Cuddling cows
OPINION: Years of floods and low food prices have driven a dairy farm in England's northeast to stop milking its cows and instead charge visitors to cuddle them.
Previous investigations have shown a propensity for cows to seek out human interaction, but the results of such contact have thus far been unknown.
In a recent study, researchers from the University of Florida sought to identify precisely how human company influences calves’ levels of wellbeing by observing their behaviour under controlled conditions.
Following analysis of the video footage, the research team claimed that human contact does indeed impact the behaviour of the animals, as the additional five minutes spent with humans reduced the duration of calves’ sucking behaviours and increased the amount of time they rested after meals.
