Amazing stuff!
"... People haven’t given much credence to the intelligence of farm animals, and neither have scientists. But that’s starting to change.
A growing field of research is showing that—when it comes to the minds of goats, cows, and other livestock—we may have been missing something big. Studies published over the past few years have shown that pigs show signs of empathy, goats rival dogs in some tests of social intelligence, and cows can be potty trained.
I didn’t quite believe it myself, but I observed some of these studies (and the curious goat above) first-hand at the Research Institute for Farm Animal Biology (FBN), one of the world’s leading centers for investigating the minds of creatures that often end up on our dinner plate. From cows making friends to goats exhibiting signs of altruism, I got a window into a body of research that’s upending popular—and scientific—conceptions of what farm animals are capable of.
The work may not just rewrite our thinking about livestock, it might also change how we treat them. ..."
"... The work is part of a small, but growing field that’s beginning to overturn the idea that livestock are dumb and unworthy of scientific attention. ...
In a small room, researchers are herding hulking hogs—just 6 months old but already 120 kilograms—one by one into a run with a treadmill. Instead of a conventional treadmill’s control panel, there’s a grapefruit-size glowing blue button at snout height that the animals can press to run the machine for a few seconds. Today, however, no one seems very interested in working out.
Like a person having second thoughts about their gym membership, most of the pigs step briefly onto the treadmill, then walk off, emitting squeals and deep, belchlike grunts as they exit through a door on the other side of the run.
“We have sports pigs, but also couch potato pigs,” ..."
Cover story: “Science” Magazine reports on FBN research How empathetic are farm animals and what are they cognitively capable of? Research results in behavioral physiology at the Research Institute for Farm Animal Biology have already attracted a lot of attention in the past. Now the “Science” journalist David Grimm visited and published an article about behavioral research at the FBN.
What Are Farm Animals Thinking? New research is revealing surprising complexity in the minds of goats, pigs, and other livestock
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