Individual identification of pigs could be used in commercial herds for production monitoring, disease monitoring and breeding evaluation. This study investigates the possibility of using microchips designed for dogs and cats to identify individual pigs from birth, through rearing to carcass at the slaughter plant. Two different sizes of microchips, and two different ages of the pigs at injection were tested. Castrates and gilts from ten litters were evenly distributed between chip sizes and injection ages. All pigs were identity marked with both electronic ear tags and injected with microchips.

A reward cycle for investigating the emotional status in animals has been developed and it requires that animals go through three main phases, i.e. anticipation, consumption and relaxation. The reward cycle has not been tested previously for access to play in pigs. Therefore, the aim of this Master thesis was to investigate if growing pigs showed more behaviours indicative of excitement than pigs that were not allowed to play, performed play in a play arena and showed more behaviours indicative of relaxation after play when they were back to their home pen than pigs that were in their home pen the whole time. Forty undocked piglets (10 litters of Specific Pathogen Free half pure-bred Yorkshire and half hybrids of Yorkshire x Landrace balanced for breed between two treatments were used.

Tail-biting in pigs is an animal welfare issue and in Sweden during 2002 the producers lost tree million Swedish crowns because of tail biting. This economic loss depends on the pigs which are discarded at slaughter because of tail biting. Tail biting can be separated into two stages, "pre-injury" and "injury". The aim of this study is to investigate if tail biting depends on environment or genetic background.A lot of research on the environments effects on the behaviour of pigs but not so much on the genetic effects has been performed. The frequency of tail biting in pig farms influence among others of environment enrichment, ventilation, gender and breed of the pig.

In the current study, the aim was to investigate whether tail posture and motion can be an indicator of the emotional state of pigs and if the tail posture of the pig is affected by social breeding value (SBV), coping style and/or housing. Emotional state can be defined in two dimensions: valence and arousal. Two batches of 96 finishing pigs were studied in a one generation selection experiment with a 2x2 set up and were housed in a barren or straw bedded pen. In each pen, 6 pigs (3 male, 3 female) were housed. A back-test was done to determine the coping style of the pigs with two categories; high resister and low resister pigs.

Background: Domestic violence is a globally widespread problem. One in three women will at some point during their lifetime suffer from domestic violence. These women, who come from all groups of society, often seek contact with health care and therefore the nurse plays a vital role in caring for these women.Aim: The aim of this study was to describe nurses? experiences of caring for women subjected to domestic violence.Method: Literature review based on twelve original articles.Result: The result is presented in four main themes: Lack of knowledge and education, The nurse?s approach and attitude in the encounter with women who suffered domestic violence, The nurse?s emotional challenges in the encounter with women who suffered domestic violence and The nurse?s experience of identification of domestic violence victims.Discussion: Education is important on several levels for the nurse's work with domestic violence victims. Education is required in order to efficiently identify the women, manage emotional impact and to respond to women in a professional manner..

The aims with the project were to investigate how forage consumption affect production and pigs behaviour around the feeding. This degree project was designed to follow 48 growing/finishing Hampshire*Yorkshire pigs, from 30-110 kg live weight, fed diets with or without 20 % forage inclusion. The pigs were divided in three groups due to dietary treatment. In the first group the pigs were fed 20 % of the energy in the feed ration by long grass/clover silage (LE) and the remaining 80 % by a cereal concentrate. Group two was fed chopped grass/clover silage mixed with cereal concentrate (HE) in the same amounts as LE.

During pre-slaughter handling of pigs the animals are often subjected to methods that induces stress and are a threat to the wellbeing of the animals, such as mixing of groups, loud noise and transportation. A new law will be implemented in 2006 in Sweden that prohibits mechanical noise exceeding 65 dB in abattoirs. The purpose of the research presented in this paper was to examine the effects of noise and transportation on pig behaviour. The activity and aggressiveness of the pigs were examined with behavioural studies during transportation and during three different noise levels: 55, 75 and 95 dB. Before the noise treatments took place the groups were mixed and half of them were transported for approximately 2 hours. In the study 432 pigs were used.

With a starting point in the legislation for organic production set up by the Swedishcertification organization KRAV, the reasons to why these regulations are important isexplained and how pigs are affected by these rules. The study also shows how well the pigscope in the organic environment considering the origin of the genetic material; from theconventional pig population. The conclusion is that pigs do function fairly well in the organicproduction environment and the traits affecting their functionality involve: motheringabilities, strong legs, good meat quality, good sow durability and longevity, capacity to eatmuch roughage and dark skin color. There are however still many ways of improving theorganic population of pigs to make them more adjusted to the organic environment; forexample different traits brought into the breeding goals and the choice of good parent animals..

With a starting point in the legislation for organic production set up by the Swedishcertification organization KRAV, the reasons to why these regulations are important isexplained and how pigs are affected by these rules. The study also shows how well the pigscope in the organic environment considering the origin of the genetic material; from theconventional pig population. The conclusion is that pigs do function fairly well in the organicproduction environment and the traits affecting their functionality involve: motheringabilities, strong legs, good meat quality, good sow durability and longevity, capacity to eatmuch roughage and dark skin color. There are however still many ways of improving theorganic population of pigs to make them more adjusted to the organic environment; forexample different traits brought into the breeding goals and the choice of good parent animals..

In 1993, Sweden signed the Convention on Biological Diversity and thus agreed to conserve our indigenous biological diversity. As a part of the convention, Sweden is obliged to conserve a number of domestic animal breeds and among them the Linderöd pig. In 1952, the zoo, Skånes Djurpark, took care of a pregnant sow that was regarded to be related to the old "forest pig". The old forest pig was thought to have been extinguished by the early 20th century as a result of the ban on boars not approved by state inspectors. However, according to later accounts, several farmers still kept some of these non-approved pigs.

During the time of membership in The European Union Swedish domestic policy has gone through many changes. A lot more political areas are being influenced by the EU policy. Today every ministry has got some sort of EU office. Swedish politicians are functioning on two arenas, domestic and European. At the same time Swedish membership has gone from being highly discussed to being a state of normality.

Virulent strains of Staphylococcus hyicus produce exfoliative toxins and cause a potentially fatal skin disease in piglets known as exudative epidermitis. Vaccines and antimicrobials are used to control the disease. Antimicrobial resistance and the prevalence of several different toxin genes and toxigenic strains make it problematic. The aim of this literature study was to identify potential differences between countries and between healthy and diseased pigs regarding antimicrobial resistance and toxin-producing strains. Great differences could influence vaccine production, treatment strategies and surveillance programs.

African Swine Fever (ASF) is one of the most serious transboundary swine diseases because of its high lethality for pigs, socioeconomic consequences, rapid and international spread and the absence of either treatment or vaccine. This Sida Minor Field Study (MFS) was carried out during fall 2010, as part of a larger collaborative research project called ASFUganda, focusing on the epidemiology of the disease in Uganda. The aim with this study was to get more knowledge about the pathology in cases of ASF in Uganda, by studying macroscopic and microscopic lesions in pigs with acute and chronic ASF and to detect the ASF virus (ASFV) in tissues by immunohistochemistry. The pigs were selected from the two different geographical locations in Uganda, Mityana and Gulu district, both with on going confirmed outbreaks of ASF. Necropsies were performed in the field, and the laboratory procedures at the JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency) Veterinary Pathology Laboratory, Entebbe, Uganda, and at the Department of BVF, SLU, Uppsala, Sweden. Three pigs from an outbreak of ASF in Mityana district showed both the history and the clinical symptoms typical for ASF.

Pigs kept for meatproduction are often surgically castrated to prevent aggression and boartainted meat. Castration without analgesia and anesthesia is painful and causes a lot of stress to the pig. There are alternatives such as to surgically castrate the male pigs with analgesia and/or with anesthesia, immunocastrate or keep them as intact males. In Sweden the most common practice is to surgically castrate the pigs before they are seven days old. The impact on the pig is that the incision causes pain and stress, which may lead to changes in behaviour, reduced appetite, reduced growth and a higher risk of infections.

Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) is one of the leading causes of acute encephalitis in humans. The virus is spread by mosquitoes, mainly belonging to the Culex species. The main reservoirs are considered to be birds and pigs, with pigs constituting the most important reservoir in regard to human infection. During the last few decades the production of pork has increased significantly in Vietnam. With 90% of pigs being kept in households owning 10 pigs or less, pigs are widely spread across most parts of the country.