During the last decade a new technique in animal breeding has developed called genomic selection. It is based on estimations of the effect from genetic markers on traits that are calculated in a reference population. By genotyping individuals, genomic breeding values can then be estimated without phenotypic observations. The aim of this essay is to investigate the response of genomic selection on breeding schemes for dairy cattle. The accuracy of the genomic breeding values is affected by the proportion of observations included in the validation set and how often the equation for estimating breeding values is reevaluated.

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.

The aim of this literature review is to give an overview of the differences between pure- and crossbreeding systems. Crossbreeding is a mating system with individuals of different lines or breeds. It is one of several breeding strategies in dairy production used to increase the economic profit. The use of crossbreeding increases due to changes in the dairy market and an increase of inbreeding among purebred Holstein. The main benefit of crossbreeding is heterosis, which is the improvement in genetic level in a hybrid offspring above the average of the parent breeds.

Chronic valvular disease (CVD) is the most common cardiac disease in dogs, which account for 75% of all the cardiac cases. Cavalier King Charles spaniel (CKCS) is the most affected breed and it´s 13th times more likely that a CKCS, between the age of 7-10 years, will die or be euthanized for cardiac disease, compared with other breeds. The prevalence has been proven to bee independent of coat color and weight but highly dependent on age and gender in CKCS. In 2001 the Swedish Kennelclub and the Special club for cavalier King Charles spaniel created a breeding program against CVD in CKCS. In this program dogs are not allowed to breed until 4 years of age and have to have a heart auscultation without murmurs.

The purpose of this literature study was to investigate the possibilities to improve longevity and stayability of beef cattle with breeding. The breeding goal for beef breeds is to produce animals with high capacity for growth and good feed efficiency. Longevity and sustainability are two important features to include in the breeding goal. If longevity is increased each cow can produce more calves and the number of female calves used for recruitment can be reduced and only the best heifers need to be selected for breeding. The benefits of longer life is that it lowers the costs of recruitment animals, it increases the number of young animals that become available for slaughter, and it increases the proportion of high producing animals in the herds.

The purpose of this report was to compare two different options for expanding of an existing pig farm. For the time being there are low prices within the agricultural market of pig production, and it is interesting to see if it is worth expanding or not. The two different options this report is based on are: expanding from a herd with 50 sows in breeding gilt production to a herd with 100 sows in breeding gilt production (option 1), or expanding to a herd with 140 sows in breeding gilt production (option 2). The number of pregnant gilts produced per year will stay the same for both alternatives; about 300 pregnant gilts per year. The rest of the breeding gilts will be sold at a weight of 25 kg. The pigs that are not sold as breeding gilts (e.g. castrates, and female pigs that are too small or that have disorders) will be kept on the farm as growing-finishing pigs until 120 kg of live weight, and then sold to the slaughter house. By using the existing buildings, even after the expanding, the investment costs, and thereby costs for housing, were kept as low as possible.

The aim of this literature review was to suggest suitable index traits to use in the Swedish Sheep Recording Scheme for fertility and maternal traits. Since fertility and some of the maternal traits are not normally distributed advanced methodology is needed to calculate genetic parameters. Breeding is a tool to improve the economy of the farm and for the selection of breeders estimated breeding values (EBV) for important traits are of high value. In sheep breeding both lambs born and lambs weaned should be taken into consideration as well as the ewe?s maternal ability, which includes lambing ease, lamb survival, ewe behaviour as mother and the early growth of the lambs.

Genomic selection (GS) is used for selection of breeding animals of dairy cattle. GS is though not as extensively used within the beef industry. One reason for that is the low accuracy (rTI) of the breeding value that is of great importance for the final genetic gain. Causes to the low accuracy are high effective population size, a small reference population and a genetically differentiated population. There is however a market for genomic selection with High Density (HD) tests for beef cattle.

Montagu´s harrier (Circus pygargus) is a diurnal, Eurasian raptor, which migrates from its northern breeding grounds to winter in sub-Saharan Africa. In Sweden, its core breeding area is centred on the island of Öland, with a stable breeding population of approximately 40 pairs. The province of Uppland is on the northern end the distribution range, where 4-8 pairs have regularly bred since the 1980s. In Sweden, the Montagu?s harrier is classified as an endangered (EN) species. This classification is partly due to a lack of preferred nesting habitat, such as shrub-lands or dense wetlands with Claudium spp.

Domestication has resulted in the ability for animals to adapt to environments created by the human over time. The behavior differs very little between wild and domesticated animals, but the difference seen is how often and to what degree a behavior is performed. The need for efficiency in modern animal production has led to welfare problems in the productionsystems where the animals have difficulties coping with their environment. Attempts to environmentally adapt individuals by selection for reduced frequency of natural behaviours have been made. These have shown that natural behaviours are complex and are controlled by several different mechanisms, making selection for reduced natural behavior difficult, and it may also lead to unwanted and abnormal behaviours.

For centuries inbreeding has been used to refine traits in dogs, making desired traits more hereditary and thereby, different breeds have been invented. Breed standards have been written for each of these breeds, describing in detail the different characteristics of each breed. When humans start to choose which animal to breed from, so called artificial selection, taste is put before function and the laws of nature, the natural selection, cease to apply. During this development, pedigree dogs have gone towards more and more extreme exterior characteristics and the dogs may have inherited various, more or less, severe problems for example compromised vision, impaired ability to move and difficulties to breathe. However they can still survive and reproduce because humans provide them with the conditions to do so.

This study treats the possibility of breeding mallards and pheasants on our own farm, Björnslund. From the beginning I considered to breed them from eggs to adults but after visiting several breeders I changed my mind. It seemed to be a lot of work with no economic profit in comparison with buying already hatched birds and then feed them to adults. If the business shall be profitable I have to be soll the hunting for the birds and then sell the dead birds to game purchasers. There are also calculations that show which price you have to charge for the hunting that will give a positive result. Another possibility is to own a slaughterhouse and sell the meat to restaurants and supermarkets.

Genetic defects are caused by mutations in major genes where the gene?s protein product has a large impact on the physiology of the animal. The synthesis of the protein can be altered by a change in the nucleotide sequence, which can lead to malformation and in many cases death.One of the main reasons of increase in many genetic defects is the use of few bulls in breeding programmes, causing a reduction of the genetic variation. Genetic defects cause suffering for the animal and influences the production by, for example, increased costs due to misscarriages, lost milk production and expenditure for medical treatment. Bovine Leukocyte Adhesion Deficiency (BLAD) and Complex Vertebral Malformation (CVM) are two genetic defects that were widespread before the causative mutation was discovered.

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.

American bison (Bison bison bison) is a new species in Sweden and was introduced in the year 2000. In this study the result of an interview and a field investigation is presented. The aim was to investigate the health and parasite status in Swedish bison herds. The most common reason to begin with bison breeding was meat production and/or sale of breeding animals and tourism. The Swedish breeder?s experience of bison is that they in general are healthy.