Tuesday, 29 October 2019 10:27

Cripes, stripes!

Written by  Milking It

Have you ever tried painting zebra stripes on your cows?

Apparently, it could solve the age-old problem of fly attacks on livestock, and bring economic and environmental benefits.

Biting flies are serious pests, causing economic losses in animal production. But a new study by Japanese researchers and published in PLOS One found that black cows painted with zebra stripes are nearly 50% less likely to suffer from the bites.

Researchers used six Japanese Black cows with different paint designs in the study.

The treatments were black-and-white painted stripes, black painted stripes, and no stripes (all-black body surface). 

The numbers of biting flies on the cows painted with black-and-white stripes were significantly lower than those on non-painted cows and cows painted only with black stripes.

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