Shakespeare plays 'help boost cows' milk production'

Renditions of works by the 16th century poet and playwright were found to “relax” a dairy herd and help boost production by as much as four per cent.

Researchers have previously claimed that cows produced more milk when played slow music, which helped to alleviate stress.

And in an admittedly “bizarre experiment”, a theatre group, set out to see whether the same principal would apply to drama.

Actors from the local Changeling Theatre Company, which specialise in “very quirky, open-air Shakespeare productions”, were tasked with “entertaining” Friesian cows at the Pleasant Farm, near Maidstone, Kent.

Scenes from The Merry Wives of Windsor, one of the playwright’s comedies about a man seducing two women, apparently led to an increase in milk yields of four per cent.

“We selected scenes from the play we felt to be lyrical and relaxing,”said Rob Forknall, the group’s artistic director.

"It started off as a rather a bizarre experiment after I was talking to a farmer about whether Shakespeare would have the same effect on cows as classical music.

"We were all slightly surprised when it did. Since then we’ve done several rehearsals with the cows. It saves us having to book rehearsal space and the farmer’s very pleased to get more milk.” ...

via Shakespeare plays 'help boost cows' milk production' - Telegraph.