Nest Building Assay
Nest building captures a motivated home-cage behavior that is sensitive to welfare, sickness, neurological state, and genetic background. The assay can be run with a nestlet and a fixed scoring time, commonly overnight.
Nest Building Scorer
Score Deacon 1-5 nest ratings with median/IQR group summaries, optional shredded-mass percent, and CSV export.
Deacon ScaleMedian/IQRCSV Export
Nest building scoring table
Enter Deacon 1-5 nest scores and optional remaining nestlet mass. Nest score is ordinal, so group summaries report median and IQR rather than mean and SEM.
Nest score is an ordinal rating. Use median and IQR for the score column. Optional shredded mass percentages are continuous and are summarized separately.
| Animal or cage | Group | Nest score | Initial mass (g) | Unshredded (g) | Duration (h) | Shredded % | Remove |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 84.0 | |||||||
| 92.0 | |||||||
| 48.0 | |||||||
| 60.0 |
| Group | n | Median score | Q1 | Q3 | Mean shredded % | SEM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| B6 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 88.0 | 4.0 |
| BALB/c | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 54.0 | 6.0 |
- Score Deacon 1-5 nest quality ratings
- Summarize ordinal nest scores with median and IQR
- Calculate optional percent shredded from nestlet mass
- Compare welfare, sickness, strain, or treatment groups
- Export animal-level or cage-level rows for statistics software
Don't use for
- Continuous home-cage nesting video analysis
- Burrowing tube latency or food pellet displacement assays
- Marble burying or bedding-digging endpoint counts
Resources
- Nestlet material and initial mass fixed
- Single-housing or cage-level unit documented
- Scoring time matched across groups
- Light cycle and overnight interval recorded
- Deacon 1-5 anchors available to scorers
- Scorer blinded to group when possible
Metrics and Math
The Deacon 1-5 nest rating is summarized by group with median and IQR. Optional shredded mass percent is calculated as (initial mass - unshredded mass) / initial mass x 100 and summarized separately.
Design Notes
Keep nestlet material, initial mass, cage type, bedding, single-housing period, light cycle, and scoring time fixed. Document whether rows represent animals or cages.
Frequently Asked Questions
Next Steps
Nest Building Arena
Dedicated setup for standardized nestlet scoring
Browse →Cage Enrichment Supplies
Fallback supplies route for nestlets and enrichment materials
Browse →ConductVision
Use video support for home-cage welfare and activity observation
Browse →Self-Grooming Scorer
Pair nest quality with a repetitive grooming endpoint
Browse →Marble Burying Scorer
Score another repetitive and bedding-related endpoint
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