Cows with formal names will give a lot of milk

European cuddling, caressing, cooing talking to cows every day and naming: Lady Elsa, Lady Rose, Lady Moo. Just so simple, cows will produce 5% more milk than usual.

Nearly half of the dairy cows have been named.

Dairy cows are facing a lot of pressure. Day after day, month after month, they were subjected to the scrutiny of the farmer, how much milk they could squeeze out.

Researching animal psychology, learning practitioners propose a more 'gentle' way to prevent them from being overly worried. Stroking them, cooing talk to them every day, calling them Lady Elsa, Lady Rose, Lady Moo. Just so simple, cows will produce 5% more milk than usual. That's the content of a serious study published in Anthrozoos, the latest issue.

Experts on cattle learning behavior Catherine Douglas, University of Newcastle (UK) explains not the name itself makes cows increase milk, but when it is named it seems to feel more favorably treated, friendly rather than being called by a dry number.

Previous studies have shown that when a cow is stressed, the cortisol hormone reduces its milk production, because it inhibits the production of another hormone, oxytoxin, that stimulates milk . cows worried and frustrated often stomped their feet, kicked, rocked, making it difficult to express milk.

Ms. Douglas said: 'I used to have bruised eyes, broken ribs when milking cows with stress. If you name it, it means that you 'talked' to it more, consider it a 'friend' more, have a more personal relationship. That attitude has helped you profit every day. It gives you more than 1 liter of milk. '

In this study, Ms. Douglas and colleagues tracked the relationship between cow behavior and milk yield. She gave up to 500 dairy farms across the UK to carry out this research.

She said that today, half of the dairy cows in the UK have named cows. Compared to the number of unidentified cows or only signs of numbers, cows with 'identity cards' produced 258 liters more milk each year in 10 months of milking. That means, on average, one very simple thing is to name, accompanied by a call that every day the cows have generously given us a liter of milk. The average yield of British dairy herds is 7,500 liters / head / year.

Cows only give milk after maturity (2 years of age). The period from birth to lactation has not been noticed by farm owners. The study also stated that in the period from when the female cow aged 6 months to 15 months was comforted and cared for, certain milk production will increase significantly afterwards.