A new cow pen created by a UW–Madison researcher includes a feed bunk, salt blocks and beds of sand on which the animals can lounge between milkings.
Only the pen isn’t on a plot of prime Dane County farmland or nestled in the rolling hills of Green County.
Instead the pen is part of a new game on an app designed to help dairy farmers better understand and learn more about how to interact safely with their cows.
Jennifer Van Os, assistant professor and extension specialist in animal welfare in the Department of Animal and Dairy Sciences, said the goal of “Mooving Cows” is to help reduce injuries to both animal and farmer, decrease cow stress levels and increase milk production. There are countless videos to watch and articles to read on handling cows but the app is designed to offer more intimate, hands-on, simulated training that can later be translated into real-life experiences in a barn.