The Effects of Classical Music on Dairy Cattle
Date
2016-04-04
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Abstract
The purpose of this experiment is to determine if classical musical input will have an effect on the stress level of cattle, measured by total milk production, production per cow, and number of cows milked. By continuing this experiment with different time intervals, the hope is to fully demonstrate the effects of music on milking. In addition, does speaker location affect stress levels in the cattle? Results from playing the music for an extended period of time produced a steady increase in production. Conversely, when the speaker was moved away from the milking units, there was an overall decline in production. This indicates that playing music to lower stress could have a prolonged effect. Having a steady increase in production could be attributed to a lack of ability to return to baseline prior to the next interval of music. Therefore, there would not be enough time for milk production to decrease when the music was not playing, leading to the constant increase in milk production during the entire experiment. The decrease in milk production when the speaker was moved could indicated that by having the speaker far from the milking system it is not actively lowering stress during milking. Finally, further experimentation should be conducted as a third uncontrollable variable of sickness, particularly pneumonia, broke out during the experimentation that could have altered normal results.
Description
Thesis completed in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Alfred University Honors Program.
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Thesis
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Keywords
Honors thesis, Classical music, Dairy cattle, Stress