To be able to provide the growing human population with food, the productivity of the animals as well as land use needs to be improved and intensified. Hence, understanding the behavior of animals is crucial both for animal welfare and productivity as well as the management of the cattle. There are many factors affecting the grazing behavior of cattle in tropical conditions, such as human-animal interactions, herd management, breed, season and temperature. The purpose of this study was to investigate the grazing behavior of two tropical cattle breeds, Ankole and Boran cattle. Kenyan Boran belongs to a zebu type of cattle and is preferred to many other breeds due to the higher productive and reproductive capacity and adaptability to tropical conditions.

Botanically diverse pastures are commonly used in New Zealand to reduce the ruminant environmental impact by reducing the methane production from the rumen digestion. In order to evaluate the effects diverse pasture species have on the milk fatty acid profile seventy-two Lactating Friesian-Jersey crossbred dairy cows were used in a randomised block design with two replicates of six treatments. Six different pasture mixtures were fed at a daily allowance of approximately 15 kg DM/cow/day. The mixtures were categorised as either a simple or a diverse pasture. The simple mixtures all contained white clover with the addition of either a standard diploid perennial ryegrass (RG), a diploid high sugar ryegrass (HS) or tall fescue (TF).

Introduction: Pregnancy, obesity, aging and certain diseases are examples of conditions thataffect the body, its constitution and composition. Simpler methods to estimate bodycomposition are needed to complement more advanced traditional methods to better identifythe health status without sacrificing accuracy and precision.Objective: To validate the results of body composition from bioelectrical impedancespectroscopy (BIS) against results from the study reference method, dual energy X-rayabsorption (DXA), in overweight and obese Lactating women after childbirth.Method: The design of the LEVA-study (Lifestyle for Effective Weight loss during lactation)consisted both intervention and longitudinal follow-up, which gave the opportunity tovalidate the absolute values (accuracy) and the ability to detect changes (precision). Themean difference between methods was tested statistically by paired t-test. Bland-Altman plotsused to examine the degree of agreement between BIS and DXA, but also distribution andany systematic differences. Association between methods was measured by using Pearson´scorrelation coefficient.Results: Between BIS and DXA, absolute measurements of the variables fat-free mass (FFM)and fat mass (FM) showed a statistically significant difference (p < 0.001).

Cows affected by mastitis caused by Klebsiella (K.) pneumoniae often become seriously ill. In some cases herdproblems may occur. Contaminated bedding material is considered to be one of the most common risk factors for klebsiella mastitis. In a recently performed study in USA it was found, however, that more than 80 % of healthy, Lactating dairy cows excreted K. pneumoniae in faeces.

Heat stress negatively influences the performance of dairy cattle such as lactation and reproduction. Heat stress can cause production losses as well as welfare problems. Years of research have shown that heat stress is a huge problem for dairy cattle in both the tropics and temperate zones but no such research have so far been done in northern European countries. It seems like shade is an important tool when improving pasture conditions and therefore deserves more attention. The aim with this study was to investigate whether there is a need of providing shade for grazing dairy cows during the summer in Sweden. Two groups of Lactating Swedish Red dairy cows (n=15 per group) were kept on pasture.

The purpose of this study was to examine vitamin A and E in equine nutrition and especially in relation to forages. A literature review was conducted to examine factors that influence the level of vitamins present in forage, the vitamin A and E requirement of horses, and the absorption of vitamin A and E in horses. The influence of DM level on alpha-tocopherol and beta-carotene content in ensiled forage was investigated in a controlled ensiling study using baled silage and haylage. The results from the ensiling study were combined with data of vitamin A and E concentrations collected from literature. Calculations were done to theoretically establish how well the vitamin content in ensiled forage can cover the maintenance requirements of vitamin A and E in horses.

Feed costs constitute a large part of the expenses of dairy farmers. Pasture is a high quality feed with a low cost. However, feeding with concentrates has been shown to enhance milk yield (Leaver, 1985; Bargo et al., 2003; Stockdale, 2004). The purpose with this study was to investigate how milk yield and milk composition were affected as the concentrate proportion in the diet decreased. Pasture behaviour was examined to see if the different concentrate levels affected the time cows spent grazing and ruminating.

Fertility is of central interest in the dairy production but has during the last decades declined. Increased milk yield has resulted in high pressure on the metabolism of the dairy cows that are supposed to manage the transition from dry cows to Lactating cows within a few weeks around the parturition. Much indicate that metabolism and fertility are closely linked, with insulin playing a substantial part. There are many studies suggesting that the main part of gestation loss can be found during the early embryo development, a period which can be studied in vitro. The aim of this study was to test the effect of insulin during maturation in vitro and to evaluate two different fluorescent stainings on oocytes and embryos; a nuclear stain and a staining of apoptotic cells through the terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL)-method. Bovine cumulus-oocyte-complexes (n=991) were aspirated from abattoir-derived ovaries.

The Swedish Welfare Act § 4 says that "Animals must be kept and cared for in a good environment for animals and in such a way that promotes their health and allow them to behave naturally." Pigs in the wild spend 80% of their waking hours walking around and rooting for food, eating and exploring their environment with its snout. Fattening pigs in commercial farms spend 80% lying doing nothing. A Lactating sow is lying down most of her day, and only 10-20% of the body surface is in contact with the floor, so the pressure is high on these spots. Piglets lie down and paddle with their legs, with high liquid content in the tissues, several times an hour, to stimulate and massage the sow's udder. In the existing system, these individuals are held more often on floors that are anything but inviting to sleep on.

The purpose with this study was to analyze the possibilities to produce organic lambs and to hihglight the most common difficulties in such a production system. A description of current organic and conventional lamb production systems was conducted, both from Sweden and from some other countries. The Department of Animal Environment and Health at SLU in Skara performed the project together with The County Board of Agriculture in Västra Götaland and Värmland and The Swedish Animal Health Service. The project lasted from 2002 to 2004. The student report contains the years 2002 and 2003. In the year of 2003 there were 210 000 adult sheep in Sweden, of which 16 400 adult sheep were certified by KRAV. Of the different countries in Sweden, Västra Götaland and Gotland had the largest number of sheep, 14 and 13 per cent of the total number.

Mastitis in dairy cows is an emerging and challenging disease in the tropics, including India. Nation-wide reports suggest that the incidence of clinical mastitis varies from 3.94% to 23.25%, and for subclinical mastitis from 15.78% to 81.60%. In Assam, a northeastern province of India, dairy is an essential part of the mixed farming system that exists in the state, but the milk yield is far below domestic standards. In 2009-2010, International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) and local associates started to develop a training program for local farmers in Assam, in order to enhance the informal bovine dairy sector in and around Guwahati, India. The project continued until mid-2013.

SAMMANFATTNING När man i tidigare undersökningar studerat betesgång för mjölkkor har klimatet på betet inte beaktats. En höglakterande ko producerar mycket värme som hon måste avge till sin omgivning för att kunna bibehålla sin kroppstemperatur. De sätt som djuret kan avge värme på är begränsade och påverkas av flera klimatfaktorer samt djurets genetiska och biologiska förutsättningar. Antalet dagar som registreringar gjordes under denna studie blev av flera olika anledningar få, 18 dagar. Klimatet utomhus under studien registrerat som globtemperatur varierade från 22,4 till 34,7ºC. Då djurskyddslagen skall främja djurens hälsa och djurets naturliga beteende fick en grupp 126 höglakterande kor möjlighet att välja uppehållsplats under tiden 26 juli till 11 augusti. 2004. Korna fördes ut på betet vid niotiden på förmiddagen och var därefter fria att gå in och ur stallet efter egen vilja tills de togs in för kvällsmjölkning omkring klockan tre påeftermiddagen.

In Automatic Milking Systems (AMS), cows are kept in a free stall barn equipped with one or several milking units (MU). The cows? activities in the system are called cow traffic. There are three types of cow traffic systems: guided, partly-guided and free. Free systems have no gates, allowing the cows access to the feeding and resting areas at any time.