1 00:00:02,000 --> 00:00:06,800 Speaker 1: Welcome to brain stuff from how stuff works, Hey, brain 2 00:00:06,840 --> 00:00:09,680 Speaker 1: stuff luring vogel bomb Here. Let me take you to 3 00:00:09,720 --> 00:00:14,000 Speaker 1: a farm. They're nineteen whole steam calves push their noses 4 00:00:14,000 --> 00:00:17,680 Speaker 1: over waiste high fences around individual pens. They're milling about 5 00:00:17,680 --> 00:00:19,600 Speaker 1: in a red barn the width of a soccer field. 6 00:00:19,960 --> 00:00:22,880 Speaker 1: It's dinner time. They're hungry, and they've just spotted their 7 00:00:22,960 --> 00:00:26,159 Speaker 1: favorite person, a farmer pulling a green wagon loaded with 8 00:00:26,200 --> 00:00:29,520 Speaker 1: bottles of warm milk. He lifts the bottles and feeds 9 00:00:29,520 --> 00:00:33,000 Speaker 1: each in turn, coaxing shy calves and hedging strong ones. 10 00:00:33,360 --> 00:00:36,080 Speaker 1: As their tails whip and bellies full. The farmer rubs 11 00:00:36,080 --> 00:00:39,320 Speaker 1: their necks and backs affectionately, scratching behind an ear too. 12 00:00:40,040 --> 00:00:42,560 Speaker 1: A stereo plays classical music in the background, though its 13 00:00:42,560 --> 00:00:45,280 Speaker 1: mellow tunes are temporarily eclipsed by the wreckless of the 14 00:00:45,320 --> 00:00:48,880 Speaker 1: meal in its place. The farmer offers a soothing monologue 15 00:00:48,880 --> 00:00:52,400 Speaker 1: that settles over the calves black and white coats. The farmer, 16 00:00:52,440 --> 00:00:55,000 Speaker 1: Dean Patterson, tells us, when you feed a calf a 17 00:00:55,000 --> 00:00:57,280 Speaker 1: bottle of milk, and when you rub him on his necker, 18 00:00:57,320 --> 00:00:59,680 Speaker 1: on his back and makes him feel so much better, 19 00:01:00,680 --> 00:01:02,720 Speaker 1: he'll load the empty bottles back onto his wagon and 20 00:01:02,760 --> 00:01:04,960 Speaker 1: return them to the milking parlor, which is housed in 21 00:01:05,000 --> 00:01:07,759 Speaker 1: another barn. There, he'll wash the bottles and leave them 22 00:01:07,760 --> 00:01:10,160 Speaker 1: prepped for the evening feeding, but will continue to check 23 00:01:10,200 --> 00:01:13,840 Speaker 1: on the calves throughout the day. Patterson, a seventy eight 24 00:01:13,880 --> 00:01:17,160 Speaker 1: year old fourth generation farmer, is building relationships with these 25 00:01:17,200 --> 00:01:19,280 Speaker 1: calves in the same way he's done for a lifetime 26 00:01:20,319 --> 00:01:23,800 Speaker 1: at Patterson Family Farms. As at most conventional dairies, calves 27 00:01:23,800 --> 00:01:25,720 Speaker 1: are separated from their mothers within a day or two 28 00:01:25,760 --> 00:01:29,080 Speaker 1: of birth, then housed individually and in age related groups, 29 00:01:29,080 --> 00:01:32,759 Speaker 1: where they rely on people for sustenance and affection. This 30 00:01:32,800 --> 00:01:35,520 Speaker 1: connection between calf and caretaker has been at the center 31 00:01:35,560 --> 00:01:38,320 Speaker 1: of a research project by the Institute of Animal Husbandry 32 00:01:38,360 --> 00:01:41,760 Speaker 1: and Animal Welfare at vetmag Uni, Vienna, a university of 33 00:01:41,840 --> 00:01:46,280 Speaker 1: veterinary medicine in Austria. Stephanie Lerzel and her colleagues studied 34 00:01:46,280 --> 00:01:49,360 Speaker 1: a hundred and four Holstein Frisian calves at a commercial 35 00:01:49,440 --> 00:01:52,720 Speaker 1: dairy farm in Germany from birth to day fourteen. They 36 00:01:52,760 --> 00:01:54,600 Speaker 1: stroked the next of half of the calves for three 37 00:01:54,640 --> 00:01:57,040 Speaker 1: minutes a day and did not pet the other half 38 00:01:57,040 --> 00:01:59,960 Speaker 1: of the group. By day ninety the calves would experience 39 00:02:00,080 --> 00:02:02,280 Speaker 1: to neck rubs weighed more than the control group by 40 00:02:02,320 --> 00:02:06,200 Speaker 1: a seemingly small but completely significant three percent. This points 41 00:02:06,240 --> 00:02:09,600 Speaker 1: to the positive influence of gentle human interaction on animal 42 00:02:09,639 --> 00:02:14,000 Speaker 1: weight gain. Researchers also observed the quality of relationships between 43 00:02:14,040 --> 00:02:17,960 Speaker 1: calves and caretakers through an avoidance distance test. The test, 44 00:02:18,160 --> 00:02:20,359 Speaker 1: which measures the distance at which a calf will avoid 45 00:02:20,360 --> 00:02:23,440 Speaker 1: a person who approaches it head on, revealed these stroked 46 00:02:23,480 --> 00:02:26,160 Speaker 1: calves had a lower avoidance distance than the calves in 47 00:02:26,200 --> 00:02:29,040 Speaker 1: the control group. In short, the calves who had been 48 00:02:29,080 --> 00:02:31,720 Speaker 1: given special attention early on in their lives were less 49 00:02:31,760 --> 00:02:35,760 Speaker 1: fearful and more welcoming when approached by people. While these 50 00:02:35,800 --> 00:02:39,000 Speaker 1: results may seem elementary to people who have worked with animals, 51 00:02:39,000 --> 00:02:42,280 Speaker 1: studying the emotional impact of humans on animals in commercial 52 00:02:42,280 --> 00:02:44,959 Speaker 1: production is an emerging field that could have a far 53 00:02:45,040 --> 00:02:49,080 Speaker 1: reaching impact on the animals environments. Previous studies have shown 54 00:02:49,080 --> 00:02:51,600 Speaker 1: that when heffer's gain weight more quickly, they go on 55 00:02:51,639 --> 00:02:54,200 Speaker 1: to produce more milk. For the calves in the vet 56 00:02:54,280 --> 00:02:57,160 Speaker 1: mead Uni Vienna study, their three percent weight gain could 57 00:02:57,160 --> 00:03:00,320 Speaker 1: translate into fifty that's a hundred and ten pounds more 58 00:03:00,360 --> 00:03:03,919 Speaker 1: milk per cow per year, says Lurzel, and in two 59 00:03:03,919 --> 00:03:06,959 Speaker 1: thousand one, a pair of psychologists at England's University of 60 00:03:07,040 --> 00:03:10,840 Speaker 1: Lester demonstrated that playing soothing music to dairy cows increased 61 00:03:10,880 --> 00:03:13,840 Speaker 1: their milk production. Strategies like this aren't new to the 62 00:03:13,840 --> 00:03:16,720 Speaker 1: Patterson Dairy, where classical music is played for cows and 63 00:03:16,800 --> 00:03:19,560 Speaker 1: calves around the clock, says Diana Lanier, who earned a 64 00:03:19,600 --> 00:03:22,720 Speaker 1: bachelor's degree in animal science production management before returning to 65 00:03:22,760 --> 00:03:26,240 Speaker 1: Patterson Family Farms to work alongside her grandfather, Dean Patterson, 66 00:03:26,480 --> 00:03:30,040 Speaker 1: and her father and brother. Lanier said, there are a 67 00:03:30,040 --> 00:03:31,799 Speaker 1: lot of things you can do to make cows more 68 00:03:31,840 --> 00:03:34,160 Speaker 1: comfortable and show them you care for them. In turn, 69 00:03:34,320 --> 00:03:37,040 Speaker 1: they will grow better, produce more milk, and give higher 70 00:03:37,080 --> 00:03:39,440 Speaker 1: quality milk. The more you care for them, the more 71 00:03:39,480 --> 00:03:47,360 Speaker 1: you get out of that relationship. Today's episode was written 72 00:03:47,360 --> 00:03:49,920 Speaker 1: by Laurie L. Dove and produced by Tyler Clang. For 73 00:03:50,000 --> 00:03:52,680 Speaker 1: more on this and lots of other productive topics, visit 74 00:03:52,720 --> 00:04:06,240 Speaker 1: our home planet, how Stuff Works dot com.