Archive

518 posts

Categories
Select one or more categories (Optional.)
Reset
Animal production

Chassot A., Dufey P.A.

Finishing of steers following a summering period on mountain pastures: effect of feeding intensity on fattening performance

Crossbred steers of the Limousin x Swiss Fleckvieh breed were summered on low input mountain pastures with varying stocking rates. During the subsequent finishing period, the effect of feeding intensity on fattening performance was investigated. Three intensity levels were compared whereby expected total energy supplies were calculated to correspond to 1,5 (int150), 1,75 (int175) or…
Animal production

Bärlocher H., Wenk C., Scheeder M.R.L.

Fattening pigs: influence of housing systems on the pH-value of the musculus long. dorsi (M.l.d)

In a survey, the effect of alternative (ALT) compared to conventional (KON) housing systems on the post mortem pH of the M.l.d. of fattening pigs was investigated. ALT housing systems corresponded to the Swiss BTS and RAUS regulations providing for e.g. larger and enriched pens with a straw bed as well as limited outdoor access.…
Animal production

Burger D., Bachmann I., Poncet P.A.

Applied Research on the Behaviour of horses

The behaviour of a horse, a typical flight and herd animal, can significantly influence its use, regardless of the discipline in which it is engaged. To an average rider or driver a horse’s temperament plays a decisive role, more important even than its conformation, size or price of purchase. Despite the indisputably high significance of…
Animal production

Hofstetter P., Stoll P.

Economic aspects of seasonal outdoor pig production under current and future political conditions

The economic aspects of Swiss outdoor pig production integrated with crop rotation have been studied for the first time, including costs for rearing, breeding and fattening. The required working time per animal per day was 2,7, 15,6 and 2,3 man minutes during the rearing, the outdoor breeding and the fattening period, respectively. In the trial…
Animal production

Stoll P., Zihlmann U., Hofstetter P.

Pig production system with seasonal outdoor keeping

A production system with seasonal outdoor rearing of pigs can be designed to be environmentally compatible with properly planned crop rotation. An extended crop rotation of 6 – 7 years avoids damage to the soil, reduces parasite pressure and also permits the cultivation of grain legumes. It is possible to obtain an equalized nitrogen balance…
Animal production

Blättler Th., Durgiai B.

Feeding systems for the implementation of mountain milk strategies

The project �Mountain Milk� ran by the Swiss College of Agriculture did not focus on technical aspects of production. But the production processes have influenced the strategic planning activities and they will be very important in implementing the strategies. Both major strategies for dairy production, the “added value” approach and the “growth” approach, are therefore…
Animal production

Frutschi Mascher V., Kaech Pitt S., Freund-Ingold U., Kunz P.

Investigation on feed intake of pregnant heifers and first lactating cows in Switzerland

In dairy herds, about one third of the cows are primiparous. These animals are still growing and therefore have specific nutrition requirements. The aim of this project was to show how heifers and primiparous cows are fed on Swiss dairy farms. Feeding, production and health data were collected on 60 Swiss farms for 252 animals.…
Animal production

Arrigo Y.

Effect of cut number, maturity stage and conservation method on digestibility and mineral content of a grassclover mixture

During three consecutive years, samples of a grass-clover mixture from the first and third cut were collected at two stages of maturity (30 days apart) on the same experimental plot. After cutting, the forage samples were either frozen (-20ºC), artificially dried (forced air at 30ºC, <45% relative humidity), wilted on the field and subsequently barn…
Animal production

Maurer J., Schaeren W.

Udder health and somatic cell counts in ewes

For decades, somatic cells counts in milk are used as an important measure for the diagnosis of udder infections in cows. The objectives of our investigation, performed on three farms during an entire lactation, was to get some data about the most important bacteria causing intramammary infections in milk sheep and to evaluate whether the…
Animal production

Hertzberg H., Maurer V., Heckendorn F., Wanner A., Gutzwiller A., Mosimann E.

Control of gastrointestinal nematodes in cattle under dry pasture conditions

A controlled field experiment was performed in the year 2003 with 3 groups of each 20 first season grazing cattle. The efficacy of a biological (Duddingtonia flagrans) and an anthelmintic control strategy (morantel sustained release trilaminate bolus) against gastrointestinal nematodes (GIN) was investigated under unusually dry and warm meteorological conditions. The external conditions resulted in…
Animal production

Chassot A., Dufey P.-A.

Finishing of steers following a summering period on mountain pastures: effect of the finishing duration on fatening performance

Subsequent to a summering period of 48 crossbred steers (Limousin x Swiss Fleckvieh) on low input mountain pastures, the effect of a finishing period on fattening performance was investigated. Steers were slaughtered either on the day of returning from the mountain pastures (no finishing) or after 4, 8 and 12 weeks of indoor finishing (loose…
Animal production

Charrière J.-D., Imdorf A., Koenig C., Gallmann S., Kuhn R.

Which influence has sunflower on the development of bee colonies (Apis mellifera)?

In Switzerland, sunflower cultivation extend since the nineties and reaches about 5’000 ha nowadays. The sunflower seeds are not treated with insecticides (imidacloprid, fipronil) but despite that, Swiss beekeepers are complaining about colony losses if the hives are placed close enough to fields of blooming sunflower. We carried out a two years trial, in order…
Animal production

Arrigo Y.

Effect of cut number, stage of maturity and method of conservation on amino acid contents of forages

The amino acid (AA) contents of 42 forages were analysed. During three consecutive years, forage samples from the first and third cut were collected at two stages of maturity (30 days apart) on the same experimental plots. After cutting, the forage samples were either frozen (-20°C), artificially dried (forced air at 30°C, <45% relative humidity),…
Animal production

Schaeren W.

Antibiotic use in 2003 and 2004 on dairy farms

Until now only rough estimations concerning the amounts of antibiotics used in milk production were available. Our objective was to obtain more reliable information on the average quantity and type of antibiotic used on dairy farms by evaluating the stipulated treatment records for milk production farms. The evaluation of the recordings from a representative sample…

Project partners

  • Logo AGRIDEA
  • Logo Agroscope
  • Logo ETH Zürich
  • Logo ZHAW

© 2026 Agrarforschung Switzerland Terms and conditions