This study formed part of a larger interdisciplinary project
in veterinary medicine, animal ethology, animal husbandry
and work science. The objective of the parent
project was to study the effects of dairy herd size, housing
and management on animal health and fertility, and
some aspects of human work environment and health.
In order to participate in the overall research project,
farms had to be geographically located in any of the four
major Swedish dairy regions (representing the largest
number of dairy cows) and have indoor loose-housing
systems with cubicles (free stalls), a parlour, rotary or
automatic milking system, at least 50 dairy cows per
farm, and at least one employed farm worker. Other
requirements were that participants worked at least
20 hours per week in the dairy house and that there had
been no major rebuilding of the cow house during the
preceding 20 months and no plans for immediate major
rebuilding.