In order to reduce pollution by ammonia, produced by combining the urine and feces of the cows, these animals learned to use a latrine that facilitates the collection of your waste.
Cows that live on farms leave their waste in the open air, which often pollutes the soil and natural water reservoirs; whereas cattle raised in stables have very closed spaces in which excrement and urine are combined.
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A combination of urine and feces produces ammonia, a substance that contributes to the formation of aerosols that damage air quality and lead to excess fertilization in ecosystems.
In order to combat this damage to the environment, some cows were trained to learn to use a latrine, where your waste can be collected and treated, reducing air pollution with greenhouse gas.
Awards were used for the cows to learn to use the bathroom
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In a study published in the journal Current Biology, a group of researchers showed that, contrary to what was believed, it is possible to get these animals to urinate at certain points in the barn.
“It is normally assumed that cattle cannot control their bowel movements, but like many other farm animals, cattle are quite intelligent and adaptive. Why shouldn’t they learn to use the toilet too? ”Said Jan Langbein, an ethologist at the Institute for Behavioral Physiology (FBN) in Germany.
To teach the cows To go to the bathroom, special latrines were built and a process called MooLoo was followed, consisting of rewarding them when they urinated in said tanks or “punishing” them with a short shower when they did so in other spaces.
Try to include animals in the process and guide them towards what they should learn. We assumed that it would be possible to train them, but we did not know to what extent.
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To encourage the use of latrine, the researchers got the calves to associate an unpleasant experience with urinating outside the space. “In the end, a splash of water worked well as a mild deterrent,” Langbein said.
Current Biology
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After a few weeks, the researchers found that 11 out of 16 cows they will use the latrineThey also found that their performance level was comparable to that of children and higher than that of very young children.
Langbein recognized that the success rate can improve with more training; however, cows “They have their own personalities and they treat different things in different ways,” so the work will have to continue.
What follows is to take these trainings to the stables and outdoor facilities, so that more cattle know how to use the latrine, the cleaning of the stables is improved and the generation of ammonia.
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