Mulesing is a surgical husbandry procedure performed on lambs in Australia. The reason is toprevent severe fly-strike to the breech area, which otherwise risks to be soiled with faeces.This problem is mainly occurring in sheep of the Merino breed. Their fine wool is in demandworldwide due to high quality. Mulesing has been performed since the 1930?s, and eventhough alternative methods have been discussed nothing is yet generally accepted.

A decade ago the organic egg production in Sweden was nearly nonexistent (Föreningen för ekologisk fjäderfäproduktion, 2008). A rising demand for these products in the beginning of year 2000 made the organic egg production the most increasing production of all organic provisions. The Swedish consumers value provision production that have a reduced impact on the environment and further protects the wellness of animals and plants (Jordbruksverket, 2010). Today, the organic egg production composes roughly 6 % of the total egg production in Sweden. This indicates that the ambition of Jordbruksverket, which has an organic egg production goal of 10 % of the total production, is not yet achieved.The consumer demand on the market is the driving force for these new products, and the higher prices contribute to an essential portion of the additional costs of organic egg production (Jordbruksverket, 2004).

A possible way to reduce pollution and slow down the process of global warming is to increase the usage of renewable energy sources. One of these renewable energy sources is solar power. With the aid of solar panels and solar cells the energy from the sun can be transformed into both heating and electricity. The requirement to use the sun in this fashion is a suitable surface, for example a big roof, an angle between 40-60 degrees and that the surface should be exposed to the south. Almost every farm meets these requirements.

To date, the genus Helicobacter consist of 26 different species and even more species are yet to be characterized. Helicobacter has been detected in connection with diseases in the liver and pancreas in humans and animals. Helicobacter spp. are gram negative, curved, S-shaped or spiral shaped bacteria. They are microaerophilic and have flagella that make them motile. Helicobacter, present in the gastric mucosa neutralize the gastric acid through production of urease that hydrolyses urea to ammonia and bicarbonate.

The horse was domesticated about 6000 years ago. Since then humans have used the horse for different purposes, such as work force and in sports. Horses are social, group living animals that spend around 16-17 hours a day on grazing. Horses are often kept stabled in single boxes with a limited feeding time. The forage usually contains grain-based concentrates and roughage.

Francisella tularensis, the causative agent of the zoonotic disease tularaemia, is highly contagious and potentially fatal for a wide range of wildlife species of the northern hemisphere, also humans. Although recognized as a pathogen for over 100 years, much still remains to be elucidated concerning the ecology and transmission of the bacterium, hence this literature overview aims at compiling data regarding the aquatic association and the role of mosquitoes in transmission of Francisella tularensis subspecies holartica, the sole subspecies in Sweden. While a linkage between the bacterium and natural waters stands beyond dispute, there is no consensus in the literature concerning its potential as a reservoir. However, two prevailing theories can be distinguished; one proposes the water association being mammaldependent and thus merely the result of contamination from semi-aquatic mammals living in close vicinity to the water source. The other, quite contrary, suggests mammal-independence and hence that water, possibly in association with protozoa, serves as an environmental reservoir for the bacterium.

In Swedish sheep industry it is desired to have lambs slaughtered evenly distributed over the year. Swedish sheep are generally seasonal breeders with lambs born in the spring and slaughtered in the autumn. Some of the breeds, e.g. Swedish Finewool and Roslag sheep breeds have shown ability to lamb out of season. For increased knowledge on the possibilities to breed for out-of-season lambing in Swedish sheep breeds, the aim of this master thesis is to study the variation in frequency of two alleles in the MTNR1A gene in the three breeds; Gotland, Swedish Finewool, and Roslag sheep.

In some herds it has been observed that extremely short teats have become a problem; with a negative influence on the milking performance. The aim of this study was therefore to investigate to what degree the quality of the teats and the milk in cows with short teats is affected as compared with cows with normal teat length and furthermore if the milking performance could be improved by using a liner adapted to short teats. This study was divided in two parts. In the first part, it was examined if there were any differences between short teats and teats with normal length with reference to the milking performance, udder emptying, teat treatment, milk quality, and udder health. 11 pairs of cows were used and in each pair of cows one cow had teats shorter than 40 mm while the other cow had teats longer than 50 mm.

Several bulls in Sweden are culled because of lameness. Studies of beef bulls have shown that osteochondrosis is an important underlying cause of hind limb problems (Persson, 2003; Dutra, 1998). Osteochondrosis in horses, dogs, swine, poultry and man are well documentated in the literature, but there are few studies in cattle. The prevalence of osteochondrosis in dairy bulls in Sweden is unknown. The aim of this study was to investigate the presence and localisation of osteochondrosis in the hindlimbs of dairy bulls. This study consists of 48 one-year-old bulls divided into four groups related to which farm they came from.

There are many theories why animals play but none have jet been proven. During observation on Canids, play seems to be important when they learn to control the intensity of the bite and to facilitate the social structure within a group. When dogs play they perform behaviours that otherwise are used during hunting, reproduction and aggression that in another context would be for example hostile. The dog is one of the species that we humans have domesticated and they have been exposed to an intense and concentrated breeding so they can function in different areas, for example herding and hunting. This breeding has resulted in that the pure bred dogs can be very different between the breeds.

Bacillus anthracis is the causative agent of anthrax, a serious and globally distributed zoonosis affecting a wide range of wild and domestic animals, invariably also humans. However, although known to humans since biblical times, much remains to be elucidated concerning the ecology and transmission of this bacterium. Of particular interest is the Bacillus anthracis spore, the uptake of which is the predominant way to contract anthrax and which is legendary for its resilience in the environment and thus crucial for persistence and spread of the disease. Hence, the aim of this study is to review the natural transmission of Bacillus anthracis and investigate potential means by which soil persisting Bacillus anthracis spores reach concentrations sufficient to infect susceptible hosts. When reviewing the literature, three different theories can be distinguished. Firstly, ?the incubator area? hypothesis suggests that favourable soil factors, possibly in association with amoebas, may constitute an environment supporting repeated spore-bacterium-spore cycling, thus increasing the local amount of spores.

Rift Valley Fever (RVF) is a disease caused by Rift Valley Fever virus (RVFV), which is an arbovirus. An arbovirus is a virus that is transmitted by an arthropod vector, in this case a mosquito. The virus is a member of the Phlebovirus genus in the family Bunyaviridae. It was first identified in the Rift Valley in Kenya in 1930. The disease is a zoonosis but mainly affects domestic ruminants inducing massive abortions and a high mortality among young animals.

In today?s genetic evaluation of Swedish beef cattle, mainly traits that are directly related to productivity are measured. However, other traits, such as temperament and mature cow weight affect the economy of the farmer, as well as the welfare of the animals. This thesis evaluates possible ways of measuring new traits, with focus on temperament and mature weight of suckler cows. The goal is to examine the possible benefits of including these traits in the Swedish breeding scheme.

ABSTRACTThe principal aim of the study was to compare the feeding behaviour of cattle, sheep and goats on pasture and explain any differences between speices. Furthermore, I compared foraging behaviour between dry season and the beginning of the rainy season, in order to see any relationships between weather and behaviour.The study was carried out in Shompole in southern Kenya. Behavioural data were collected by observing herds of cattle, sheep and goats on pasture. The livestock were herded on pasture during the days and kept in bomas, where people live, during the nights. The weather in Shompole is characterized by high ambient temperature and low, bimodal rainfall.

The Egyptian religion viewed the whole world as divine and inhabited by both gods and men. Concepts such as death was therefore explained through myths. The ancient society feared death but desired an eternal life. The Egyptians saw death as a physical dismemberment of the body as had happened in the myth of Osiris when death was first introduced to the world. Osiris functioned as a prototype for all men as he had overcome death by finding a new existence in the netherworld.