Knowledge about feed racks for feeding forages to horses is lacking. Racks for sheep and cows are sometimes used for horses. Feeding roughage on the ground, or feeding silage bales with the plastic and net still on, can bring on a lot of different problems. The opportunity to control the hygienic quality is small and feed losses can be high. The purpose of this experiment was to investigate how the eating behaviour and consumption of horses were influenced by feeding racks of different constructions. Feed losses and changes in chemical composition of the forage were also studied.

It becomes more important to consider different behaviour traits in the selection for dairy cows to be suitable in the production systems of today. The purpose of this investigation was to study the genetic background to behavioural traits and the heritabilities for temperament, rank order, aggressiveness, Feeding behaviour and for learning behaviour. Moreover, the genetic correlations to other traits were studied. To be included in a breeding programme a trait needs to have enough genetic variation, a moderate to high heritability or to be correlated to another measurable trait. Behaviour is a quantitative trait affected by many genes and the environment.

The horse's motivations to forage and eat are behaviors that horse owners should take into consideration when designing the horse's living environment. In today?s housing of horses, horses are often kept alone in boxes and paddocks and are fed with small amounts of energy-rich roughage. Problems that can arise with a shortened feeding-time and long periods of fasting are behavioral changes like stereotypic behaviors and an increased risk for ulcers. A solution to the short feeding-time is that you are feeding roughage in a small mesh hay net, or a so-called Slow-feed net.

AbstractThe Northern Wheatear (Oenanthe oenanthe) is a small insectivorous passerine bird living in open landscapes. Both parents feed the brood of approximately five chicks, but little is known about how each sex allocates their feeding effort. In this study I investigate feeding nest visit differences between male and female Northern Wheatears relative to the age of the chicks, the number of chicks and the quality of the territory for 17 pairs from 2008-2010. Data were collected using automated data loggers to record nest visitation rates during chick feeding, and the sex was determined from nest video cameras. I also examine if the parents? rate of feeding visits changes over the nestling period.

The return of large predators to regions where they were previously extirpated has created a need for knowledge about their effect on prey species, not only their lethal but also their behavioural or risk effects. In this study the behavioural risk effects of brown bear (Ursus arctos) were tested on fallow deer (Dama dama), roe deer (Capreolus capreolus), red deer (Cervus elaphus), moose (Alces alces) and wild boar (Sus scrofa). This was done by using patches of fur to simulate the presence of the novel predator (brown bear), a novel nonpredator (reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) and no fur as control. These three treatments were then compared. The response variables measured were increased vigilance, decreased feeding time and change in patch use.

The German equine housing system, HIT Active Stable?, are adjusted for keeping horses in groups, and are well establishes in Germany. Now the system attracts attention here in Sweden. The purpose of this study was to investigate if the horses have any be-haviours need of free access to roughages like straw or hay, after they have been visit the concentrate feeding station. A study was carried out at family Krohn?s active stables in Bönningstedt, Germany.

Zoo animals can be more or less disturbed by the presence of care takers as well as visitors. This may lead to stress and/or abnormal behaviour. The purpose with this study was to give a time budget of the behaviour of the captive wolves? (Canis lupus) and occurrence of behavioural disturbances and how this is affected of human visitors. For this purpose the wolves at Nordens Ark have been studied during off season as well as on season. The zoo Nordens Ark is an idealistic foundation which was founded in 1988 and is located at Åby säteri, 130 km north of Gothenburg.

The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of strategy for grouping calves into group pens with automatic milk-feeding systems on the calves' health and growth rate. The usefulness of changes in feeding behavior recorded by the computerized milk-feeder during periods of illness to identify calves with clinical diease was also studied. In the first experiment, 64 calves were moved in and out of group pens in a continuous way, while 46 calves were transferred into group pens until the the pen was considered "full". The calves in the latter groups were then held together until weaning. It was found that calves in the fixed groups grew approximately 100 g / day more compared to the calves in the dynamic groups. Signs of clinical respiratory disease were less frequent in this group, while the incidence of diarrhoea was slightly higher. In the second experiment health parameters, milk consumption and Feeding behaviour was recorded daily for 46 calves.

Feed intake in dairy cows is regulated by a variety of factors influencing hunger and satiety. One of the regulation systems includes the short chain fatty acids produced during feed degradation in the rumen. Starch can be digested either in the rumen where short chain fatty acids are produced or in the small intestine where glucose is the end product. Since glucose does not have the same effect on satiety that short chain fatty acids have, the site of starch digestion might be an important factor that affects feed intake and milk production. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of site of starch digestion on Feeding behaviour (feed intake, consumption time, and eating frequency) and milk production. Because Feeding behaviour is closely connected to the cows? environment, the study also included observations of behaviour. Three different feed rations were compared.

Today automatic milking systems (AMS) are growing in popularity. In these systems the cows are loose and have to get to the robot and the feed on their own. The cows ranking in this system affect their welfare. In this study data from seven years in an AMS was used and analysed. The aim was to investigate how ranking could affect the behaviour of the cows at milking and at feeding.

The purpose of this literature review was from dairy cows? behaviour and welfare point ofview describe how feed bunk and cubicles in a loose house system should be designed. Todaydairy cows in Sweden and in the world have high demands because of a high milk production,stress and higher risk of being afflicted with diseases. Through selection in breeding the bestquality can be performed, but high demands of the environment for the dairy cow is above allalso important for a good welfare and for a good milk production. Feed bunks and cubiclesare just some parts to be designed in the best way for a good animal welfare.

The aims with the project were to investigate how forage consumption affect production and pigs behaviour around the feeding. This degree project was designed to follow 48 growing/finishing Hampshire*Yorkshire pigs, from 30-110 kg live weight, fed diets with or without 20 % forage inclusion. The pigs were divided in three groups due to dietary treatment. In the first group the pigs were fed 20 % of the energy in the feed ration by long grass/clover silage (LE) and the remaining 80 % by a cereal concentrate. Group two was fed chopped grass/clover silage mixed with cereal concentrate (HE) in the same amounts as LE.

ABSTRACTThe principal aim of the study was to compare the Feeding behaviour of cattle, sheep and goats on pasture and explain any differences between speices. Furthermore, I compared foraging behaviour between dry season and the beginning of the rainy season, in order to see any relationships between weather and behaviour.The study was carried out in Shompole in southern Kenya. Behavioural data were collected by observing herds of cattle, sheep and goats on pasture. The livestock were herded on pasture during the days and kept in bomas, where people live, during the nights. The weather in Shompole is characterized by high ambient temperature and low, bimodal rainfall.

Horses are by nature herbivores, specialized on grass, and graze during the main part of the day. The horse has neither changed this basic behaviour nor the function of gastro-intestinal tract, when the horse was domesticated by man. A horse on pasture has an even production of saliva and gastric acids. The buffering effect of the saliva makes the pH in the stomach above four throughout most of the day. With abnormal long breaks of eating, the pH may decrease, causing an increased risk of gastric ulcer.

Male piglets have been castrated for centuries to avoid contamination of their meat with boar taint, a strongly unpleasant odour that makes the meat inedible. Today boar taint can be prohib-ited by vaccination against gonadotropin releasing hormone (GnRH) using Improvac®. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficiency of vaccination on growth performance and behaviour of vaccinated male pigs compared to surgically castrated male pigs. The effect of two feeding regimes, restricted (SLU-norm) and semi ad libitum, was also included in the study. At birth, pigs (n=206) were randomly allocated to the two treatment groups; surgically castrated and vaccination.