Scrapie is an infectious neurologic disease in sheep caused by prions, corresponding to transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs) in other species. The prion is presumably constituted of PrPSc, the misfolded form of the normal endogenous prion protein, PrPC, which is found in practically all cells in the body. PrPSc can induce a conformational change in PrPC and misfold it as an imprint of itself; this is how prions amplify and spread. The process of conformational change is poorly understood and there might exist intermediate forms between PrPC and PrPSc. Bioassay using mice has traditionally been the golden standard in prion studies but is limited by cost and time.

The purpose of this study was to investigate how the content of glucose, fructose, sucrose and fructan (WSC) varied in silage, haylage and hay harvested from the same field and at the same time of harvest. The study also investigated if differences in the WSC-fraction in the forages caused differences in composition of WSC in the colon of horses fed the forages. Hay, haylage and silage were harvested in the first week of June 2005 and stored for about nine months before feeding. Horses that were fistulated in right ventral colon and caecum were used, but only the colon fistula was used for sampling. The fresh crop and the conserved hay, haylage and silage were analyzed for chemical composition and WSC-fraction.

Deposited waste material degrades within a short period in anaerobic environments. The methane gas that is formed provides a harmful contribute to the greenhouse effect, 23 times larger impact than carbon dioxide. It is therefore desirable to minimize the emissions of methane gas from landfills. This may be achieved by drain the landfill of gas. In this thesis the amount of produced methane gas at the landfill at Örebro has been calculated. Estimations have also been made of the amount of methane gas that might be produced in the landfill in the future.

Chewing behaviour includes both eating and ruminating activity. Chewing behaviour is of great importance for the feed intake as through the action of chewing (i.e. eating and ruminating) animals mechanically process the forages in small particle sizes and prepare the food for digestion. As cattle grow the chewing behaviour changes along with increasing body weight and chewing efficiency is increased. The aim of this thesis was to review the available scientific literature in order to describe chewing behaviour in growing cattle, as well as the factors that affect this behaviour.

The purpose of this report was to obtain an overview of rabbit meat production in the world, in terms of breeding and feeding. It examines how different feed components contribute to the health of the rabbit as well as the quality of the carcass, and the breeding strategies that are most common in the major producing countries. The production of rabbit meat in Sweden is at present not very large, but it is gaining ground, and that is why this paper mainly deals with the rabbit production abroad. This report also examines the disease Rabbit Viral Haermorrhagic Disease (RVHD) in Sweden, where this disease can cause big problems. The rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) is very special, both in its reproduction and digestion. There is no specific mating season and the digestive tract is designed to digest forage efficiently.

This study was carried out at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Dept. of Agricultural Research for Northern Sweden. The aim of the study was to determine how plant species richness and diversity influence the nitrogen pools and nitrogen fluxes in the soil. Plant and soil samples from a biodiversity experiment in grasslands were used. Thirty plots with 12 grassland plant species (legumes, grasses, and non-legume herbs), combined from 1-12 species were investigated.

Swedish horse breeders have generally very few mares producing a few foals a year and the breeders have relatively few traditions, little knowledge and experience to breed foals successfully. It is therefore important to provide adequate information about new findings in horse nutrition. However, there is not much research about feeding the suckling foal to ensure a sound growth. Current feeding recommendations in the literature seems to be different. This gives a confusing message and the information is difficult to apply. This paper reviews some publications in the area of feeding the suckling and weaning foal. Most authors stress that it?s important to start feeding the foal early in life.

One of the most serious and economically important defects caused by clostridia in milk products is the late blowing of semi-hard cheeses.Clostridia occur naturally in soil and can contaminate milk through crops contaminated by dung and soil followed by a less successful silage process, that give them opportunity to grow unaerobically. When anaerobic conditions occur, such as storage of semi-hard cheese, they ferment lactic acid to butyric acid and the gases CO2 and H2.At the fusion of Arla and MD Foods, a series of changes were conducted on the MPN method for lactic acid fermentation for clostridia in milk. These changes resulted in an increased accuracy due to an increased number of test tubes and the change of media from MRCM to BBB, Bryant & Burkey Broth, that was thought to be more selective for Cl. tyrobutyricum, the organism mostly found in hard cheese. When the number of dairy farmers that were given quality reduction fines increased, the new method was suspected and a validation was conducted.The validation included inoculation of different clostridia and bacillus strains into BBB substrate and enzymatic testing of positive samples with Rapid ID 32A.

The purpose of this thesis has been to gather knowledge about the complaints of tying-up in horses and to show that the importance of feeding. The thesis includes a literature review of tying-up how preventative measures by feeding can be made. In the equine sport, crosscountry, horses occasionally suffers from tying-up, a muscle disease. An increased knowledge about the disease is demanded by riders and trainers as the disease disrupts training and competition of suffered horses. A cross-country horse works very hard in training and during competitions but the work bouts are long enough for the muscle cells to use aerobic pathways in the metabolism.

Automatic rumination measuring can be applied as a health indicator in dairy farming but is also highly desirable for research purposes. This study aimed to validate the technical functionality of the product RuminActTM, which employ acoustics to monitor rumination duration. The time budget of high yielding cows was studied and possible differences in rumination time between 13 rations were interpreted. Further the study examined what affects daily rumination and rumination efficiency. The validation was performed with direct observations that were compared to the automatically recorded rumination durations.

The guinea pig is an important meat-producing animal in Peru as well as in several other South American countries. They are held in different kinds of systems, from the small backyard breeders with few animals to the large commercial farms with thousands of guinea pigs. One of the major issues at the farms is animals dying of unknown causes. Salmonellosis is often considered as a major cause, but samples for confirmation are rarely taken. It has been known for a long time that Clostridium difficile (C.

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether resistant maltodextrin is suitable as a fiber source in the probiotic fruit drink ProViva Mango without affecting the probiotic bacterium Lactobacillus plantarum 299v, viscosity or the sensory experience of the drink. Resistant maltodextrin is produced from hydrolyzed corn starch and is classified as a soluble dietary fiber. It is relatively resistant to digestion in the small intestine, where approximately 10% can be broken down, 50% can be fermented in the colon by the intestinal flora and 40 % is excreted in the faeces. Resistant maltodextrin has several important qualities when it comes to food processing. When added in a product, it does not affect the viscosity or taste and it is heat and acid stable.

Biogas is a gaseous fuel, rich in methane, produced through a biological route in an anaerobic digester. A gas engine generates combined heat and power, which can be used at the farm to reduce energy cost. The process also generates a digestate, with better utilization of nutrient compared to cattle manure. The aim of this study is to analyze the profitability of a farm-scale biogas plant for combined heat and power (CHP) at Wapnö. Wapnö is an agriculture company located in the southern part of Sweden.

Fast pyrolysis is a method for converting biomass into three energy rich products: char, gas and bio-oil, where the latter is most interesting.  Pyrolysis is an endothermic process where biomass is heated in an anaerobic environment and, with the right operating conditions, up to 80 %wt bio-oil can be extracted. Key parameters for fast pyrolysis are: stable reactor temperature (~500°C), short residue time for gas in the reactor (<2 s) and a very high heating rate for the biomass. Today there are several different process solutions for fast pyrolysis, where fluidized beds and rotating cones are most developed. Bio-oil has compared to fossil oil: lower heating value, low pH and also polymerizes with time. Because of this upgrading is desirable for increasing competitiveness.

Lotsbroverket is the largest wastewater treatment plant on the Aland Islands and it isdesigned for handling wastewater from approximately 30 000 persons. In 2011,Lotsbroverket produced about 2800 m3 of dewatered sludge. The sewage sludge that isproduced is transported to a contractor where it is processed to eventually be used e.g.in the construction of green space. This study aims to investigate available applicationoptions in terms of the sewage sludge that is produced in Lotsbroverket. The main aimis to study the feasibility of using the produced sewage sludge as a fertilizer in theagriculture of the Aland Islands.The sludge already fulfills limit values for heavy metals in accordance with the Act"The Aland Government´s directive on the use of sewage sludge in agriculture." Inorder to clarify the sludge content of pharmaceutical and organic substances it isrequired that the substances are identified and a risk assessment is performed.