Today automatic milking systems (AMS) are growing in popularity. In these systems the Cows are loose and have to get to the robot and the feed on their own. The Cows ranking in this system affect their welfare. In this study data from seven years in an AMS was used and analysed. The aim was to investigate how ranking could affect the behaviour of the Cows at milking and at feeding.

The Swedish Animal Welfare Act say that all milking Cows must have access to pasture in summer time. That was a gift to Astrid Lindgren o her 80th birthday from the Swedish Government. Sweden is a predecessor in animal welfare, but how well do we live up to these big expectations? In this thesis I will examine how well the pasture for milking Cows works. I have been interviewing farmers with milking Cows and people in the business. I have also been searching information on Internet, and using the library of Alnarp. Cows that are kept on pasture are exposed to different kind of parasites, but on the other hand they run a smaller risk to getting acetonemi, pareses and udder infection. Veterinary Pierre Nordmark means that Cows on pasture are more healthy then Cows kept inside all summer.

Compared with a few years ago, the cost of concentrates has increased substantially and because of that an increased proportion of pasture is of interest. Pasture is cheap and the farmer does not have to harvest when the Cows do it themselves by grazing. This saves both money and time. According to research milk yield decrease with an increasing proportion of pasture in the diet. This is because Cows on pasture will have lower dry matter intake than Cows with supplements.

Ten Cows suffering from displacement of abomasum (DA) were treated with two different electrolytesolutions. The DA Cows showed symptoms typical for the disease. Four out of 10 Cows had a metabolic alkalosis and two a metabolic acidosis. The Cows were mildly hypocalcemic, and 9 out of 10 were mildly to moderately hypokalemic. Six out of 10 Cows showed muscle fasciculations.

The animal welfare act in Sweden states that dairy Cows need to have at least a dim light present at night, but there are no recommendations for what intensity the light should have. It is unknown how Cows perceive and react to low light intensities and earlier studies on this topic are limited. Red light as night light has also been suggested, based on the Cows? inability to perceive red light. This have however been questioned. The aim with this study was to investigate how four different light intensities affect dairy Cows behavior.

The purpose with the study was to find a pattern in the behaviour of dairy Cows which could be related to their social rank. A behavioural study was conducted at the University Cattle Research Centre (Kungsängen) in Uppsala, Sweden. The study included 12 lactating dairy Cows, 6 high ranked and 6 low ranked. The Cows were housed in a loose housing barn with an automatic milking system (AMS) to which they had access 24 hours a day. During the experiment the total number of Cows in the barn was 46.

This study was performed to investigate the possibility to use ultrasonography as a diagnostic tool for sub-clinical mastitis in dairy Cows. Five Cows with high cell counts, and four Cows with low cell counts were selected as cases and controls, respectively, and their udders examined with ultrasound during a 5 week period. The image of the udders of Cows with high cell counts exhibited small, hyper-echoic, rounded foci, approximately 1 cm in diameter, near the milk cisterns and the base of the teats. These changes were not found consistently in all Cows with high cell count, however. Ultrasonography may be a valuable complementary tool in the diagnosis of sub-clinical mastitis in dairy cow, but more cases need to be monitored before its full value can be ascertained..

The main interest of this study was to investigate whether there is hyperglycemia or hypoglycemia in Cows suffering from abomasal displacement and to evaluate the effect of transport on blood glucose. Thirty-six Cows with left- or right-sided abomasal displacement were included in the study together with 17 Cows with other diseases for comparison. Fifteen Cows with abomasal displacement and 7 Cows with other diseases were sampled before transport. One third of the Cows with abomasal displacement had hyperglycemia when the transport effects were corrected for. Separating this group in left- and right-sided abomasal displacement we found significantly higher blood glucose and insulin levels among Cows with right-sided abomasal displacement. An explanation for this difference may be a strong stress response secondary to the right-sided dislocation.

In the dairy production it is necessary to be able to sort Cows. Dairy Cows are sorted for many different reasons i.e. regrouping into production strings or for treatments i.e. inseminations, pregnancy and health checks, vaccinations or hoof trimmings. One labour saving way of conducting sorting is by using an automatic sort gate.

The purpose with this study was to investigate how the behaviour and physiological parameters differ between high ranked and low ranked Cows, and between Cows in an automatic milking system verses conventional milking parlour. The study was carried out at the Kungsängen research Centre, Department of animal nutrition an management, Swedish University of Agriculture Sciences, Uppsala. Twelve Cows, the six highest and the six lowest in social rank were selected from the automatic milking system for the experiment. Ten Cows, the five highest and five lowest in social rank were selected from the conventional system. Blood samples were taken during milking and resting.

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of an infusion of hypertonic saline solution (HSS) in combination with an oral waterload on Cows suffering from rightsided displacement of the abomasum (RDA). Six dairy Cows were treated with 7,2% HSS in a dosis of 5 ml per kg bodyweight. They also received an oral waterload of approximately 15 liters. To monitor changes in fluid-, acid-base- and electrolyte-balance, bloodsamples were collected during the next 24 hours. During this period, the Cows also underwent surgery to empty and correct the position of the abomasum.

It?s been noted that Cows held at the section of ruminant medicine and epidemiology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (IME), used for the education of veterinary students, have a lower heart rate than what is considered normal for ruminants. In this investigation the heart rates of seven lactating Cows were recorded continuously during the period around drying off. The first recording took place at the farm from where the Cows were bought, and then their heart rate was monitored after their arrival at IME and further on until they were completely dried off. The results were then compared to the heart rate of seven already dried off Cows from the same farm.

Today, there are no regulations saying that Cows must have access to some kind of shelter at pasture during the summer. In more tropical countries, it is well-known that dairy Cows might suffer from heat stress when exposed to sun and high temperatures. The well-being of the Cows is thereby reduced and the production may also decrease. In Sweden, no research has been done in the area and therefore it is now a clear need of improved knowledge.The purpose of this study was to investigate the importance of shade for dairy Cows in Sweden. The behaviour of 30 Cows was examined to see any differences between Cows with access to shade and Cows without access to shade.

The aim of this literature review was to investigate whether the modern dairy cow has the time she needs to lie down and to sleep and what deprivation of these behaviors could lead to. Current research seems to agree on the fact that sleep is essential but there is no uniform explanation of the function of sleep, even though there are many theories. It is known that sleep has an important impact on the immune system and that sleep is increased in case of an infection. Sleep deprivation causes many negative effects including reduced function off the immune defense, increased metabolic activity, malnutrition and increased heart rate. It has also been found that deprivation of sleep could cause increased mortality.

The purpose of this study was to find out if motion movements, e.g. number of lying bouts and lying time with a registered activity monitoring sensor can detect an impending calving and thereby be used as a measure and an indicator for an upcoming calving. For this, automatically step sensors were used and were attached to one of the Cows? hind leg. The sensor registered the individual step and movement activity of the cow.