CLASSICAL MUSIC IN THE MILK PARLOUR

Understanding, and where possible, quantifying the stress that dairy cows experience has become a focal point in animal welfare studies. Whereas the environmental stressors have been well-studied, the addition of sensory stimuli, some of which are associated with indoor comfort, is relatively new. Auditory stimuli have been shown to have potential in reducing stress in the parlour, but is seldom applied. Therefore, the study of the authors cited below, aimed to explore the effect of auditory stimuli in a Holstein herd by monitoring the faecal glucocorticoid metabolite concentrations. The glucocorticoid metabolite is a non-invasive stress-associated biomarker. Cow activity level and milk yield were also measured.

Nine cows in second or third lactation were divided in three groups in a Latin-square design, thereby exposing all cows to all treatments, with each cow being its control in the other treatments. The treatments were constant exposure (CE), limited exposure (LE), and no exposure (NE) to classical music. Faecal glucocorticoid levels were determined using a group-specific enzyme immuno-assay which detects 11,17-dioxoandrostanes.

Compared to LE and NE, CE cows had significantly lower faecal glucocorticoid levels, higher milk yields and lowered activity levels, both in the morning and evening periods.

These results indicate that auditory stimuli in the form of classical music may have a positive effect on the welfare of cows as well as milk yield, which hold economic and sustainable benefits, as animal welfare is inextricably linked to sustainability.