The dry period is usually 6-8 weeks and in this period the basis of the performance in the following lactation is settled. In an average herd about 15% of the cows are dry (Marcussen & Krog Laursen, 2008). In many herd the dry cows are set aside, that means setting aside 15% of your herd, at the time when they are preparing for their next lactation. The recommendation for number of groups differs depending on country traditions or reasons for grouping. If you look at recommendation for feeding, some companies selling feeding equipment advocates one group throughout the dry period, but the number differs from one to three.

The dry period is usually 6-8 weeks and in this period the basis of the performance in the following lactation is settled. In an average herd about 15% of the cows are dry (Marcussen & Krog Laursen, 2008). In many herd the dry cows are set aside, that means setting aside 15% of your herd, at the time when they are preparing for their next lactation. The recommendation for number of groups differs depending on country traditions or reasons for grouping. If you look at recommendation for feeding, some companies selling feeding equipment advocates one group throughout the dry period, but the number differs from one to three.

Streams and riparian zone are closely linked by reciprocal flows of energy and nutrients. A large part of the transportation from water to land is in form of emerged aquatic insects. Conversion of land from forest to agriculture can greatly affect aquatic ecosystems, and due to the close link, also affect the adjacent terrestral zone. Investigating how the presence of agriculture in the surrounding area affects amounts of emergent aquatic insects gives an indication on how agriculture, in turn, may affect the terrestral enviroment. The study was preformed alongside ten streams in northern Sweden; five in landscape transformed by agriculture and five in undisturbed forest areas.

Humans attitudes towards different animals are very complex were culture, genetic, psychology and evolution are some of the factors that influence. The order of animals that can provoke the most intense and extreme attitudes, both positive and negative, are the carnivores. Wolves are a constant debate in Sweden and even though a big part of the population are neutral towards the wolf, a clear friction of the attitudes can be seen. Some factors that have been seen to influence the attitude are age, education and the size of the hometown. The aim of this study is to investigate whether outdoor activities, time spend in rural areas, and time spent in a weekend cottage, also correlate with attitude towards wolf.

This work focuses on the relation between human and animals and especially on the relation between horses and human. I have brought up the human och horse relationsship, today, and in history and wrote about the behaviour of the horse. Some older studies with human and animal interaction, including animals like dog and cattle are discussed. I have also discussed physiological parameters that might influence the bond and the interaction between human and horse and some critical aspects concerning the methodology when studying this kind of physiology. The purpose of the experimental study was to analyze if common management routines and grooming of horses increases horses interest in making contact with humans. Many horse owners feel that they have a good connection with their horse and factors that can influence the relationsship could be physical contact, feeding or some challange that make the horse trust the human.

This work has been done to develop a plan for a future dairy barn at theGästgivaregården and to show the space needed for cows and replacement heifers. Itwould also show the storage that will be needed. The design was largely based on resultsfrom studies on six different farms, but also the facts that are taken from research papersand articles in order to compare theory with practice. Because some farms only whereinterviewed by phone I have used a query form to obtain comparable resultes.The aim is to build a new barn with Automatic milking. I've drawn a milking stable for120 milking cow and replacement heifers with the capability to house up to 140 milkingcows if the farm would expand in the future.Calculations of feed amounts and space requirements have been made to see how manyhectares are needed to supply the cows and replacement heifers with feed and to knowabout what size of storage space is required.The investigations made in this writing are to answer questions about the AMS-unit`sposition and how to best maintain a good health status in the herd.

Throughout its wide distribution in the northern hemisphere, the golden eagle occurs in a diverse range of environments, e.g., mountainous, forest and open areas. The literature on juvenile golden eagles is limited, and this study provides further knowledge on habitat use and ranging behaviour during the post-fledging period in boreal Sweden. A total of 14 golden eagle juveniles were tagged with GPS transmitters during 2010 and 2011, and nine could be followed during the entire post-fledging period from fledging until migration. The juveniles fledged at the end of July and beginning of August and initiated migration during October and beginning of November. The length of the post-fledging period, until migration started, ranged from 49 to 97 days. During this period, the juveniles? distance from their natal nest and their GPS height increased with time as their flying abilities developed.

The relationship human has to animals are complex and I discuss this from a theological and philosophical perspective in this essay. I ask on what grounds, with what arguments and how one could live with an inclusive ethic. I discuss the philosopher Peter Singer and the theologian Andrew Linzey to see their agreements and differences. Linzey has a mystic influence built into the theological perspective. Swedish activists and authors Pelle Strindlund and Annika Spalde call their way of life the ?Way of love? and show an animal-inclusive ethic built on a Christian mystic ground..

The forest and mire landscape surrounding the north Swedish villages have been of fundamental importance through time for the farmers. In the Scandinavian summer farm system the forest and mire pasture was used to its full potential. The system consisted of smaller summer farms some kilometres from the main farm in the village, and were the livestock grazed in the forest around the summer farm. The livestock affect their environment, and grazed forests generally contain a higher biodiversity than an ungrazed forest. The overall aim of this thesis is to understand the impact of livestock grazing on a northern forest ecosystem over a long time period.

ABSTRACT Skånskt Naturbeteskött is a group of approximately 30 beefproducers in the south of Sweden, who sell their products on the local market. They are certified with Svenskt Sigill, an organisation that works with animal welfare, environmental responsibility, safe food, open landscape and independent qualitycontrol. These producers have to fulfil certain demands regarding pasture and quality of the meat. For this essay I did a market investigation in which I wanted to find out what qualities the Swedish market and the consumers want in their beef. The purpose was to find out what Skånskt Naturbeteskött could do differently to satisfy the market for locally produced beef in the south of Sweden. In the investigation I turned to those responsible for the beef in 12 supermarkets, 4 selling Skånskt Naturbeteskött today, 4 that sold it before but quit, and 4 that never have sold it but might be interested in the future.

Prey species make behavioral decisions to reduce the perceived risk of predation and the time spent vulnerable to predation. Behavioral responses to predators are for example selection of specific habitat types and the presence of predators influence individual vigilance. Furthermore, there is a variation in feeding niches with different herbivores focusing their foraging effort on different vegetation types which is also expected to affect the choice of habitat. Behavioral data on anti-predation and foraging behavior at on waterhole is collected from Thomson?s and Grant?s gazelles at Ol Pejeta Conservancy (0°00?N, 36°56?E) located in semiarid bushed grassland in Laikipia district of central Kenya.

Pigs are often mentioned as relatively intelligent animals when compared to other nonhuman species. Despite this knowledge, the vast majority of pigs are kept under conditions that lack opportunities to satisfy their cognitive needs. Therefore, a need to evaluate the present scientific studies about pig cognition was acknowledged, in order to evaluate to what extent the knowledge is applied in the husbandry of finishing pigs. If a considerable lack of application was determined, suggestions about how to use the obtained information to improve pig welfare were also to be made. A synthesis of the present literature was made, and it could be concluded that a considerable amount of studies had been carried out in the present area. The pigs of today appear to have the same behavioural and cognitive needs as their ancestor, the wild boar.

The Swedish ostrich production started about thirteen years ago and still there are no Swedish recommendations regarding ostriches? space requirements. The European Council give recommendations and the Swedish Board of Agriculture (SJV) has a proposal, but so far the producers follow Danish regulations regarding space requirements. The Swedish Animal Welfare Agency are about to set standards for the ostriches? space requirements, and therefore the Swedish ostrich producers, together with The Federation of Swedish Farmers (LRF) ask for a scientific background to these decisions. This thesis is a preliminary study at the prospect of a future experiment on which factors important for ostriches? space requirements and welfare will be examined more thouroughly.

Today the individual ventilated cage system (IVC-system) is the most commonly used system when housing rodents. IVC systems are designed to control both supply and exhausted air at cage level, as well as temperature and relative humidity in the cages. This creates an optimal environment for the mouse and at the same time a protection against the risk of cross-infection between cages and the outside environment. The aim of this study was to evaluate the health and welfare for two different strains of laboratory mice (NMRI nude mice and C57BL/6NCrl mice) in three different kinds of IVC-systems; Arrowmight, Allentown and Tecniplast. 108 mouse pups from each strain (in total 216 mice) were selected after weaning at an age of three weeks and tested during 5 weeks.

ABSTRACT. Mastitis is one of the most common diseases affecting dairy cows worldwide. In Sweden annu-ally about 60% of the dairy cows get infected and Staphylococcus aureus cause approximately 30% of these infections. Mastitis causes enormous economic losses. In Sweden, the costs to cure mastitis are estimated to be 192 million SEK per year, excluding the costs for mastitis prevention.