Just 5 Minutes Of Neck Scratches Make Dairy Cows Happier, Calmer

Mar 10, 2023

By Shyla Cadogan

In the dairy industry, keeping calves happy and healthy is important, especially during weaning. New research shows that a little human interaction can do the trick — particularly if it means a nice neck-scratching for the young cows.

Scientists from the University of Florida might be a welcome, cost-effective discovery for farmers. Their new study shows that socialization with other calves and humans, even if only for five minutes, can improve their well-being.

“Calves are active and seek stimulation following milk-feeding, so providing more things to do, like brushing, may calm calves, reducing sucking behaviors after feeding and increasing rest,” says Emily K. Miller-Cushon, PhD, of the University of Florida Department of Animal Sciences, in a statement.

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Video: Learning to Wrench From Dad the Hard Way

Harvest is a week out and the farm picked this week to fall apart. The truck needs a battery, the barn curtain's got a problem, and the corn and beans are telling us we're out of time to get it all fixed.

So it's a full day of wrenching. Tork supervises while I get the truck back running, then we're out at the hog barn where one rusted up part has the whole curtain system hung up. Ladder work, cable work, and a little dad-and-son disagreement about the right way to do it. We close it out walking the fields, shelling beans and checking corn, because whether everything's fixed or not, harvest starts when harvest starts.

Chapters: 00:00 Everything breaks the week before harvest 01:00 Tork supervises while I fix the truck 12:30 Out to the barn to find the curtain problem 14:30 One rusty part hung up the whole curtain 20:00 Running the curtain cable from the ladder 24:00 Walking the beans and corn before harvest 26:30 Wrapping up

We're a 6th generation family farm in southeast Iowa showing the real ups and downs of pig farming and row crop farming. No script, just the work. Subscribe and follow along.

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