Dear friends, family, students, students-to-be and other readers, It’s been a long time since I’ve written about my experiences as an Uppsala student at SLU. The truth is, I have almost finished my masters and moved back to the Netherlands already… no more snow for me, haha. I found an amazing job as an inspector… Continue reading Last post.
Stina Hellman – PhD Student in Immunology
It’s a warm Thursday evening when Stina and I find a seat next to the stables. She is holding the lead rope of the horse she has just been riding, who enthusiastically puts his nose into the grass. Not the most common circumstances for an interview, but in a way it suits the occasion: Stina… Continue reading Stina Hellman – PhD Student in Immunology
Midsommar!
My friends wearing their self-braided flower bands. Photo by me. My first summer in Sweden meant automatically also my first celebrations of Midsummer. A Swedish friend of mine had invited a small group of friends to join her to her family’s cabin in the beautiful country side of Värmland. It was the perfect place to… Continue reading Midsommar!
Combs, Claws and Feathers
Last week we collected the last data for the preference tests. Meaning our project is slowly coming to an end. But before handing the chickens to their new private owners, we wanted to get some more information from them. During the project we’ve executed home pen observations, location & behavioural observations in the preference pens… Continue reading Combs, Claws and Feathers
Life without Darkness
Even though I’ve lived in Sweden now for almost two years, somehow I’ve always missed out on summer. My roommates were quite upset when I left last year early June, to come back end of August. “You survived all winter, but now you’re going to miss the best time of the year!”, Oskar would tell… Continue reading Life without Darkness
Catching Chickens & Collecting Data
After considering the study design, pilot studies and necessary preparations, we’ve been running our preference test for a couples of weeks now. This means that a few groups of our chickens are moved from their home pen to the test pen, where they will be observed closely for a couple of days. Observations run through a… Continue reading Catching Chickens & Collecting Data
An Unfortunate Event
You might have noticed it’s been a bit quiet around here. I wish I could say I just had been so busy with my degree project, that there was absolutely no time left for writing the blog. Unfortunately, that’s not the case. About a month ago, while on my way home from Lövsta, I fell… Continue reading An Unfortunate Event
“Jävlabambi”
Like many animal science students, I am a horse girl. Obviously not everybody is into horses in our programme, but there is a large share of the girls that spend their free time at the stables. And I am one of them. Since the start of my masters programme here in Sweden I have been… Continue reading “Jävlabambi”
Kosläpp: Dance of the Dairy Cows
The well-being of Swedish farm animals is regulated through strict rules in the Swedish animal welfare law Djurskyddslagen. For example in Sweden the crating of lactating sows, or beak trimming of laying hens is not permitted, which are common practices in the rest of the European Union. Another notable rule is the obligatory access to… Continue reading Kosläpp: Dance of the Dairy Cows
Glad Påsk!
Growing up in the Netherlands, I imagined Easter to be pretty much the same all over Europe. Though Swedish Easter definitely has many aspects in common with the Dutch celebration, I was surprised by some very old traditions that I had never heard of before. When my room mates explained to me that children dress… Continue reading Glad Påsk!