAL SCIENCES

(MAJOR: ANIMAL SCIENCE)

with distinction

ETH Zurich, Switzerland

PH.D.

BIOMEDICAL SCIENCES
(ANIMAL WELFARE)

magna cum laude
University of Bern, Switzerland

ERASMUS SEMESTER

ANIMAL SCIENCE

SLU Uppsala, Sweden

PUBLICATIONS

Hover over the publication titles to see key findings!

2020

Baur, S. D., Rufener, C., Toscano, M. J., Geissbühler, U.

Frontiers in Veterinary Science (2020)

RADIOGRAPHIC EVALUATION OF KEEL BONE DAMAGE IN LAYING HENS - MORPHOLOGIC AND TEMPORAL OBSERVATIONS IN A LONGITUDINAL STUDY

THE BOSS

Keel bone fracture morphology and development was described for 422 fractures obtained from longitudinal radiographs of 150 laying hens.

*click

KEEL BONE FRACTURES INDUCE A DEPRESSIVE-LIKE STATE IN LAYING HENS

Armstrong, E. A., Rufener, C., Toscano, M. J., Eastham, J. E., Guy, J. H., Sandilands, V., Boswell, T., Smulders, T.V.

Scientific Reports (2020)

THE BOSS

Keel bone fractures result in a negative affective state as indicated by decreased adult neurocampal neurogenesis.

*click

2019

Gebhardt-Henrich, S. G., Stratmann, A., Rufener, C.

Poultry Science (2019)

IMPROVING INTRA- AND INTER-OBSERVER REPEATABILITY AND ACCURACY OF KEEL BONE ASSESSMENT BY TRAINING WITH RADIOGRAPHS

THE BOSS

Palpation training with radiographs improved inter-observer repeatabilities in the diagnosis of fractures and deviations of keel bones

*click

Rufener, C., Abreu, Y., Asher, L., Berezowski, J. A., Maximiano Sousa, F., Stratmann, A., Toscano, M. J.

Applied Animal Behaviour Science (2019)

KEEL BONE FRACTURES ARE ASSOCIATED WITH INDIVIDUAL MOBILITY OF LAYING HENS IN AN AVIARY SYSTEM

THE BOSS

This is a great place to tell people more about yourself and peak their interest.

For more info, they can follow you on social in a click.

The higher the keel bone fracture severity, the more time laying hens spent on the top tier of the aviary

*click

Rentsch, A. K., Rufener, C., Spadaveccia, C., Stratmann, A., Toscano, M. J.

Applied Animal Behaviour Science (2019)

LAYING HENS' MOBILITY IS IMPAIRED BY KEEL BONE FRACTURES THOUGH EFFECT IS NOT REVERSED BY PARACETAMOL TREATMENT

THE BOSS

This is a great place to tell people more about yourself and peak their interest.

For more info, they can follow you on social in a click.

In an experimental setting, laying hens with fresh fractures were less mobile than hens with no or healed fractures. Paracetamol did not have an analgesic effect.

*click

2018

Rufener, C., Baur, S., Stratmenn, A., Toscano, M. J.

Poultry Science (2018)

KEEL BONE FRACTURES AFFECT EGG LAYING PERFORMANCE BUT NOT EGG QUALITY IN LAYING HENS HOUSED IN A COMMERCIAL AVIARY SYSTEM

THE BOSS

This is a great place to tell people more about yourself and peak their interest.

For more info, they can follow you on social in a click.

At the end of lay (62 weeks of age), hens with severe keel bone fractures laid 16.2 % fewer eggs than hens with healthy keels.

*click

Rufener, C., Berezowski, J., Maximiano Sousa, F., Abreu, Y., Asher, L., Toscano, M. J.

Scientific Reports (2018)

FINDING HENS IN A HAYSTACK: CONSISTENCY OF MOVEMENT PATTERNS WITHIN AND ACROSS INDIVIDUAL LAYING HENS MAINTAINED IN LARGE GROUPS

THE BOSS

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Laying hens showed movement patterns that were surprisingly consistent within and extremely variable between individuals.

*click

Rufener, C., Baur, S., Stratmenn, A., Toscano, M. J.

Frontiers in Veterinary Science (2018)

A RELIABLE METHOD TO ASSESS KEEL BONE FRACTURES IN LAYING HENS FROM RADIOGRAPHS USING A TAGGED VISUAL ANALOGUE SCALE

THE BOSS

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We found high inter- and intra-observer reliability, suggesting that our scoring system can increase comparability between future studies using x-rays for keel bone fracture assessment.

*click

2017

Candelotto, L., Stratmann, A., Gebhardt-Henrich, S. G., Rufener, C., van der Braak, T., Toscano, M. J.

Poultry Science (2017)

SUSCEPTIBILITY TO KEEL BONE FRACTURES AND THE ROLE OF GENETIC VARIATION

THE BOSS

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The 5 commercial and experimental lines of laying hens differed in their susceptibility to keel bone fractures. A higher likelihood for fractures was associated with reduced egg quality.

*click

Burla, J.-B., Rufener, C., Bachmann, I., Gygax, L., Patt, A., Hillmann, E.

Frontiers in Veterinary Science (2017)

SPACE ALLOWANCE OF THE LITTERED AREA AFFECTS LYING BEHAVIOUR IN GROUP-HOUSED HORSES

THE BOSS

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The larger the dimensions of the littered lying area, the more time horses spent lying down.

*click

CONFERENCE ABSTRACTS

CONFERENCES

2019

Rufener, C., Jorge, Y. A., Asher, L., Berezowski, J. A., Maximiano Sousa, F., Stratmann, A., Toscano, M. J., 2019. Individual laying hen mobility in aviary systems is linked with keel bone fracture severity. Proceedings of the 53rd Congress of the International Society of Applied Ethology held in Bergen, Norway (oral presentation).

Pullin, A. N., Temple, M., Bennett, D. C., Rufener, C., Blatchford, R. A., Makagon, M. M., 2019. Pullet rearing affects long-term perch use by laying hens in enriched colony cages. Proceedings of the 53rd Congress of the International Society of Applied Ethology held in Bergen, Norway (Poster; presenting author: A. Pullin).

Budeguer, Z., Rufener, C., Makagon, M., 2019. Does wearing sensors affect perching behavior of laying hens? Proceedings of the Poultry Science Association Annual Meeting held in Montreal, Canada (Poster; presenting author: Z. Budeguer).

Wood, B., Rufener, C., Blatchford, R., Makagon, M., 2019. Scatter feeding as a viable form of enrichment for commercial broiler chickens. Proceedings of the Poultry Science Association Annual Meeting held in Montreal, Canada (Poster; presenting author: B. Wood).

2018

Berezowski, J., Rufener, C., Asher, L., Faverjon, C., Abreu, Y., Maximiano Sousa, F., Toscano, M. J., 2018. Can change in animal behavior patterns be used for animal health surveillance? Proceedings of the 15th International Symposium of Veterinary Epidemiology and Economics (ISVEE 15) held in Chiang Mai, Thailand (Poster; presenting author: J. Berezowski).

Abreu, Y., Rufener, C., Asher, L., Berezowski, J., Faverjon, C., Maximiano Sousa, F., Toscano, M. J., 2018. Using the R-Shiny package to visualize laying hen movement patterns Introduction. Proceedings of the 15th International Symposium of Veterinary Epidemiology and Economics (ISVEE 15) held in Chiang Mai, Thailand (Poster; presenting author: F. Maximiano Sousa).

Rufener, C., Abreu, Y., Asher, L., Berezowski, J., Maximiano Sousa, F., Stratmann, A., Würbel, H., Toscano, M. J., 2018. Zusammenhang zwischen Brustbeinfrakturen und individuellem Bewegungsverhalten von Legehennen. In: Aktuelle Arbeiten zur artemässen Tierhaltung 201718. KTBL, Darmstadt. KTBL-Schrift 514, pp 242-244, 978-3-945088-60-9 (Poster).

Rufener, C., Baur, S., Stratmann, A., Würbel, H., Geissbühler, U., Toscano, M. J., 2018. Keel bone fractures in laying hens affect laying performance but not egg quality. Proceedings of the XVth European Poultry Conference held in Dubrovnik, Croatia (Poster).

Rentsch, A. K., Rufener, C., Spadavecchia, C., Stratmann, A., Toscano, M. J., 2018. Effect of keel bone fractures on laying hen behaviour in a non-cage housing system. Proceedings of the XVth European Poultry Conference held in Dubrovnik, Croatia (oral presentation; presenting author: A. K. Rentsch).

Armstrong, E., Rufener, C., Toscano, M. J., Guy, J. H., Boswell, T., Smulders, T. V., 2018. Are keel bone fractures associated with suppressed adult hippocampal neurogenesis in laying hens? Proceedings of the UFAW Animal Welfare Conference held in Newcastle, UK (Poster; presenting author: E. Armstrong).

Rufener, C., Berezowski, J., Maximiano Sousa, F., Abreu, Y., Asher, L., Toscano, M. J., 2018. Finding hens in a haystack: Consistency of movement patterns within and across individual laying hens maintained in large groups. Proceedings of the 11th International Conference on Methods and Techniques in Behavioural Research (“Measuring Behaviour”) Conference held in Manchester, UK (oral presentation; presenting author: Toscano, M. J.).

2017

Rufener, C., Varholick, J., Berezowski, J., Würbel, H., Toscano, M.J. 2017. Individuelles Bewegungsverhalten von Legehennen in Volierenhaltung. In: Aktuelle Arbeiten zur artemässen Tierhaltung 2017. KTBL, Darmstadt. KTBL-Schrift 513, pp 106-117, ISBN 978-3-945088-53-1 (oral presentation).

Geissbühler, U., Baur, S., Rufener, C., Toscano, M.J. 2017. Radiographic evaluation of keel bone damages in laying hens – A longitudinal study. Proceedings of the European Veterinary Diagnostic Imaging Congress held in Verona, Italy (oral presentation; presenting author: U. Geissbühler).

Rufener, C., Baur, S., Stratmann, A., Würbel, H., Geissbühler, U., and M.J. Toscano. 2017. Effects of keel bone fractures on individual productivity of laying hens. Proceedings of the 10th European Symposium on Poultry Welfare held in Ploufragan, France (Poster).

2016

Rufener, C., Baur, S., Stratmann, A., Würbel, H., Geissbühler, U., and M.J. Toscano. 2016. Effects of keel bone fractures on individual laying hen productivity. Proceedings of the 50th International Congress of the ISAE held in Edinburgh Scotland, p 284 (oral presentation).

Burla, J.-B, Ostertag, A., Rufener, C., Patt, A., Gygax, L., Bachmann, I. and E. Hillmann. 2016. Effects of feeding management and lying area on the behaviour of group-housed Horses. Proceedings of the 50th International Congress of the ISAE held in Edinburgh, Scotland, p 269 (Poster; presenting author: J.-B. Burla).

2015

Burla J.-B., Rufener, C., Bachmann, I., Gygax, L., Patt, A., Hillmann, E. 2015. Variation der eingestreuten Fläche im Liegebereich - Auswirkungen auf das Liegeverhalten von Pferden in Gruppenhaltung. In: Aktuelle Arbeiten zur artemässen Tierhaltung 2015. KTBL, Darmstadt. KTBL-Schrift 510 s. 227-241, ISBN 978-3-945088-13-5 (oral presentation; presenting author: J.-B. Burla).

Burla J.-B., Rufener, C., Bachmann, I., Gygax, L., Patt, A., Hillmann, E. 2015. Effect of varying dimensions of the littered lying area on the lying behaviour of group-housed horses (Equus ferus caballus) In: Krüger, K. (Ed.), International Equine Science Meeting 2015. Xenophon Verlag, Wald, Germany (oral presentation; presenting author: J.-B. Burla).