Official News page 7

REAL LIFE NEWS: A COW'S BEST FRIEND

by Hazed

In recent months we have learned that parrots and elephants know how to cooperate, that sheep are more intelligent than we thought and that chickens show empathy.

Now we learn that cows have best friends, and that if they are separated they get all stressed.

Krista McLennan, who is working on her PhD at Northampton University, England, found this out by measuring the heart rates and cortisol levels of cows, to see how well they cope when they are isolated.

Cows were penned up for 30 minutes, either on their own, with their bestest pal cow, or with a stranger cow. Their heard rates were checked at 15-second intervals.

The research shows that cows are very social animals that often form close bonds and have best friends. When they have their best friend with them, their stress levels are much lower compared if they are with a strange cow or on their own.

Since cows are herd animals it makes sense that being alone would stress them out, but knowing they have preferred cows could affect the way cows are separated or moved around.

This isn't just about feel-good farming, though; it could help improve milk yields so have an effect on farmers' profits. As McLennan explains, "If we can encourage farmers to keep an eye out for those cows which like to keep their friends with them, it could have some real benefits, such as improving their milk yields and reducing stress for the animals, which is very important for their welfare."

Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2011124/Cows-best-friends-stressed-separated.html#

Fed2 Star index Previous issues Fed 2 home page