A shorter dry period length has in studies abroad showed some positive effects among high yielding dairy cows. Among other things it has been suggested that the periparturient metabolic stress becomes lower, that the fertility is improved and dry off becomes gentler for the udder, due to a lower milk yield. The milk yield is generally reduced during the first period after calving, especially among primiparous cows. The aim of this master thesis was to investigate how Swedish cows were affected by a shortened dry period, regarding milk yield, metabolism, health, body condition and body weight from two months before calving to some weeks after calving. Also plasma concentration of lactose during the period before calving was determined.

Animal welfare is of increasing concern in present society. In commercial pig farming, animal welfare problems are common. One of the causes for these problems is the barren environment in which pigs are housed, which can cause oral manipulation of pen mates. Providing straw might be one solution to this problem. Another solution could be reached through genetic selection.

Bakgrund: Osteoporos är en skelettsjukdom som ökar risken för frakturer. Sjukdomen i sig ärasymtomatisk men frakturerna som uppkommer leder till morbiditet och ökad mortalitet. ISverige beräknas en tredjedel av kvinnorna i åldrarna 70-79 år ha osteoporos i höften ochförekomsten förväntas öka i och med att Sverige får en allt äldre befolkning. En strategi föratt minska risken för frakturer är att öka bentätheten. På senare år har det gjorts flera studiersom undersökt om komjölksprotein kan öka bentätheten.Syfte: Att undersöka om intag av komjölksprotein påverkar benremodelleringen och/eller gerökad bentäthet hos unga människor, vilket skulle kunna leda till ett högre peak bone mass.Sökväg: Sökningar i PubMed och Scopus efter originalartiklar utfördes under april 2011.Sökord som användes var ?Milk AND bone mass/density?, ?Milk protein AND bonemass/density?, ?Milk basic protein AND bone mass/density?.Urvalskriterier: Originalartiklar på svenska/engelska som undersökt effekten av intag avmjölkprotein på bentätheten med hjälp av Dual energy X-ray absorbtiometry (DXA), samt påbenremodelleringen med hjälp av biomarkörer inkluderades.

Robotic milking in Automatic Milking systems (AMS) is proposed to reduce manual labour and at the same time increase milk yield by increasing milking frequency. In order to increase milking frequency, it is essential to have well-functioning cow traffic. Investing in an AMS is a great capital investment for the farmer, thus it is of major importance to ensure maximal AMS capacity. This study investigated the effect of the traffic systems Feed First? and Free cow traffic with and without waiting area (WA) on cow performance and AMS capacity.

This study was performed to investigate the bacteriological quality of French cheeses made from raw milk. Fifty cheeses of this type were purchased from Swedish retail premises. The methods described by the Nordic Committee on Food Analysis (NMKL) were used to determine the number of Enterobacteriaceae, presumptive Escherichia coli, coagulase positive staphylococci and Listeria monocytogenes. In 32 cheeses (64%) the number of bacteria mentioned above exceeded the determined maximum value. Thirty samples (60%) showed high counts of Enterobacteriaceae.

Bakground: Puerperal fever caused by group A Streptococcus is in a global context seen as a common cause of death in childbirth.Aim: To examine the consequences of group A streptococcus infections in women postpartum and to see what a nurse can do to stop the infection with adequate nursing interventions.Method: This is a review built on 15 articles. These articles were read in full and audited with a suitable template.Result: Women postpartum has 20 times higher risk to get group A stretococcus infection as compared to non pregnant. The consequences of Group A Streptococcus infection can lead to high fever, abscesses around the uterus, sepsis, acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), hysterectomy and death. Patients who share room with infected patients carries an increased risk to be infected. Curtains between patient beds can be colonized by Group A Streptococcus.

Earlier studies have shown that musculoskeletal disorders among animal keepers are more frequent than in other occupations. Most of the farms have expanded and the farmers who used to work alone have suddenly become a work manager with several employers. There are only a few studies made on the work environment in dairy farms. Our study is based on a questionnaire and is a part of a project called large dairy herds. The study is based on data from the persons who milk most of the time. The questions they had to answer were about the work environment, musculoskeletal disorders and the psychosocial environment. The results of the survey are presented in diagrams and figures. It was common that the dairy producer themselves answered the questionnaire.

The purpose of these theses is to show the financial economical situation during the change from conventional dairy production to ecological production. The thesis is accomplished by collecting information from literature and interviews where needed. The target group of these theses is dairy producers who will transform their production from conventional dairy production to certified ecological dairy production. The theses emphasise on the economic situation during the adjustment years. For this I have studied a presently producing dairy farm.

Francisella tularensis, the causative agent of the zoonotic disease tularaemia, is highly contagious and potentially fatal for a wide range of wildlife species of the northern hemisphere, also humans. Although recognized as a pathogen for over 100 years, much still remains to be elucidated concerning the ecology and transmission of the bacterium, hence this literature overview aims at compiling data regarding the aquatic association and the role of mosquitoes in transmission of Francisella tularensis subspecies holartica, the sole subspecies in Sweden. While a linkage between the bacterium and natural waters stands beyond dispute, there is no consensus in the literature concerning its potential as a reservoir. However, two prevailing theories can be distinguished; one proposes the water association being mammaldependent and thus merely the result of contamination from semi-aquatic mammals living in close vicinity to the water source. The other, quite contrary, suggests mammal-independence and hence that water, possibly in association with protozoa, serves as an environmental reservoir for the bacterium.

The virus-mediated disease Rift Valley fever (RVF) was discovered during an outbreak in Kenya in the 1930s. Since then it has spread to most parts of Sub-Saharan Africa, and in the last decades several outbreaks have caused economic and health issues in Africa, Yemen and Saudi-Arabia. The disease mainly affects domestic livestock, causing abortions, but is also a zoonosis. To be able to control the spread of the disease it is important with surveillance for better knowledge about the distribution and virus circulation even in inter-epidemic/epizootic periods. The human population is growing, and people and their livestock constantly move closer to areas with wild animals which act as reservoirs for different viruses. Also, humans and their animals often get within reach for arthropod vectors, hosting or carrying viruses.

During the last decades the fertility of dairy cows has declined in the same rate as the milk yield has increased. This is a result of the negative genetic correlation between milk yield and fertility, failure to show estrous signs and metabolic problems in the cow. The purpose of this review was to investigate the function of metabolites and hormones as markers for disturbances in fertility, health and production in the dairy cow. There are several metabolites that are suggested to indicate the cow?s energy balance.

When I got the opportunity to write this examination did I want to write about something that I both was interest in and also can use in the future. I think it?s going to be difficult to carry on the milk production with only 28 cows. I wanted to investigate the possibility to increase the herd of cows. I also wanted to compare this cost with a new cow house the cows where milked with a robot.

Background: About five percent of the infants being born in Sweden are cared for in a neonatal unit because of their prematurity. Breastfeeding and breast milk is considered to be the best nutrition for infants in general and for premature infants in particular. The premature infant, depending on how premature, may not be able to breastfeed effectively due to their immaturity. Stress, anxiety and fatigue are factors that affect breast milk production in a negative direction and these feelings are common in the neonatal unit.Aim: To illuminate mothers? experiences of breastfeeding the premature infant in the neonatal unit.Method: A literature review of eight studies with a qualitative research approach, published between the year 2000 and 2012 was conducted.

Weaning is one of the most critical events in the piglet production with problems such as growth check and post-weaning diarrhea as a result. The lighter the piglets are when the growth check occurs, the harder they have to get back to normal growth rate. Creep feeding of piglets is used to reduce the problems by increasing the weaning weight and adapting the digestive tract to a starter diet. Hodge (1974) showed that the sow?s milk can not provide enough nutrients for maximal growth rate.

Automatic milking systems (AMS) have been in commercial use since 1992 and have since 1998 increased a lot. The objective of this study has been to examine the development of udder health on farms converting to AMS. The study also included a comparison of how udder health developed depending on how farms handled cows with mastitis. This was because farms choose to either milk cows with mastitis in a separate barn or in the milking robot. Other studies on udder health on commercial farms have shown that somatic cell count increases both among individual cows and in the bulk milk when converting to an AMS. No differences between before and after converting to AMS in the proportion of cows treated for mastitis can be found in the literature.