Toilet training: an innovative approach towards increased welfare and sustainability of dairy farming

Every day, dairy cows suffer the risk of slipping and falling in aisles and to develop lameness and mastitis due to dirty surfaces originating from their own manure. The mixture of urine and faeces also produces large amounts of ammonia.

At the same time, barn designs, economy and farmers’ work load focus on exactly the same problems, to effectively remove and handle large amounts of manure that accumulate daily.

We propose a possibility to toilet train cows, i.e. train heifers to eliminate only in a specific area of the barn, something that could revolutionize housing systems, reduce environmental impact and promote animal welfare. The proposed project builds on previous research investigating toilet training for urination with positive results.

We aim to identify best practices of training both urination and defecation at a specific location, i.e. the barn toilet, assess learning progress and whether toileting behaviour is retained over time and its effects on cleanliness, animal welfare and cognitive abilities. This will be explored in group-housed heifers held under commercial conditions.

This project is a collaboration between international researchers specialized in ethology and animal welfare as well as industry stakeholders including representatives from the dairy sector.