Human-animal interaction is suggested to be a main feature within livestock production. The quality of handling, for instance, appears to be greatly depending on the attitudes and behaviour of the stock people. Various studies have been conducted on relationships between human and animals, but few have looked upon differences in human-animal interaction and attitudes between countries. Two countries often discussed in livestock production are The Netherlands and Sweden. It would be of interest to compare these two countries to find out whether (assumed) differences are reflected in the attitudes between animal handlers.

Ultrasound is a diagnostic aid often overlooked by the veterinary practicioner who works with farm-animals. However, it?s use increases, particulary for breeders where ultrasound has long been used to evaluate ovaries and to diagnose pregnancy or disturbances in reproduction. There is much knowledge in how to examine ovaries and uterus by transrectal ultrasound, but when it comes to doing ultrasound of other organs in the abdomen the knowledge is more limited. Cows are very large animals, so it is not possible to examine everything inside the abdomen with ultrasound, simply because the ultrasound beam has a limited penetration. There is also lots of gas inside the gastro-intestinal tract of a cow, mainly in the large intestine and the rumen, and that makes it impossible to examine the organs behind the gas since the ultrasound waves are reflected when reaching the soft tissue-gas interface.

Farmers? main reason for crossbreeding dairy Cows is that they have seen a decline in functional traits, especially in the Holstein breed. Throughout crossbreeding, the farmers can combine functional and production traits of different dairy breeds and utilize the heterosis effects which emerge when two or more breeds are crossed. Results from different studies with Holstein crossed with Jersey, Brown Swiss, Normande and Scandinavian Red have shown that the crosses had higher fertility, longer productive life, had fewer stillborn calves and had easier calvings than purebred Holstein. The Holstein crosses have shown very good results and sometimes even better than the purebred Holstein for fat production, which gave higher amount of energy corrected milk (ECM) and higher income for the farmers.

Water is an essential factor for both people and animals, and access to water is therefore of great importance. The water access also largely determines the availability of food for people and feed for animals. The aim of this study was to survey the affect of water access on milk production from dairy animals. The study included nineteen farm visits that were made in the Nyando district in Kenya between February and Mars 2011. Farm visits included interviews with questions about for example number of dairy animals, milk production, water access, feed and water routines.

Knowledge about feed racks for feeding forages to horses is lacking. Racks for sheep and Cows are sometimes used for horses. Feeding roughage on the ground, or feeding silage bales with the plastic and net still on, can bring on a lot of different problems. The opportunity to control the hygienic quality is small and feed losses can be high. The purpose of this experiment was to investigate how the eating behaviour and consumption of horses were influenced by feeding racks of different constructions. Feed losses and changes in chemical composition of the forage were also studied.

The purpose with this thesis was to form an opinion of how the animal welfare in Sweden is experienced by both farmers and animal inspectors. A great part of this work consists of an inquiry concerning the south and the middle of Sweden. We sent the inquiries to milk and meat producers and to animal inspectors. The response was high, which indicates that this is a subject that affects many people. Our literature study is mostly made on the library bases LIBRIS and LUKAS. The facts we found there were directed towards animal experimentation and furred animal breeding. In order to compare with earlier results we used investigations that had been made by Riksrevisionen 2003. There is a difference in opinions about the new Swedish animal welfare agency that started first of January 2004.

A variety of food is produced and passes the whole chain by processing, transport and trade and finally it ends up with the consumer. But in many cases, the food is disposed before it is eaten. Some of the produced food does not even pass the whole entire chain before it turns to waste. The question about food waste in debates is a case of access to food for every human beeing. It is question of consumption of the resources, waste management and an issue of environmental impact.

In this essay I have summarized important factors for an effective, but also successful, way to raise and house heifers. This study can be used for other dairy farms to use as guidelines in their process to raise heifers. To let outside heifer growers house, feed and have the heifers pregnant before return, can save a lot of work. But also moneywise, when the care and individual programs makes them strong and increases the growth.The result is a faster breeding and an earlier time for their first calving.In Sweden the heifers tend to be older if you compare with Denmark or United States where the custom heifer raising is well known and growing. One reason can be the Swedish laws regarding outside grassing for all Cows during the summer months.

Many pedigree dogs are suffering from inherited diseases or personality disorders caused by selective breeding. The Swedish lapphund is a breed that has been suffering from some loss of genetic variation due to the heavy use of only a few males. Concerns have arisen and crossbreeding has been discussed as a way to manage gene loss. Four breeds has been taken into consideration for this purpose; schipperke, finish lapphund, Norwegian buhund and Norwegian elkhound, black. These breeds has been tested theoretical by a comparison of mentality and health.

The aim of this literature study was to analyze how milk urea concentration is working as a measure of the nitrogen supply to rumen microbes and indicator of the environmental load. Questions included in this literature study were how to improve the dairy cattle nitrogen efficiency and what correlations there are between milk urea, nitrogen efficiency and crude protein content in the feed. Effects on the reproduction from high ration protein content are also addressed. Dairy cattle are today fed with large proportions of protein which could lead to high expenditure of feed and environmental pollutions. The nitrogen can be lost to the environment by different pathways; leaching, denitrification or by emission to the air.

The aim of this literature study was to analyze how milk urea concentration is working as a measure of the nitrogen supply to rumen microbes and indicator of the environmental load. Questions included in this literature study were how to improve the dairy cattle nitrogen efficiency and what correlations there are between milk urea, nitrogen efficiency and crude protein content in the feed. Effects on the reproduction from high ration protein content are also addressed. Dairy cattle are today fed with large proportions of protein which could lead to high expenditure of feed and environmental pollutions. The nitrogen can be lost to the environment by different pathways; leaching, denitrification or by emission to the air.

In this degree project I have tried to analyse thoughts about what?s important in the future work among students that are leaving the Land and animal husbandry programme. I have also asked employer to understand to what degree they knew about the coming employees thoughts about the future. The method was a questionnaire which was sent to 14 schools of Land and animal husbandry. The questionnaire was answered by students in their last schoolterm. I got 167 answers from students. 11 employer also were asked about their ideas conserning the students thoughts about their coming work. The questions where about wages, working environement, responsibility and further education. The questions were multiple choise.

Tuberculosis is one of many infectious diseases in the world and is responsible for a large number of human deaths each year. The cause is Mycobacterium ssp included in the tuberculosis-complex, there among Mycobacterium bovis and Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Infection with M. bovis causes bovine tuberculosis in cattle which in 90 % has a pulmonary location. Humans are infected mainly by milk from infected Cows but also by close contact with coughing animals or by eating raw meat.

Tuberculosis is one of many infectious diseases in the world and is responsible for a large number of human deaths each year. The cause is Mycobacterium ssp included in the tuberculosis-complex, there among Mycobacterium bovis and Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Infection with M. bovis causes bovine tuberculosis in cattle which in 90 % has a pulmonary location. Humans are infected mainly by milk from infected Cows but also by close contact with coughing animals or by eating raw meat.

SAMMANFATTNING När man i tidigare undersökningar studerat betesgång för mjölkkor har klimatet på betet inte beaktats. En höglakterande ko producerar mycket värme som hon måste avge till sin omgivning för att kunna bibehålla sin kroppstemperatur. De sätt som djuret kan avge värme på är begränsade och påverkas av flera klimatfaktorer samt djurets genetiska och biologiska förutsättningar. Antalet dagar som registreringar gjordes under denna studie blev av flera olika anledningar få, 18 dagar. Klimatet utomhus under studien registrerat som globtemperatur varierade från 22,4 till 34,7ºC. Då djurskyddslagen skall främja djurens hälsa och djurets naturliga beteende fick en grupp 126 höglakterande kor möjlighet att välja uppehållsplats under tiden 26 juli till 11 augusti. 2004. Korna fördes ut på betet vid niotiden på förmiddagen och var därefter fria att gå in och ur stallet efter egen vilja tills de togs in för kvällsmjölkning omkring klockan tre påeftermiddagen.