What's in a Name? More Milk Apparently

New study finds cows with names are better dairy producers than those without

By Catherine Schwanke Posted 01.28.2009 at 2:38 pm 6 Comments

Cows Makro Freak

Happy farmers name their cows. Why? Because new research out of Newcastle University shows cows with names produce more milk than those without.

The scientists surveyed 516 UK dairy farmers, looking at human interaction with the dairy cattle along with milk productivity. The findings provide good news for dairy farmers. According to the researchers, farms with named cows have a higher milk production than those where cattle are herded as a large group. By simply naming their cows, dairy farmers can increase their milk yield by nearly 500 pints a year.

"Just as people respond better to the personal touch, cows also feel happier and more relaxed if they are given a bit more one-to-one attention," says Catherine Douglas, researcher at Newcastle University’s School of Agriculture, Food and Rural Development.

The study reveals a farmer’s attitude toward his or her cattle can significantly affect milk production. So how many farmers actually talk to their cows? Of the 516 UK dairy farmers questioned, 46 percent reported calling their cows by name and 66 percent said they “knew all the cows in the herd.” In addition, almost half of the farmers believed that cows with positive human contact had a better milking temperament.

"By placing more importance on the individual, such as calling a cow by her name or interacting with the animal more as it grows up, we can not only improve the animal's welfare and her perception of humans, but also increase milk production," says Douglas.

For some farmers, the findings are nothing new. "They aren't just our livelihood - they're part of the family," says Dennis Gibb, co-owner of Eachwick Red House Farm outside Newcastle, Northern England. "We love our cows here at Eachwick and every one of them has a name. Collectively we refer to them as 'our ladies' but we know every one of them and each one has her own personality."

Now the big question is: How many Betsys and Daisys will there be?

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6 Comments

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irishrovr

01/28/09 at 3:10 pm

I can certainly see where that is true for milk cows. BEEF cattle, on the other hand are a different story. Just try butchering a cow that you've named and nurtured - bet not many people will be able to do that! BTW - the happiest cows on the planet live in WISCONSIN!!

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Bioboy

01/28/09 at 4:19 pm

I don't know. My cousins butchered a beef steer they raised that they named Sir Loin.

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irishrovr

01/28/09 at 6:06 pm

I could probably butcher a cow that I named after a cut of meat. Mr T-bone, yes - Brownie, not so much!

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landzmann

01/28/09 at 6:31 pm

Living on a dairy farm we rarely named our cows but we did talk to them and they came to know us by the sound of our voice. Cows given TLC are healthier and do produce more milk. Long before the research, in 1907, a condensed milk company claimed their milk was from "contented cows". Perhaps their farmers named them too.

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Oakspar77777

01/29/09 at 1:37 pm

Giving milk is a stress-reacting process. Ask any nursing mother, and she will let you know that relaxing is a necessary part of the action.

This is a simple survival responce. When stressed, milk production stops until the stresser is gone. Try peeing sometime with an audience. The stress will likely cause a bit of performance anxiety. After all, you don't want to be draining the lizard when a lion is about to eat you.

Anything to reduce the stress to cows (a prey species, so not particularly brave to begin with) is going to result in greater milk production.

Since most of the stress from the dairy process is from someone she cannot see hooking up milking tubes to her teets, having someone she is familiar with, does not see as a threat, and, most importantly, can hear the entire time is going to remove much of the fear.

My guess is that you could get the same effect from any consistant sound (music, calf noises, etc).

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DarkFx

from Winnipeg, Manitoba

01/29/09 at 3:45 pm

Cows are not entirely incapable of learning. They know people from our smell, and they understand sounds the same way we do too.
Relieve the cow of stress by at least acknowledging it.

The animal no matter what, will be responsive to whatever noise you make repetitively in its presence and will eventually understand that the sound is referral to itself. A low degree of self esteem, but I am sure most species of the planet would evolve to see humans as a type of... Lord?

~ You fall somewhere in the Balanced Frequency of Nature. Someone Along the Infinite Spectrum of Life.