Cows that stress less, produce more

“If we can create a less stressful envi­ron­ment, then cows will tran­si­tion well,” says Chris Gowen, head herdsman at Stowell Farms in Wilt­shire, England. Home to the prize-winning Serena Holstein herd, Chris has been at the 1,400ha farming estate for just over four years, during which time the herd has seen signif­i­cant growth.

Taking the herd from 500 cows on a rotary parlour (aver­aging 8,000 litres/cow per year) to 945 cows and counting (with a target of 1,000 cows), they now operate 12 milking robots and average 13,000 litres/cow per year. The milking cows are fully housed and calve all-year-round, with approx­i­mately 100 cows calving per month.

A stress-free envi­ron­ment allows the cows to be at the top of their game.

Chris Gowen

While dry cows go out during the summer months and young stock are gener­ally grazing all year round, keeping the milking cows indoors works from a prac­tical point of view. This set up allows the team to keep a close eye on animal welfare and oper­a­tions – some­thing Chris recog­nises as essen­tial to their success. “A stress-free envi­ron­ment allows the cows to be at the top of their game,” he says. “We believe if we produce a happy cow, we get the milk in return.”

Reducing stress from the inside out

Attracted by the promise of reduced stress, Chris now uses FerAp­pease, a topical product proven to reduce the impact of stress on cattle. It contains a synthetic analogue of the natu­rally occur­ring pheromone – Maternal Bovine Appeasing Substance (mBAS), which is secreted by the skin of lactating animals.

Chris initially trialled FerAp­pease on the recom­men­da­tion of veteri­nary consul­tant and trusted friend Rob Drys­dale. “We’re always on the lookout for that next thing to progress,” he explains. “If we think a product makes sense, and can benefit us, we’ll look at it.” Often, they will conduct their own in-house trials before commit­ting to a new product. With FerAp­pease they decided to try it on their heifers first.

“Looking at the whole philos­ophy around creating a stress-free envi­ron­ment for the cow at a time of stress just makes sense,” Chris says.

When heifers join the dry cows (about a month before calving), it is a high point of stress, due to the changes in social groups, systems and envi­ron­ment, Chris points out. “They’ve very much gone from doing nothing for two years to effec­tively start working. So, it’s a big change for them.”

Stress can reduce feed intakes and there­fore produc­tivity, fertility and health, so, to have this calming effect is a distinct advan­tage. “The moment cows stop eating, the less chance they have of the foetus devel­oping, the rumen being full and producing milk as soon as they calve,” explains Chris.

Calmer cows, better produc­tion

And it has certainly made a differ­ence. Staff have noticed that cows are much calmer when faced with new envi­ron­ments or situ­a­tions, for example entering the robots for the first time, or at calving.

They also saw a signif­i­cant increase in produc­tion from their heifers, enabling them to push out volun­tary wait periods from 50 to 60 days. Between 2023 and 2025 concep­tion rates rose from 39% to 46.1% overall. Longevity also improved, with a seven percent increase in cows reaching second calving (now 83.6%).

FerAp­pease is applied to the muzzle and poll of the animal

Staff noticed cows were much calmer when entering the robots for the first time.

Chris is quick to acknowl­edge that such improve­ments haven’t been down to FerAp­pease alone, as the farm is always striving to improve. “But it’s defi­nitely a tool in our armoury.” Noting the differ­ence it made, gave them confi­dence to roll it out for use with the herd in other situ­a­tions such as at calving, drying off and when taking cattle to shows.

“I think we over compli­cate things some­times, where there’s no need to. Ulti­mately, cows are mammals. They have been doing what they’ve been doing for years,” remarks Chris. “If you can manage the bottle­necks in the system, that is where you can make a big differ­ence.”