WEGZUDE Stay in Germany Circle
A team of German and New Zealand scientists published an article in the September 13 issue of the scientific journal Contemporary Biology that attracted widespread attention.
The article describes how scientists, with the help of feed rewards, successfully teach calves to "go to the toilet" in designated special devices.
The team, which came to the Zoological Biology Institute on Dunersdorf Farms, wrote in the article that cattle can be trained to defecate, so that waste can be collected and disposed of, air pollution is reduced, and it is conducive to the creation of more open, animal-friendly farms.
The training looks like this:
If the trained calves defecate in the toilet, they are subsequently rewarded with their favorite sugar liquid.
But if they defecate in the field or in a barn, they will hear unpleasant music playing on the radio or be sprayed with water in their faces. This gentle deterrent trains their awareness of urinating and defecating in designated locations.
There are two problems with cattle excrement: One is that they release the greenhouse gas nitrous oxide. Second, urine also contains a large amount of nitrate, which will be deposited in soil and water. A researcher at the University of Auckland explained that if 10 to 20 percent of the urine waste could be collected, greenhouse gas emissions and nitrate leaching could be greatly reduced.
The results of the study show that training cows to go to the toilet is feasible in principle. But the challenge is how to extend the concept to training large herds, or to implement it outdoors.
In New Zealand, farms are responsible for about half of greenhouse gas emissions, mainly in the form of methane and nitrous oxide. As a result, scientists have been conducting in-depth research for years to find possible solutions. Other projects include breeding farm animals with low methane emissions, using alternative feeds, and even vaccinateing animals to reduce the production of harmful gases.