27. 07. 10. - 15:00

Farmers set sights on 'cow wash'

Austrian farmers are eyeing up a groundbreaking invention created in a bid to raise milk production levels.

Internationally-operating dairy solutions firm DeLaval said it had already sold more than 30,000 of its new "Swinging Cow Brush" (SCB) – which allegedly keeps cows happier, healthier and more productive – in Sweden.

A study by Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, USA, revealed that heifers using the gadget – which consists of a giant rotating brush fitted to milking sheds – for regular brush-ups were happier and in better health thanks to an increase in blood circulation.

The survey also showed that SCB-using cows gave up to 3.5 per cent more milk than animals in a reference group kept under the same conditions without access to the revolutionary invention thanks to its massaging effects.

DeLaval official Barbara Strunk explained: "A cow that grooms herself with the swinging cow brush can produce more milk from the exact same resources and input. That is one of the reasons why it is so popular among dairy farmers."

Now cow farmers across Austria are considering the purchase of the quirky self-grooming device.