This study investigated the effects of rubber alley flooring on cow locomotion, claw and leg health, production, cleanliness, grooming behaviour and cow exclusion rate in a free stall herd. The study was conducted in a new dairy house with a rotary milking system, with a matched group of cows on traditional scraped concrete alleys used for comparison. All claws were trimmed and lesions recorded at the beginning and end of the 4-month study. Locomotion, claw and leg health, behaviour and hygiene were observed and scored at regular intervals during the study. The results showed that cows on rubber alley floors displayed significantly (p.

Claw diseases are common diseases in modern dairy production. They are painful for the cow and costly for the producer. Differences in the prevalence of claw disease depending on housing system have previously been observed. This raises the question if there are genotype by environment (GxE) interactions for claw diseases in different housing systems. To investigate this claw trimming records for Swedish Red dairy cattle (SR) and Swedish Holstein cows (SH) were retrieved from the Swedish Dairy Association.

The Effects of dietary biotin supplementation on hoof health in Swedish dairy cows - a controlled cohort field study. The aim of the present degree project was to investigate the effects of biotin supplementation on hoof health in dairy cows. The experiment was performed as a controlled cohort study in three commercial farms in western Sweden from January 2002 to October 2002. The cows were all housed in cubicle systems with transponder concentrate feeding systems. Within each farm the cows were allocated to either biotin or control treatment. The biotin groups received 20 mg of biotin per cow and day, starting 14 days before expected calving.

AbstractBackground: Plantar fasciitis is the most common heel injury and is a long-term pain syndrom in the attachment of the plantar fascia to the calcaneus bone. The condition is treated mainly in primary care, but there is currently no treatment guideline for the treatment of plantar fasciitis in Sweden. The purpose of this study was to investigate which treatment that occurred in primary care in Dalarna, Gävleborg and Västmanland counties, which treatments that were most common alone and in combination with each other. The aim was also to investigate if the four most commonly used treatment methods as physical therapists said they had used were supported in the literature, and if there was any difference between county employees and private physical therapists in the choice of treatment method.Method: 100 physiotherapists in primary care in Dalarna, Gävleborg and Västmanland counties, received a questionnaire by mail. 80 of the 100 physiotherapists were county employees and 20 were private employees.

SUMMARYThe first and most basic skill a rider needs to learn is how to sit correctly in the saddle. This decides whether or not the rider will be able to follow the horse?s movements and use her riding aids in an efficient way. This correct seat is based on a straight line between the axis of the hip and heel. The seat must rest against the saddle with equal weight on both buttocks and the inside of the thighs.

About 80 % of all Swedish dairy cows are kept in tie-stalls, but loose housing is increasing, probably because it is more profitable for the farmer. The design of the floors is of cruicial importance to the cows well-being. Traditionally, the most common type of floor in the alleys of a cubicle system still is a slatted manure-draining floor made of concrete. The typical Swedish design has 125-mm slats and 40-mm slots, maximally. With too wide slots, there is an increased risk of injuries to the claws when the cow makes a hasty move.

The different material layers as part of a road construction fill all a function so theroad becomes durable, safe, comfortable and aesthetically pleasing. Recently, anew group of construction materials started to play an important role in roadconstruction ? geosynthetics.This thesis addresses the two most common types ofgeosynthetics used in modern road construction, namely geogrids and geotextiles.The most common use of geogrids is reinforcement of poor subgrade by usinggeogrid soil reinforcement, which occurs when road material particles wedge inthe geogrid?s mesh. Geotextiles act partly as a barrier that prevents the finermaterial in the below ground from being mixed with coarser upper material andalso act as a load spreader.Road contractors often face a choice of whether geogrids and/or geotextiles areappropriate in a particular road project and also how much profit the choice mightbring. This phase in the tender calculation process is the intended scope of thisthesis.The thesis deals with both the "hard" cost-function aspects and the "softer" values e.g.