The Echem Agricultural Training Centre (LBZ) in Lower Saxony has developed a pair of cow goggles that make it possible to experience the barn from a cow's perspective. The special glasses are designed to help farmers better understand their cows.
How the barn or milking parlour affects a cow was previously unclear. However, the new cow goggles from the Echem Agricultural Training Centre (LBZ) in Lower Saxony now make it possible to experience how cows see their environment. The aim: less stress, more animal welfare.
"Anyone who has ever experienced for themselves how cows perceive their environment can understand them better and deal with them better," said project manager Benito Weise to the Landeszeitung (LZ) newspaper. The researcher developed the virtual reality goggles together with a team of specialists.
Cows see worse than humans
Farmers can virtually walk through the barn with the cow goggles and observe what a cow hears and sees. This is because ruminants perceive their environment differently to humans, according to the LBZ researchers. A cow's vision is only about 30 per cent that of a human, but the field of vision is 330 degrees.
Cows also perceive differences between light and dark much more extremely than humans, as the NDR in a programme reported. Their eyes also need longer to get used to new lighting conditions.
Stress factor: milking parlour and milking technology
The milking parlour is a major stress factor for cows - it is hectic and loud there. "Cows can hear up to 36,000 hertz, humans only up to 15,000 hertz," said Benito Weise to the Landeszeitung newspaper. This means that the animals perceive many noises in the high-frequency range that do not exist for us humans.
"Milking technology also generates noise in the high-frequency range, which could be the reason why some cows don't go into the milking parlour," said the researcher. Metal feed fences or vacuum pumps are also sources of noise. "Sometimes it is enough to close a door to relieve the cows of a little stress."
Goal: Changing the perception of farmers
The LBZ is currently using the virtual cow glasses for training and further education. Later, vets, barn builders and milking system manufacturers will also be able to use the technology. The aim is to revolutionise barn systems. "For now, however, we mainly want to change people's perceptions," said Benito Weise.
If the farmer stops shouting at a stubborn cow in the milking parlour and instead looks for the problem with his eyes and ears, then a lot has already been achieved, says Benito Weise. For the cow. And for the dairy farmer.
Source: agrarheute
Deutsch 
Français 
English (UK) 
Italiano