This study was conducted at the City Abattoir in Kampala, Uganda to evaluate the cleaning process, with focus on bacterial pathogens, in a pilot scale integrated bioprocess. This consisted of four steps: anaerobic sequencing batch reactors; aerobic/anoxic sequencing batch reactors; a high performance temperature controlled methanogenesis digester and a constructed wetland. The objective was to determine if this type of cleaning process could be used to clean wastewater from abattoirs in a satisfactory way. The indicator organisms for faecal contamination, Escherichia coli and Enterococcus spp. were used to investigate in what numbers bacteria could be found in the untreated wastewater and how much that was reduced in the different steps of the cleaning process. The water was analysed for Salmonella to see if human pathogens could be found and could survive the different steps of the treatment process.

Nötcenter Viken is a Swedish nucleus herd for dairy cattle. The goal for the farm is to select suitable mothers for the next top generation of bulls. Today the selection for udder health is based on a pedigree index and phenotype data. The pedigree index is based on the cow?s father and grandfathers breeding values.

The pig is unique in the way that it gives birth to a large number of newborns in each litter. Because of this the sow has developed a special behaviour during suckling to ensure that not only a part of the litter gets all the milk. Milk is only available during milk letdown. The piglets have to massage the udder for a long time before letdown and the more piglets at the udder the sooner the milk comes. The sow has developed a special grunting pattern to let the piglets know when she is ready for suckling and to signal milk letdown. Our aim with this study was to investigate if sows have individual grunting patterns repeated over time. We also wanted to know if sows with a more distinct grunting pattern have better growth in their litters.

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.

Syftet med försöket har varit att utröna hur den naturliga variationen ser ut från dag till dag imjölk från separata juverdelar och hur sammansättningen i mjölken skiljer sig inom kor medolika juverhälsa. I den här studien användes 10 kor från Sveriges Lantbruks Universitet sommjölkades kontinuerligt, 2 gånger per dag i 21 dagar på juverfjärdedelsnivå. Mjölken vägdesvid varje mjölkning och analyserades sedan på antal somatiska celler (SCC), laktos, fett,protein, kasein och vassle protein. Resultaten visar att det är signifikanta skillnader imjölksammansättning mellan juverfjärdedel inom ko. För variation är mjölkmängd denparameter som varierar mest och varierar väldigt mycket mellan juverfjärdedelar.

Earlier studies of musculoskeletal problems with milkers working in milking parlour operators have shown that it is a physically demanding occupation. The extremities that are most exposed are neck, shoulders, hands and wrists. Those systems that have been studied in present cases are fishbone and some tandem barns. There have been changes in the working environment during the past ten years. The mechanisation has been developed for the better with automatically removers of the milking units and vertically adjustable floors in almost every daily milking barn. In other hand the milk production are more industrialised and more related to stress today.

The complexity of the mast cell is becoming more prominent. From being the cell recognized just to contribute to allergic inflammation it is now also associated with wound healing, protection against tumor growth and in recognition and defense against a wide range of pathogens. The location of the mast cell in the barrier between the external and internal environment of the body enables the cell to quickly respond to invading bacteria, virus and parasites. Diarrhea due to Escherichia coli infection, listeriosis, toxoplasmosis, Newcastle disease and bovine respiratory syncytial virus are examples of mast cell activating diseases that can affect animals in, as well as outside, the agricultural sector. Additionally, ticks and tick-borne diseases are of concern.

Mastit är en sjukdom som leder till stora problem i svenska mjölkkobesättningar. De flesta mastiter är subkliniska inflammationer som ofta inte upptäcks på grund av avsaknaden av synliga sjukdomssymtom, men där SCC är förhöjt och mjölkkvaliteten försämrad precis som vid klinisk mastit. Detta leder till att mjölk med förändrad sammansättning och kvalitet levereras till mejerierna som därmed har sämre förutsättningar att framställa mejeriprodukter av hög kvalitet. Även lantbrukaren drabbas ekonomiskt, dels på grund av att ett förhöjt celltal inte ger maximalt betalt för mjölken och dels på grund av en minskad mjölkmängd då all mjölk från kor med konstaterad subklinisk mastit ofta kasseras. Vid mjölkning i automatiska mjölkningssystem finns möjlighet att separera mjölken på fjärdedelsnivå redan vid mjölkning, detta sker dock inte idag.

The ability of dairy cows to survive and the economic importance of this have been in-creasing in dairy cattle breeding lately. Increased longevity contribute to an increased pro-portion of cows that produce milk in more productive lactations and reduces the replace-ment costs together with a good health and fertility. Unfortunately it is often argued that longevity has been decreasing due to a strong selection for production traits in dairy cattle.The aims of this study were to find correlations between different longevity evaluations and between different estimates on longevity and other traits in the Nordic Total Merit (NTM) breeding value. The aim was also to compare different traits for cows of two differ-ent longevity groups.The data were Predicted Breeding Values (PBV) from Nordic HOL and SR bulls and records from Holstein (HOL) and Swedish Red (SR) cows estimated by the Swedish Dairy Association.The three Swedish longevity indexes were very highly correlated (>0.89) and the corre-lations between the Swedish official longevity index and the five Nordic Cattle Genetic Evaluation (NAV) longevity indexes varied between 0.73-0.83.In the sire evaluation part, the traits most negatively correlated with longevity for HOL were dairyness, protein and fat index. In SR, milk, protein, and fat index only had slightly positive correlations with longevity.

The number of weaned piglets per sow and year is a good measurement of sow productivity since it is affected by the number of piglets born alive, the pre weaning mortality (i.e. mortality of live born piglets between birth and weaning) and the number of litters per sow and year. This measure is also closely connected to the number of piglets produced per year, which partly determines the profitability of the piglet producer. During this study, eleven successful piglet-producing herds were visited. Eight of the producers were Swedish and three of the producers were Danish.

In Sweden, 2011, ley was grown almost as much as cereals, which means that in terms of area, ley is an important crop. A lay can consist of either grass or grass combined with legumes e.g. clover. Forage grasses can be affected by many differ- ent diseases, some during the winter and some during the growing season. The diseases which do damage during the winter are called snow mold and can make large areas perish.

Mastitis, inflammation in the udder tissue, caused by S. aureus is a big problem in dairy cattle production. It causes suffering for the cow and curing or replacing the infected cow is costly for the farmer. It is known that beef cattle also suffer from mastitis caused by S. aureus.

Milk yield levels in dairy cows are influenced by many factors such as nutrition, breed, health status, management and environment. This study was conducted among small scale farmers in Zambia, where the climate can be dry for up to six months per year and cause a lack of green pasture for livestock and on-farm produced feed. The purpose of this study was to identify management factors that can influence milk yield at small scale dairy farms in Zambia, and present advice that could improve productivity, without the need of expensive investments. The study included semi-structured questionnaires presented to the farmers (n=29) including questions about cattle management and milk production. Testing of somatic cell count (SCC) with DCC (DeLaval Cell Counter) from herd milk samples (n=56) and observation of housing and animal body condition on-farm was also made.

Concentration of protein in bovine milk is one of the most significant milk quality parameters, to a large extent determining the price for milk to the producer. Mastitis is a common disease among dairy cows, negatively affecting not only milk yield but also milk protein composition. Milk from mastitic cows tends to have lower cheese yield, negatively affected processability properties and sensory quality, due to changed protein quality and composition. Poorer milk protein quality would have an economically negative impact on dairy industry. Only few studies have investigated the short term effects of mastitis on milk protein composition.