"Current Biology" hopes that all cows will learn to control the urination reflex to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions

In a farm, cattle can excrete at will when they eat grass, and the accumulation and diffusion of feces often pollute the local soil and waterways

"People usually think that cows have no ability to control defecation or urination," said co-author Jan Langbein (@niebgnal), an animal psychologist at the German Institute of Farm Animal Biology (FBN), but he and his team question this Idea

In order to train the calves to go to the toilet, the research team conducted reverse work with scientists from FBN, FLI (Germany) and the University of Auckland (New Zealand).

The ammonia produced in cow manure does not directly cause climate change, but when it is filtered into the soil, microorganisms convert it into nitrous oxide, which is the third most important greenhouse gas after methane and carbon dioxide

Langbein said: "You have to try to involve animals in this process and train them to follow what they should learn

In order to encourage people to go to the toilet, the researchers hope that the calf can associate urinating outside the toilet with unpleasant experiences

In a few weeks, the research team successfully trained 11 of the 16 calves

Langbein is optimistic that with more training, this success rate can be further improved

Now that the researchers know how to train cows to go to the toilet, they want to apply their research results to real cow houses and outdoor systems

###

Current Biology , Dirksen et al.