Mastitis in dairy cows is an emerging and challenging disease in the tropics, including India. Nation-wide reports suggest that the incidence of clinical mastitis varies from 3.94% to 23.25%, and for subclinical mastitis from 15.78% to 81.60%. In Assam, a northeastern province of India, dairy is an essential part of the mixed farming system that exists in the state, but the milk yield is far below domestic standards. In 2009-2010, International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) and local associates started to develop a training program for local farmers in Assam, in order to enhance the informal bovine dairy sector in and around Guwahati, India. The project continued until mid-2013.

The presence of cystic ovarian follicles represents an important ovarian dysfunction and is a major cause of reproductive failure in Dairy cattle. A cystic ovarian follicle is a persistent follicular-like structure on one or both of the ovaries. It is at least 2,5cm in diameter and it has to persist for at least ten days while a corpus luteum is missing. There are two kinds of cystic ovarian follicles, those who have a progesterone production and those who have not. A clear definition for this condition is lacking, probably because the heterogeneity of the clinical signs and the complexity of the disorder.

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.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the kind of treatment strategies used by Swedish Veterinarians with cattle practice when treating calves with symptoms of pneumonia. A questionnaire, consisting of seven questions, was sent to one hundred veterinarians who have had practice with cattle and are employed by the Swedish Board of Agriculture. The survey was answered by a total of 73% of the Veterinarians. Of the respondents, 73 % use Penicillins as their first choice of drug for treating calves with symptoms of pneumonia, and as their second choice 64 % use Tetracycline. Supplementary treatment such as NSAID (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) and/or SAID (steroid anti-inflammatory drugs) are used by 97.5 % of the respondents.

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.

By examine cremated remains from graves dated to late Iron Age I wanted to find out what sorts of animals were placed in the graves. But also to see if the animal sacrifices had any connection to the Old Norse religion. The osteological material that were analysed were from both cremated humans and animals and had been dated to Viking Age. The material is from burial ground 59 at Laxare, Boge parish on Gotland. In addition to the human remains, the material contains bones from horse, cattle, sheep/goat, pig, dog, cat, bear, birds and fish.

Beef cattle wintering outdoors should be provided a shelter, e.g. a type of barn or corresponding. This type of production requires appropriate soil types and secured animal welfare. For example, a clean and dry resting place needs to be provided to the animals. To receive an exemption for buildings the farmer has to have something equivalent that provides an adequate shelter.

Mellanchefer sitter idag på en position där de är tvungna att förhålla sig till ett stort antal faktorer som påverkar dem i deras arbete. Deras situation passar därför alldeles utmärkt för att undersöka aspekter som har med begreppet handlingsutrymme att göra. Vi har med hjälp av Tetra Pak Dairy & Beverage Systems AB tagit reda på vilka faktorer som påverkar deras mellanchefers handlingsutrymme. Detta gjordes genom att inledningsvis identifiera ett antal övergripande ämnesområden som ansågs påverka handlingsutrymmet i hög grad. Ämnesområdena fick sedan ligga till grund för de kvalitativa intervjuer vi använde oss av för att få in vårt empiriska material.

Cattle used for meat production can be held outside all year round and due to the legislation they should have access to shelters or other buildings for protection against the elements giving them a dry and clean bedding. There are different opinions concerning their need of protection and the question about necessity of shelters for cattle is of current interest due to a less profitable economy in meat production and the investment costs for shelters. The aim of this study was to acquire more knowledge about the natural behaviour of cattle concerning their use of shelters. The basis of the study was a series of questions regarding when animals choose to stay in shelters, if shelters were used less when they had access to protecting vegetation, how temperature and weather conditions affected the use of shelters and the influence of distance between shelter and feed. Behavioural studies was conducted at five different farms where six groups of suckler cows and heifers of following breeds and crossbreeds were observed; Aberdeen Angus, Charolais, Hereford, Scottish Highland Cattle, Simmental and the Swedish breeds SKB and SRB.

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.

Sweden is considered to have one of the world's highest animal welfare standards in agriculture. Despite this, there are shortcomings in animal husbandry. One example is overcrowding, which is a way to increase stock size without making costly investments in the buildings. It can be carried out systematically to increase profitability or due to, for example uneven calving during the year. The European Commission criticizes the fact that stocking density is not controlled under Swedish welfare inspections.

Magnesium is an essential mineral that is important for several physiologic and biochemical processes in the body. Deficiency of magnesium is mainly associated with grass tetany, but can also appear in cows during the indoor period. Since long it is known that potassium has a negative effect on the absorption of magnesium. Due to the fact that potassium fertilisation leads to a higher potassium content in forage, it is of interest to study interactions of potassium on the magnesium balance in dairy cows. There are few studies about magnesium feeding to dairy cows in Sweden and the purpose of this study was to investigate how much magnesium and from which feed-sources dairy cows in Sweden get their magnesium. Data was collected from seven farms in the northern part of Uppland and from seven farms in Skaraborg in Sweden.

Sweden is considered to have one of the world's highest animal welfare standards in agriculture. Despite this, there are shortcomings in animal husbandry. One example is overcrowding, which is a way to increase stock size without making costly investments in the buildings. It can be carried out systematically to increase profitability or due to, for example uneven calving during the year. The European Commission criticizes the fact that stocking density is not controlled under Swedish welfare inspections.

Distillers? grain is a by-product of ethanol production. Corn, wheat and barley are the grains that are generally used in the distillery process. Distillers? grain is rich in protein and phosphorus.

Investment costs for eight different type housing systems for dairy cows has been calculated in order to compare the building costs as a function of herd size, shelter type and automatization. A commercial calculation programme for building was used and complemented with prices of equipments specific for dairy cow building. Herd sizes were 120, 250 and 400 cows. The milking equipments were automatic milking system (AMS), parallel parlour with 32 stalls (2x16) and rotary parlour with 24 stalls. Shelter was either insulated equipped with automatic cable driven scrapers on solid alleys, automatic feed wagon on rails, or uninsulated with manual manure handling and a tractor driven mobile mixer wagon on a drive-through feeding table. Building cost per cow or per kg milk was calculated using an average life time and 6 % interest rate and annual milk yield is 9 500 kg/cow and year. Structure effect 3-4 % higher for an insulated structure than in an uninsulated for 400 and 120 herd respectively. This is much lower compared to what is normally argued.