Izzet Kocak, a cattle farmer from Aksaray, Turkey, has fitted his cows with virtual reality (VR) goggles to trick them into thinking it is summertime and they are seeing green pastures. This concept was inspired by a similar experiment in Moscow over two years ago that showed cows become happier and produce more milk.
The Sun reported that Kocak's method was effective and resulted in an increase of milk production from 22 liters to 27 liters a day. Izzet said that watching green pastures gave his cows an emotional boost and reduced their stress and anxiety.
Cows in Turkey Tricked Into Thinking Its Summer Using VR Goggles to Reduce Stress and Anxiety to Produce More Milk
VR Headset Improves Overall Mood in the Herd
Izzet said that he had previously used classical music to calm his 180 cows, but so far, he is very impressed with the VR headset results. He said that he has plans to buy 10 more headsets due to the positive effects on his cows.
According to MailOnline, headsets were developed with veterinarians and were first tested on a farm in Moscow in 2019. Vets and consultants worked together with the farmers at Krasnogorsk farm to beam a simulation of a summer field to the cattle.
They molded a human VR headset to the specifications of the cow's head while IT specialists tweaked its color palette that will work well with the animals' vision. Although cows are not color blind, they are unable to see red or green color because they can only perceive dull shades of yellow and blue.
The Ministry of Agriculture said that the Dutch and Scottish research showed environmental conditions could affect cow health and the quantity and quality of milk they produce. Photos of the cows wearing the VR goggles received laughs on social media, especially as many referred to the experiment as the cow version of the famous movie "The Matrix."
Happy Cows Have Higher Calcium Levels
Dairy producers in California have always claimed that their products are superior because they came from "happy cows." But what is the reason behind it?
A 2017 study titled "Elevation of Circulating Serotonin Improves Calcium Dynamics in the Peripartum Dairy Cow," published in the Journal of Endocrinology, found that cows exposed to the hormone serotonin boosted happiness that leads to producing milk with an increased level of calcium.
Science Daily reported that serotonin is a known hormone that lifts spirits and exposing cows to it daily improves their overall calcium level. The study involved two breeds of cows, the Holstein and Jersey cows, in which the former displayed increased blood calcium while the latter had increased milk calcium.
The boost in calcium levels is important for the 5% to 10% of the American dairy cow population that has low levels of calcium, especially before female cows give birth.
RELATED ARTICLE : Cows Prefer Face-To-Face Chat Over Pre-Recorded Voices, Says Study
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