WEBVTT - Do Happy Cows Really Make Better Milk?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain stuff from how stuff works, Hey, brain

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<v Speaker 1>stuff luring vogel bomb Here. Let me take you to

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<v Speaker 1>a farm. They're nineteen whole steam calves push their noses

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<v Speaker 1>over waiste high fences around individual pens. They're milling about

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<v Speaker 1>in a red barn the width of a soccer field.

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<v Speaker 1>It's dinner time. They're hungry, and they've just spotted their

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<v Speaker 1>favorite person, a farmer pulling a green wagon loaded with

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<v Speaker 1>bottles of warm milk. He lifts the bottles and feeds

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<v Speaker 1>each in turn, coaxing shy calves and hedging strong ones.

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<v Speaker 1>As their tails whip and bellies full. The farmer rubs

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<v Speaker 1>their necks and backs affectionately, scratching behind an ear too.

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<v Speaker 1>A stereo plays classical music in the background, though its

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<v Speaker 1>mellow tunes are temporarily eclipsed by the wreckless of the

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<v Speaker 1>meal in its place. The farmer offers a soothing monologue

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<v Speaker 1>that settles over the calves black and white coats. The farmer,

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<v Speaker 1>Dean Patterson, tells us, when you feed a calf a

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<v Speaker 1>bottle of milk, and when you rub him on his necker,

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<v Speaker 1>on his back and makes him feel so much better,

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<v Speaker 1>he'll load the empty bottles back onto his wagon and

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<v Speaker 1>return them to the milking parlor, which is housed in

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<v Speaker 1>another barn. There, he'll wash the bottles and leave them

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<v Speaker 1>prepped for the evening feeding, but will continue to check

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<v Speaker 1>on the calves throughout the day. Patterson, a seventy eight

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<v Speaker 1>year old fourth generation farmer, is building relationships with these

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<v Speaker 1>calves in the same way he's done for a lifetime

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<v Speaker 1>at Patterson Family Farms. As at most conventional dairies, calves

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<v Speaker 1>are separated from their mothers within a day or two

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<v Speaker 1>of birth, then housed individually and in age related groups,

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<v Speaker 1>where they rely on people for sustenance and affection. This

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<v Speaker 1>connection between calf and caretaker has been at the center

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<v Speaker 1>of a research project by the Institute of Animal Husbandry

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<v Speaker 1>and Animal Welfare at vetmag Uni, Vienna, a university of

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<v Speaker 1>veterinary medicine in Austria. Stephanie Lerzel and her colleagues studied

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<v Speaker 1>a hundred and four Holstein Frisian calves at a commercial

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<v Speaker 1>dairy farm in Germany from birth to day fourteen. They

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<v Speaker 1>stroked the next of half of the calves for three

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<v Speaker 1>minutes a day and did not pet the other half

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<v Speaker 1>of the group. By day ninety the calves would experience

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<v Speaker 1>to neck rubs weighed more than the control group by

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<v Speaker 1>a seemingly small but completely significant three percent. This points

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<v Speaker 1>to the positive influence of gentle human interaction on animal

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<v Speaker 1>weight gain. Researchers also observed the quality of relationships between

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<v Speaker 1>calves and caretakers through an avoidance distance test. The test,

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<v Speaker 1>which measures the distance at which a calf will avoid

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<v Speaker 1>a person who approaches it head on, revealed these stroked

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<v Speaker 1>calves had a lower avoidance distance than the calves in

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<v Speaker 1>the control group. In short, the calves who had been

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<v Speaker 1>given special attention early on in their lives were less

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<v Speaker 1>fearful and more welcoming when approached by people. While these

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<v Speaker 1>results may seem elementary to people who have worked with animals,

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<v Speaker 1>studying the emotional impact of humans on animals in commercial

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<v Speaker 1>production is an emerging field that could have a far

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<v Speaker 1>reaching impact on the animals environments. Previous studies have shown

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<v Speaker 1>that when heffer's gain weight more quickly, they go on

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<v Speaker 1>to produce more milk. For the calves in the vet

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<v Speaker 1>mead Uni Vienna study, their three percent weight gain could

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<v Speaker 1>translate into fifty that's a hundred and ten pounds more

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<v Speaker 1>milk per cow per year, says Lurzel, and in two

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<v Speaker 1>thousand one, a pair of psychologists at England's University of

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<v Speaker 1>Lester demonstrated that playing soothing music to dairy cows increased

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<v Speaker 1>their milk production. Strategies like this aren't new to the

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<v Speaker 1>Patterson Dairy, where classical music is played for cows and

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<v Speaker 1>calves around the clock, says Diana Lanier, who earned a

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<v Speaker 1>bachelor's degree in animal science production management before returning to

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<v Speaker 1>Patterson Family Farms to work alongside her grandfather, Dean Patterson,

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<v Speaker 1>and her father and brother. Lanier said, there are a

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<v Speaker 1>lot of things you can do to make cows more

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<v Speaker 1>comfortable and show them you care for them. In turn,

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<v Speaker 1>they will grow better, produce more milk, and give higher

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<v Speaker 1>quality milk. The more you care for them, the more

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<v Speaker 1>you get out of that relationship. Today's episode was written

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<v Speaker 1>by Laurie L. Dove and produced by Tyler Clang. For

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<v Speaker 1>more on this and lots of other productive topics, visit

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<v Speaker 1>our home planet, how Stuff Works dot com.