Effect of milking environment enrichment through music on production performance and behaviour in cattle

Abstract

Enrichment of milking environment through music has been proposed to help animals to cope with divergent stressors. This study aimed at evaluating the effect of Indian instrumental music-based environmental enrichment on milk production performance and behaviour in cattle. A total of 21 lactating dairy cattle (Vrindavani crossbred cows) having similar parity and stage of lactation were selected in three groups -T1, T2, and T3 each consisting of seven animals. The T1 and T2 groups were exposed to instrumental ute and sitar respectively 10 minutes prior to the start of milking and continued till completion of milking; while the T3 group served as control. Musical enrichment of the environment was done using recorded-tape of ute and / sitar was played in yamen raga at 40-60 decibels intensity. The results revealed a non-signi cant difference in milk yield, rectal temperature, respiration rate, T3 and T4 hormones. However, there exhibited a signi cant (p<0.05) difference in milking time, milking speed, cortisol hormones and behavioural parameters such as milk let down in the animals exposed to music compared to the control group. Thus, the results have signi cant implications relating to the behavioural tness and welfare of dairy animals and reducing residual milk.

The Impact of Music on Milk Production and Behaviour of Dairy Cattle

“…An increase in the gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) content in the blood of cattle, thus promoting the secretion of growth hormones, could also be seen when light music was played (Ma & Wang, 2020). Other studies also found no association between milk yield and music (Kochewad et al, 2022;Lemcke et al, 2021). Even though the highest milk output occurred when no music was played, the cows demonstrated relaxed behaviours such as sleeping and relaxing when some music was played, indicating reduced stress and increased welfare (Kemp, 2020).…”

“…Dairy farms, particularly those with noisy mechanical milking parlours, can benefit from playing slow music to their cows to alleviate stress and increase milk production by up to 3% (Kochewad, 2022;Lemcke et al, 2021). Listening to classical music for a long time has increased milk production in dairy cattle (Dhungana et al, 2018;Ganesh, 2020;Liu et al, 2017;Ma & Wang, 2020).…”

Tactile, Auditory, and Visual Stimulation as Sensory Enrichment for Dairy Cattle

“…82 ). Consequently, the authors concluded that music can reduce residual milk by improving the welfare of dairy cows during milking [60].…”

A Practical Approach to Providing Environmental Enrichment to Pigs and Broiler Chickens Housed in Intensive Systems

“…It is also best to avoid heavy metal or a fast tempo over 100 beats per minute [48,49]. It is recommended to have a variety of music [50] and more mellow music such as classical [51] or Indian music [52].…”

“…In dairy cattle, music improved moving into a robotic milking unit [48]. Another study showed that dairy cows exposed to music had a faster milking speed and better milk letdown [51,52]. Music that was played before milking had some beneficial effects [53].…”