About 80 % of all Swedish dairy cows are kept in tie-stalls, but loose housing is increasing, probably because it is more profitable for the farmer. The design of the floors is of cruicial importance to the cows well-being. Traditionally, the most common type of floor in the alleys of a cubicle system still is a slatted manure-draining floor made of concrete. The typical Swedish design has 125-mm slats and 40-mm slots, maximally. With too wide slots, there is an increased risk of injuries to the claws when the cow makes a hasty move.

ABSTRACT For hundreds of years there has been a tradition with tethered dairy cows in Sweden. The last decades the old fashioned way to hold cows have been questioned and the number of dairy cows in loose housing has been increasing. Last year (2004) 19 percent in total of all farms with milk production in Sweden had their cows in loose housing. Because of EU-legislation concerning all organic production no farms are allowed to build tie stalls any more and after 2010 all organic dairy cows are supposed to live in loose-housing systems. The aim of the thesis was mainly to find out the number of farms with tethered organic dairy cows and if they will continue after the year 2010. Furthermore the purpose was to study if there are any regional differences, how countries similar to Sweden interpret the EU-decision about tethered cows and differences in buildings between organic and conventional farms and the reasons to them.