German Researchers Have Potty-Trained Cows To Pee In A Toilet Area To Help Reduce Greenhouse Gases
Researchers in Germany have successfully managed to potty-train cows to help reduce greenhouse gas emission.
Researchers in Germany have successfully managed to potty-train cows like toddlers.
Their experiments aimed to find a solution to the environmental impacts of livestock waste.
Through the tests and training that spanned over 15 days, 11 out of 16 cows have learned to use the “MooLoo” when they need to urinate.
The young calves were put in a special pen to urinate and given sweet molasses as treats.
If they urinated outside the pen after training, they were squirted by cold water.
“The cows are at least as good as children, age 2 to 4 years, at least as quick,” the senior author of the study, Lindsay Matthews, said.
According to a study in the journal Current Biology, livestock waste has led to serious environmental damages.
Farmed cattle produce around 66 to 88 pounds of feces and eight gallons of urine per day.
When urine mixes with feces, it produces ammonia. The spread of the waste into the soil then converts the ammonia into nitrous oxide, a greenhouse gas that contributes to climate change.
In 2019, nitrous oxide accounted for seven percent of all US greenhouse gas emissions, according to Environmental Protection Agency.
