After I heard that two deadly accidents in farming 2003 were created by work with cattle, I got the idea of writing this degree project. So far there are not too many reports written about safety for the worker nor the animal. Therefore it will fit in with a report about safe handling of free stalled cattle. The Swedish Board of Agriculture would also like to do an information material about outside stalled cattle with this degree project as a background. The collecting of material was made by visiting farmers. The goal was to visit 15 ? 20 herds and when this is being written 19 herds have been visited.

Metabolic diseases in dairy cows are considered to increase the risk for claw lesions, most of all laminitis, sole haemorrhages and sole ulcers, but also to increase the risk for environmental claw lesions. The aim of this study was to compare claw health in 27 Swedish dairy farms, 18 with high incidence of metabolic diseases and 9 with low incidence. Data on claw health status was retrieved from recordings at routine claw trimmings and analysed on herd level regarding the prevalence of: any lesion, interdigital dermatitis, heel-horn erosion, sole haemorrhages, sole ulcer, lameness, abnormal claw shape, and other diseases (abscess in the white line, limb disorders, double sole, laminitic groove, white line disease, interdigital phlegmon, interdigital hyperplasia, toe abscess and verucose dermatitis). Mean prevalence of any lesion for herds with low incidence of metabolic diseases was 48 % and in herds with high incidence 41 %, and there was no statistical difference between the two groups. Mean prevalence for interdigital dermatitis was 2,0 % and 6.4 % in the low and high incidence groups, respectively (p.

Bakgrund: Den 20:e april 2010 inträffade en explosion på BP:s oljeplattform Deepwater Horizon i Mexikanska Golfen. Explosionen uppstod på grund av metangas som under högt tryck expanderade på plattformen och sedan antändes. Detta ledde senare till att oljeplattformen sjönk och ett stort okontrollerat oljeläckage uppstod på cirka 1500 meters djup.          Att explosionen i den mexikanska golfen har påverkat BP negativt och varit mycket kostsamt för företaget är uppenbart, börskursen hade som mest sjunkit med cirka 60 procent. Det kan vara intressant att undersöka huruvida denna katastrof, utlöst av en enskild aktör, också har spridit sig över till andra aktörer i Olja & Gas sektorn.Syfte: Syftet med denna C-uppsats är att undersöka huruvida BP:s katastrof i den Mexikanska golfen har påverkat andra aktörer i samma sektor (Olja & Gas sektorn).Metod: Sekundärdata presenteras som en kvantitativ ansats i form av siffror och för att kunna dra slutsatserna använder vi oss av en deduktiv ansats.I denna studie tillämpas en metodikteknik i form av en eventstudie, där beräkningar av den abnorma och förväntade avkastningen baseras på marknadsmodellen. Vidare har två hypoteser testats, där syftet med Hypotes I är att pröva huruvida information om händelsen i den Mexikanska Golfen påverkar andra företag i samma sektor som BP.

Since long, Sweden has had exceptionally low calf mortality compared to most other countries. The tradition has been to keep calves in individual pens. With increasing number of cows per herd there is now a larger interest in more efficient and economical group systems for housing calves. However it has been noticed that bigger herds have more health problems and higher calf mortality than smaller herds. The early signs of disease are harder to detect when the animals are not fed manually.

The top selection of Swedish beef bulls are evaluated yearly by Svensk Köttrasprövning AB at Gismestad. The bulls are selected from six different breeds; Angus, Blonde d´Aquitaine, Charolais, Hereford, Limousin and Simmental, and are kept on straw bedding apart from a concrete alley in front of the feeding area during the six months of evaluation period. The bulls are evaluated according to their fertility scores, growth, exterior and temperament and the exterior, body posture and claw conformation reflect important qualities for their longevity. In spite of good values for fertility, it has been noticed in the last years that the fertility results and longevity have been unsatisfactory and claw and/or bone disorders have been suspected as a contributory cause. Persson et al. (2007) studied breeding bulls from Gismestad and other places, which had been slaughtered due to poor fertility (no pregnancies in the herd during their last year in service).

In the farrowing pens the amount of bedding material and the quality of the concrete floor has a huge impact on both the sow and the piglets. In this study imbedding of rubber flooring on the solid area in the farrowing pen was used to see if it had any effects on the sows lying behaviour when compared to concrete. Another important aspect was to evaluate if the rubber floorings had a high enough durability to resist the normal wear in a farrowing pen. Concrete flooring is assumed to have a higher thermally conductive effect then rubber which can affect the sow?s chance to cool down.

In Sweden, there has been a continuous increase in the volume of housing construction for dairy cattle. Since 2004, the number of new, rebuilt and extended dairy cow houses undergoing preliminary inspection by the authorities has grown. The livestock farms have mostly focused on cow units instead of calf and heifer sheds; which has led to a need for information in this area. The purpose of the study was to improve advisors? knowledge about bovine building construction and function; to enable them to provide more qualified advice to conventional and organic milk producers who sustain larger herds.

The incidence of many of the most common diseases in dairy cattle has been proven to be highest during the time closest to calving. It is possible that the current breeding strategy with 12 month calving intervals increases the risk for disease in dairy cattle, which is problematic concerning both animal welfare and for economic reasons. The economic incentives behind a calving interval of 12 to 13 months have mainly been based on milk- and feed- costs and no costs due to diseases or fertility disturbances have been included.The aim of this study was to see if a lengthening of the calving interval would result in lower disease frequency. The hypothesis is that cows with a planned calving interval of 15 months have a lower disease incidence than cows with a calving interval of 12 months due to less number of calvings. Therefore the difference in disease frequency should be larger when compared over a long period of time, such as over lifetime, since cows with a longer calving interval experience fewer calvings.The study was performed between August 17th, 1994, and January 24th, 2007.

Sheep production is the only animal production in Sweden that is increasing. Therefore,increasing knowledge of the production is of great interest. In order to run a viable sheepproduction, producers needs to be successful in the breeding of the animals and achievean economic surplus in the end. Lambs that are born healthy and vital have greaterconditions to perform high lamb weight gains and thus a successful production. Thereare many factors affect the survival, birth weight and early weight gain of the new bornlamb.

Sheep production is the only animal production in Sweden that is increasing. Therefore,increasing knowledge of the production is of great interest. In order to run a viable sheepproduction, producers needs to be successful in the breeding of the animals and achievean economic surplus in the end. Lambs that are born healthy and vital have greaterconditions to perform high lamb weight gains and thus a successful production. Thereare many factors affect the survival, birth weight and early weight gain of the new bornlamb.

Den svenska mjölkproduktionen har de senaste 30-35 åren ändrat struktur. Idag blir gårdarna färre och större, med fler djur och flera anställda. Den veterinära rollen kommer att behöva utvecklas sida vid sida med mjölkföretagen och omformas, från den brandsläckare som används vid akuta sjukdomstillstånd, till en proaktiv besättningskonsult. Syftet med den här studien var att kartlägga några faktorer som kan tänkas påverka inriktningen och omfattningen av den svenska veterinärens arbete med mjölkkor på besättningsnivå. Studien utgjordes av en intervjuundersökning där 23 veterinärer med verksamhet i mjölkkobesättningar medverkade. Samtalen spelades in och bearbetades med fokus på att beskriva faktorer som påverkade inriktning och omfattning av veterinärernas arbete på mjölkkor, vad den enskilde veterinären definierade som förebyggande arbete samt vad som skulle kunna öka det förebyggande arbetet.

The trend in milk production is similar in Sweden and across the world; the farms are getting fewer but increasingly bigger. The costs for hiring workers are increasing, which results in more cows per animal keeper. Sensors can then be a great tool for keeping track of animals which need special attention. With a reported decreasing fertility, sensors that can detect oestrus even at low levels can be especially helpful in bigger herds to pinpoint the cows that may be in oestrus. The number of farms with dairy cows that install AMS, Automatic Milking Systems, are increasing, and that also increases the need for sensors to control milk quality and composition when there is no visual control of the milk by a milker before milking starts.For the sensor data to be useful you have to have software designed to analyze and interpret the data to get relevant information that the farmer can use.

The milk production has developed rapidly the last years. The milk production per cow is increasing and the production units are larger with an increasing number of animals and a decreasing number of workers. Many milk producers invest in automatic milking systems (AM) to meet this change. In these systems the cows can voluntary decide milking frequency and usually the milking frequency are higher than two times per day. But how does the milking frequency effect the composition of the milk? The aim of the present study was to study the effect of milking frequency on the milk composition and the milk fat quality.

After parturition the energy demand for milk production is greater then the energy provided from the diet. The cow mobilises therefore body tissues to compensate for the energy loss. Live weight and body condition scores decreases as a consequence of the mobilisation. The aim of this study was to analyse the relationship between body condition score, live weight and subcutaneous fat depth measured by ultrasound and the changes during the lactation. Possible differences between Swedish Holstein (SLB) and Swedish Red and White Cattle (SRB) were also investigated.

Difficult calvings and stillbirths are problems in Swedish dairy production that result in large expenses for the farmers and welfare issues concerning the animals. A common opinion is that the live weight of SRB and SLB is increasing, and whether increased weights have caused the increase in calving problems has been discussed. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between the relative birth weight (calf/cow) and calving difficulty and stillbirth, respectively. The importance of breed and parity for the relative weight has been investigated, and comparisons with previous studies have been made to evaluate whether the relative weight has changed over the last decades or not. The study was based on 807 calvings, registered during the period 1993-2003 in the experimental dairy herd of the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (Jälla).