Icelandic horses are becomming increasingly common in Sweden. The owners of Icelandic horses in Sweden usually believe their horses to be different from other breeds. Icelandic horses are predominantly considered to be less reactive, less neophobic and easier to handle than other breeds. Swedish owners of Icelandic horses also usually try to house and handle their horses in a way similar to the traditional extensive Icelandic way. There are no scientific studies of breed differences between Icelandic horses and other breeds, or of the housing of Swedish Icelandic horses.

Automatic milking systems (AMS) are part of a growing trend in Sweden and the number of milk-producing farms is decreasing rapidly. One main reason for the AMS is its ability to facilitate work for the farmer. The effects of introduction prior to calving have not been documented earlier and farmers are not in agreement, however they seldom see a problem with the introduction. The aim of this report is to find differences between two groups of heifers, where one group is trained i.e. introduced to the AMS before calving and the other group is introduced after calving.

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.

Oestrus in dairy cattle has changed over the last decades; the intensity of oestrus has declined and the duration decreased. Several studies have shown that not all dairy cows stand to be mounted, and that oestrus expression in many cases may be characterized by other behaviours. The aim of this study was to investigate oestrus behaviour in a herd of todays? high producing dairy cattle. The study was carried out at Jälla naturbruksgymnasium in Uppsala during one week in January 2011.

The purpose of this literature review was to investigate how the rearing systems influence the behaviour of dairy calves. Calves are social animals that form groups within the herd where play and social licking between calves are important social activities. Suckling is a complex behaviour and essential for the calf's survival. In the modern rearing systems the calf is usually separated from its mother soon after birth. Calves are then kept in individual pens, group pens or, more rarely, with a foster cow.

The purpose of this study was to find possible explanations to why the studied herd had an increased incidence of abomasal displacements. The incidence of abomasal displacement in the herd was three times higher than the incidence of an average Swedish herd. The cows in this study were fed a total mixed ration. The different parameters studied were: energy content in food, nutritional content in food, body condition scoring, concomitant other diseases, and blood parameters of glucose, fructosamine, cholesterol, insulin, betahydroxybutyrat and free fatty acids. The author?s suggestions to decrease the problems are to decrease the energy content in the TMR to lower the cows? body condition scores in the dry period and changing the content in the TMR to increase the amount of NDF and adding structure in the form of chopped straw.

The incidence of damage to the claws and legs in piglets caused by the floor in farrowing pens is a widely known problem and very common in today's pig herds. Although the association between floor and damage has been known for over 35 years, no suitable solution has been found to reduce the negative impact. The purpose of this study was to make a literature study to document the experiences of the use of different types of flooring in farrowing pens and also, in an own study, examine if soft floor in farrowing crates could lead to reduced damage to the claws and legs in piglets compared to concrete floor. The study was conducted in two herds, A and B. In each herd, farrowing pens with concrete floor and concrete floor with polyurethane coating were compared.

The fertility of dairy cows is of great importance in order to maintain high production. The decline in fertility of dairy cows the latest decades can have several explanations. The large emphasis on high yielding cows and the negative genetic correlation between milk production and fertility traits could be one of the main factors for impaired fertility. To find heats and inseminate the cow at the right time is crucial to receive high conception rate. Delaval has, in corporation with FOSS, developed Herd Navigator which is a management program that measure four biological parameters in the milk; progesterone, betahydroxybutyrate, lactate dehydrogenase and urea.

Rearing in organic pig production differs from conventional rearing; pigs have outdoor access and larger space allowances. Regardless of production system all pigs are transported before slaughter and during transport pigs are crowded together in a new environment and in a space smaller than they are used to. As pigs in organic herds are reared at even larger space allowances than conventional pigs, such crowding could possibly have a stronger impact on pig behaviour and well-being. Six pig producing herds, three conventional and three organic, were visited and pigs from each herd were enclosed during 12 minutes in a test area corresponding to the crowding on a transport vehicle. During the crowding, pigs? behaviour was observed, before and after enclosure in the test area skin lesion scores were recorded, and also measures of heart girth (for weight estimation) was done.

Behaviour problems are often behaviours that cat owners don´t like, but are normal to the cat. The reason to why cat owners experience certain feline behaviours as problematic is probably due to the current practice in cat housing. The ways that cats are kept today causes somewhat of a compromise between cat and owner and inhibits the expressions of the cat's natural and normal behaviour. The cat owners may misunderstand their cats behaviour, for example the cat owners believe that their cats perform certain behaviours because of feelings of guilt, hate, revenge or maybe to protest against something or someone. An animal hospital may help solve behaviour problems, but also help the cat owners to undstand their cat´s behaviour in an other perspective. The aim of this study is to investigate the need of a cat ethologist in animal hospitals.

Infection with the bovine lungworm - Dictyocaulus viviparus - is occasionally a problem in Swedish cattle herds. The infection could act in synergism with other infections such as Corona virus to create a poorer welfare and productivity in cattle. Studies have shown that a diagnosis can be made with both the Baermann method and with an ELISA. In Norway diagnosis of BVDV on a herd level is attained through pooled serum samples. The question was raised whether pooled serum samples could be used in a similar fashion to attain status on a herd level for lungworm.

Piglet survival is of importance because it affects the farmer?s economy and the welfare of the pigs. There are several factors affecting piglet survival and they are often linked to each other. This paper will focus on how the behaviour of the sow can affect the growth and survival of the piglets and also possible causations of differences in maternal behaviour. Sows in intensive production systems have different possibilities to express their maternal behaviour than free ranging sows.

In Kenya the Maasai pastoralists have based their livelihoods on dairy production and the production goal is to maintain a sufficient milk supply throughout the year. The pastoral dairy production has two vital characteristics; breeding and milking. Traditionally, breeding is the men?s responsibility, while milking is the duty of women. Depending on this partition of chores between men and women, they also have different management routines, ambitions and strategies regarding the milk production.

The evaluation of the function of the feeding of sheep herds is suggested to involve the work effort, the fulfilment of the nutrient needs of the sheep and the feed waste. Mechanisation of the feeding can be very simple or include high degrees of mechanisation. Three different farms, representing different levels of mechanisation are presented. Descriptions and analysis of the feeding systems including mechanisation, work effort and estimations of the feed waste are made on each farm. The herd with the most advanced feed mechanisation included a rolling feed band and mix wagon. The other farms were partly or little mechanised including ad lib feeding from big bales and manual distribution of hay and concentrates. The most mechanised farm was able to feed a large herd of sheep at a low work effort and little feed waste. However, the investment in machinery has to be weighed against the improved efficiency.

AbstractHerbivores can be classified into either hiders or followers depending on their postpartum behaviour. The two behaviour types affect the spatial relationship between the mother and her infant. Goats are seen as hiders, although the environment plays a central role when it comes to the behaviour. Therefore, in the first part of this study the aim was to investigate how the goat kids? spatial relationship changed in the transition from indoor housing to pasture.