Developments in milk production are heading towards fewer but larger herds where the milking process is often fully automated. Automatic milking systems were launched in the 1990?s and in the year 2010 the Automatic Milking Rotary (AMR) was introduced. As a rule there are no supervision personnel present during the milking event in systems with automatic milking. This means that there is a risk that cows can be incompletely milked in one or more udder quarters, for example if the robots fail in attaching the milking cups or if the cow kicks off the milking unit.

SUMMARY By altering the longitudinal slopes of the cubicle floors the drainage could be improved. If the altered slopes also position the cows further back in the cubicles the effect could be cleaner lying surfaces. In result this would lead to lower labour requirements, cleaner cows, cleaner udders and a minimization of the risks of mastitis. However, if the altered slopes lead to that the cows position themselves more diagonally in the cubicles the positive effects could be reduced. The altered slopes could even have a negative influence on the animals? natural lying behaviour.

This study is based on an earlier interdisciplinary study made by Redbo et al., (2000), Extensive cattle production systems ? out wintering, which lasted over two winters, 97/98 and 98/99, with two groups of heifers indoors and two groups of heifers outdoors raised in different environments, indoors or outdoors during their second winter. Both indoor and outdoor heifer groups were fed grass silage ad libitum throughout the experimental period that lasted from October until May. The objective of this study was to evaluate the long term effects of being raised in these two environments. This study includes data collected during the period lasting from the start of the experiment of Redbo et al., (2000) until the heifers had calved a second time and the results mainly deal with the performance of the animals after the experiment during their first two calvings and their first lactation.

In this report female farmers use of technical equipment is investigated. There is little research made on this subject in Sweden, therefore this report can be seen as an explorative study. Research makes it clear that machinery, throughout history and even today, has been seen as a male area. Heavy machines are often associated with the same attributes as masculinity. Force, power, efficiency and control are some examples.

In this report female farmers use of technical equipment is investigated. There is little research made on this subject in Sweden, therefore this report can be seen as an explorative study. Research makes it clear that machinery, throughout history and even today, has been seen as a male area. Heavy machines are often associated with the same attributes as masculinity. Force, power, efficiency and control are some examples.

In this report female farmers use of technical equipment is investigated. There is little research made on this subject in Sweden, therefore this report can be seen as an explorative study. Research makes it clear that machinery, throughout history and even today, has been seen as a male area. Heavy machines are often associated with the same attributes as masculinity. Force, power, efficiency and control are some examples.

Summary The size of the Swedish dairy farms increases and also the demands for rational manage-ment of the herd without affecting the animal welfare enhance. One way to handle the manure in the cow shed alleys is to have automatic scrapers. In this system the scraper has to get rid of the manure somewhere. The most common way of doing that today is to let the scraper deliver the manure under some kind of gate or covering over the manure culvert. When the scraper goes under the gate or the covering there is a risk of squeezing animals and farmer.