If you think your kids are hogging the bathroom, try dealing with a 2,000-pound bovine that spends seven hours a day in the shower and doesn't want to get out.
At the University of California, Davis, researchers are conducting an experiment to see how long cows will stand under a cooling shower if they can do it as long as they want.
"We're interested in when the cows will turn the water on and off for themselves," said Cassandra Tucker, an assistant professor of animal science. "We wanted to give the cows control."
The goal is to help dairy farmers, who use misters to keep their cows cool in the summer, to be more efficient with water and to produce more milk.
In a barn on LaRue Road in Davis, four pens have been equipped with wooden shower platforms. A cow's weight on the floor triggers the shower heads above.
Some of the cows have taken to standing under the water for seven hours a day or more. Other cows that try to grab a shower can be met with heavy resistance.
David Ledgerwood, a university researcher, said the black-and-white bovines would jostle for position under the shower, with the dominant cow fending off challengers.
One cow that weighs in at 2,000 pounds pretty much gets her way. She luxuriates under the water for most of the day.
In a nearby pen, cow No. 2165, a 2-year-old Holstein, is getting ready to have her first calf. She, too, spends about seven hours a day in the shower.
On Thursday, she let the water splash onto her back and shoulders, flicking water on observers with her tail.
Amanda Grout, a UC Davis technician, said the fact that the cow was ruminating – or chewing her cud – showed she was content.
"They do it when they're relaxed," she said.
The cows like the water to hit them on the head and neck, she said.
Cows have stood under the water since May, when the experiment started.
During the hot spell in July, the cows that didn't have shower privileges got dangerously hot.
Their body temperatures went up to 106 degrees, and they panted like dogs – classic signs of heat stress.
"That didn't happen to the shower cows," Tucker said.
The cows that could use the showers kept their body temperatures at a normal 100 degrees.
Hot cows don't produce as much milk, but wasting water on cows that don't need it is inefficient, the researchers said.
Video cameras monitor the cows 24 hours a day to see which ones shower and when.
One interesting part of the experiment is that researchers use black hair dye on white cows and blond hair bleach on dark cows to help distinguish them in the black-and-white surveillance videos.
The researchers said they raise eyebrows when they go to the drug store and buy cartloads of L'Oreal Blondissima hair bleach.
"They look at you weird," Tucker said. "Especially if you tell them it's for cows."
Call The Bee's Hudson Sangree, (916) 321-1191.
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