Cows produce more milk when listening to music, but only if the music has a soothing tempo, research has shown. When mellow music, such as classical or folk, is played for dairy cows, they each produce about 1.5 pints (about 0.7 liters) more milk than they normally do, according to one study. This is an increase of about 3%, which researchers attribute to the cows being less stressed. Researchers believe that cows’ brains might react to music in the same way as humans’ brains, and that music with slower beats might cause the brain to release calming chemicals that reduce feelings of stress.
More about dairy cows:
- The average dairy cow produces more than 200,000 glasses of milk during its lifetime.
- One study found that cows that had been given names by their farmers produced an additional 500 pints (284 liters) every year, and it is thought that this increases the cows’ comfort levels, resulting in better milk production.
- A cow’s udder can store as much as 50 pounds (22.68 kg) of milk.
