The Baltic Sea is threatened by eutrophication that largely is due to nutrient leaching from farmland within the catchment area. To solve this problem the surrounding countries cooperate within various configurations such as HELCOM and the EU-financed project Baltic Compass. Poor manure management in Russia has been discussed frequently the last couple of years. A literature review of different types of reports and legal acts is the core of this degree project which has been performed in connection to two ongoing research projects financed by EU (Baltic Compass) and SIDA. It is supplemented with interviews with Swedish agricultural consultants and travel reports from two occasions when I had the opportunity to discuss with Russians active within the agricultural sector. Different hypotheses were investigated and discussed. The environmental debate in Russia is quiet and there is a widespread approach that economic profit always trumps environmental concern ? a Soviet heritage that influence the Russian agriculture considerably. The Russian legal acts on stable manure management focus mainly on sanitary questions and only secondary on nutrient leaching.

Several bulls in Sweden are culled because of lameness. Studies of beef bulls have shown that osteochondrosis is an important underlying cause of hind limb problems (Persson, 2003; Dutra, 1998). Osteochondrosis in horses, dogs, swine, poultry and man are well documentated in the literature, but there are few studies in cattle. The prevalence of osteochondrosis in dairy bulls in Sweden is unknown. The aim of this study was to investigate the presence and localisation of osteochondrosis in the hindlimbs of dairy bulls. This study consists of 48 one-year-old bulls divided into four groups related to which farm they came from.

For this essay, 12 liters of cremated bones from the Viking age grave mound RAÄ Berga 134:1 in Trotteslöv, Berga parish, Småland have been osteologically analysed.  The aim with this paper concerned questions as sex, age, number of individuals and animal species in the grave. Further questions that have been investigated are the relationship between the osteological sexdetermination and artifacts as well as which role animals played in burial rituals and as grave goods.The grave contained a middle-aged woman and a number of sacrificed animals: two horses, two dogs, three birds, a boar and a cat. The bones were fragile and very fragmented. One of the birds was determined as a bird of prey, and that together with findings of horses and dogs indicates hunting with bird of prey, an activity performed only by powerful and wealthy individuals.  The woman was buried in a mound of notable size, and with common grave goods for the time period: combs, beads, bronze and iron items. An unusual finding was textile which indicates high status. The number of sacrificed animal species also suggests that the grave belonged to a powerful individual. During the Viking age animals generally played an important role in grave rituals and as items to be used by their master in the next life.

This work is intended primarily for animal nurses/veterinary technicians and describe parts of the rabbits digestive tract, causes of gastrointestinal disease, symptoms, diagnosis, general care of rabbits with gastrointestinal disease and how to prevent that gastrointestinal illness occur. The work is largely based on literature studies but also on a questionnaire sent out to rabbit owners to get answers on how they generally hold and care of rabbits, which gastrointestinal diseases that are most common, how owners care for their animals at home during illness and to examine if the owners think that the knowledge of this subject is good at his veterinarian/clinic.The purpose of this work is to improve the skills of animal nurses but also to improve the skills of owners through competent advice from animal nurses.The result show that gastrointestinal disease often is caused due to improper feeding and care of rabbits and therefore is advices from animal nurses an important part of preventive care. Animal nurses are also an important part of treatment of rabbits with gastrointestinal disease when supportive care as fluid therapy, supportive feeding and supply of a stress free environment is important for the animals to recover..

Electrical stunning is the method that has been used in Sweden to stun broilers prior to slaughter. However, for reasons of animal welfare and meat quality, research has been made in the EU to develop new stunning methods. Gas stunning is now regarded as the best alternative. In this study literature has been reviewed with focus on different gas stunning systems and observations have been made at two different slaughterhouses regarding animal welfare before, during and directly after stunning. At one slaughter plant carbondioxide was used in a two-stage system where the birds were standing on a conveyer belt during the stunning procedure.

Feral animal populations are distributed over many parts of the world and are often seen as a problem. Since they are a threat against other species, destroy farmlands and can spread dis-eases, they are often referred to as pests. Artificial selection has contributed to loss of genetic diversity in our domesticated animals. Feral animal populations are affected by natural selec-tion, which allows them to adapt to the environment. Their ability to adapt is a reason to see them as pests but can also be seen as an asset.

This thesis examines the sheep shed called Ronningsgift, and its historical functions and geographical location. The study aims to make a comprehensive gathering of the existing knowledge and to shed light on new theories about the history of Ronningsgift. This is done through desk research including literature and archive search, as well as an investigation and description of the construction and materials, and an interview. Further, I got the opportunity to take part of the results of two C14 samples from Ronningsgift. The literature and archive search shows that the most common theory of the historical function is as a guest house (g?ststuga/h?gstuga) or more traditionally called, Malst?ue/Malsteuvu.

The aim of this literature review was to discern which legislations and regulations related to animal welfare that comprises reindeer and their significance in reindeer husbandry. The Swedish Animal Welfare Act (1988:534) was enacted July 1, 1988 and its main purpose is to ensure a good animal health and environment. Animals that live in a good environment with good health is considered to have good welfare, which can be described as an individual's condition in relation to its surroundings. Reindeer herding is an extensive form without daily management. In reindeer husbandry there are eight specific seasons over the year and reindeer are handled as they migrates between pastures, get earmarks, are sorted for transport and slaughter.

Hepatitis E virus, HEV, is a frequent causative agent behind, especially waterborne, infections in developing countries such as India. However, during the last years the number of non-travel-associated infections in industrialised countries, for example US, Germany and Sweden, has increased. The symptoms vary from mild with nausea to icterus and it can even be lethal. There are four different genotypes of HEV and many studies consider HEV infection to be a zoonosis. Scientists have by using phylogenetic analyses found great genetic similarity between strains isolated from humans, pigs and food, such as pork and liver, especially among viruses belonging to genotype 3.

Dogs with behavioral problemsThis study was made to investigate if there was a problem in today?s society regarding dogs showing for example excessive aggression and/or anxiety. The main questions in this study was "is there a problem today" and "if there is a problem, what can we do to prevent it". To investigate these questions interviews were made with six different professions concerning the dog domain. The result of the study shows that three of the interviewed considered it to be a problem, one did not have an opinion on the matter and two choose not to call it a dog related problem because it mostly depends on the owner.

Milk yield levels in dairy cows are influenced by many factors such as nutrition, breed, health status, management and environment. This study was conducted among small scale farmers in Zambia, where the climate can be dry for up to six months per year and cause a lack of green pasture for livestock and on-farm produced feed. The purpose of this study was to identify management factors that can influence milk yield at small scale dairy farms in Zambia, and present advice that could improve productivity, without the need of expensive investments. The study included semi-structured questionnaires presented to the farmers (n=29) including questions about cattle management and milk production. Testing of somatic cell count (SCC) with DCC (DeLaval Cell Counter) from herd milk samples (n=56) and observation of housing and animal body condition on-farm was also made.

AbstractAuthors: Mikael Gustafsson & Kristofer von WachenfeldtTitle: With help from people and cattle; to recover from mental illness in a rural environment [translated title]Supervisor: Kent-Inge PerseiusPurpose: The aim of this study was to examine feelings of recovery from mental illness in the perspective of individuals participating in Nymålen; a rural- situated facility focusing on recreation- and work- related interventions. The study took place outside of Oskarshamn, Sweden. The study focused on if, and in that case how, Nymålen contributes to recovery from mental illness. We were also interested in which factors affecting the recovery-process, as expressed by the participants themselves.Method: Eight individuals from Nymålen participated in individually performed semi- structured interviews. The collected data was then coded and categorized to enable further analysis by using Qualitative content analysis inspired by Graneheim & Lundman (2003).

This work is intended primarily for animal nurses/veterinary technicians and describe parts of the rabbits digestive tract, causes of gastrointestinal disease, symptoms, diagnosis, general care of rabbits with gastrointestinal disease and how to prevent that gastrointestinal illness occur. The work is largely based on literature studies but also on a questionnaire sent out to rabbit owners to get answers on how they generally hold and care of rabbits, which gastrointestinal diseases that are most common, how owners care for their animals at home during illness and to examine if the owners think that the knowledge of this subject is good at his veterinarian/clinic.The purpose of this work is to improve the skills of animal nurses but also to improve the skills of owners through competent advice from animal nurses.The result show that gastrointestinal disease often is caused due to improper feeding and care of rabbits and therefore is advices from animal nurses an important part of preventive care. Animal nurses are also an important part of treatment of rabbits with gastrointestinal disease when supportive care as fluid therapy, supportive feeding and supply of a stress free environment is important for the animals to recover..

Anthelmintic resistance is a major problem in sheep husbandry all over the world. One way toslow down the development of anthelmintic resistance is to keep part of the parasitepopulation in refugia (unexposed to drugs) which will maintain the genes for susceptibilitywithin the population. Climate, type of parasite and drenching regimes effect the size of therefugia. Dilution of resistant with susceptible parasites, targeted treatment and targetedselective treatment are all management strategies that employ refugia. Dilution is possible butcomplicated.

Research where personality in animals is studied is becoming more and more common. In this area there are different concepts like behavioural syndrome and animal personality and they usually talk about consistency in behaviour over time and situations. This consistent individual behaviour can be used as an indicator of how individuals can handle and adjust to new situations in the environment. Because of this, personality studies in animals are very important in animal welfare. In this study personality in dairy cattle in lose housing were studied.