Hawaii Dairy Farm Pampers Cows, Featured in USA Today

Amanda NolzAnimal Health, Milk

usatoday Robbie Dingeman with USA Today recently reported on a dairy farm that is pampering their cows with water beds. Water beds? Is this for real? In an attempt to treat their cattle better and promote increased milk production, a Hawaiian-based dairy farm is testing out their theory of water beds for their cows and are discovering amazing results. Read the excerpt below and tell me your thoughts. Water beds for cows? Ridiculous or smart?

Water beds for cows. That may sound like a fanciful title for a novel but it describes the latest investment of a Hawaii farm pumping out fresh locally produced milk. Island Dairy owner Bahman Sadeghi explains it this way: “Happy, healthy cows produce more milk.”

So, “a cow that is not at peak health and is in stress is not going to produce as much milk as a comfortable relaxed cow.”

And that’s where the plan for a new 320-cow barn full of waterbeds comes in. The company said the pampered cow approach has produced measurable results.They cited reports that cows with waterbeds installed in their barns are producing 10% to 20% more milk.