The milk yield of cows at MAKÜ Farm increases with the music they listen to.

At Burdur Mehmet Akif Ersoy University Veterinary Faculty Farm, within the framework of the project to investigate the effect of Turkish music on the hormone and milk yield of dairy cows, it was observed that milk yield increased when cows were exposed to Turkish music.

Starting from this discovery, academics at Burdur Mehmet Akif Ersoy University are playing music for the cows in the MAKÜ Farm as part of their projects.

Burdur Mehmet Akif Ersoy University Turkish Music State Conservatory, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Food Agriculture and Livestock Vocational School, and MAKÜ Farm are collaborating on the project "Investigation of the effect of music on the hormone and milk yield of dairy cows." After playing Turkish music to the cows raised on the farm, it was observed that milk yield increased as the cows were fed in a calmer and more peaceful environment.

Dr. Ilktan Baştan, Faculty Member of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Director of the Agricultural Livestock and Food Research Application and Research Center, stated in his statement about the music system implemented at MAKÜ farm; "There are more than 40 studies conducted within our center. In addition to our undergraduate and graduate students, many scientific researches within our university are also implemented. One of them is the research on the effect of music on the milk yield of Holstein breed cows. Especially the effect of regional music has caught our attention in this context. Burdur Mehmet Akif Ersoy University is a university supported by YÖK as a regionally focused university among the universities. Here we see an example of this. In this context, coordinated research is also carried out by many of our professors from the Faculty of Fine Arts, Conservatory, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Faculty of Architecture and Engineering. It is not limited to the studies of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine professors or researchers. In this context, we aim to create an example, a role model for livestock in our region, and to be somewhat beneficial to our breeders." He used expressions.

Increasing Milk Yield of Cows with Turkish Folk Music

Project coordinator Prof. Dr. Zeki Nacakcı, Director of the MAKÜ Music Culture Application and Research Center, stated that in their projects applied to cows at MAKÜ farm, cows reacted differently to each genre of music, their standing in a musical environment changed the happiness hormones in them, and thus their milk yield increased. He stated that the difference of this system applied at MAKÜ from other systems applied in many different places before is that they play Turkish Folk Music and regional music to the cows.

Prof. Dr. Zeki Nacakcı, who provided information about the project, said; "There are many studies on the effect of music on living beings. One of our starting points in this project was to increase the milk yield of cows by playing music at MAKÜ farm. While classical music-based researches were conducted in other parts of the world, we started a project shaping with Turkish Folk Music, regional music, and meditation music. We first conducted studies on mice, horses, their stress hormones, and hormones that increase milk yield. We determined the main music in these studies and after determining at what decibels, for how long, and how much we would give, we play music to the cows at certain times of the day on the farm. We also know that cows are most stressed when milking. We play different music to them at that point, like Pavlov's conditioned experimental research, we conduct different experiments. Of course, we have not yet received the results of these, but it seems that we are currently moving in a positive direction. Because according to our preliminary research, we see that cows respond very well to music. In fact, when I started the first project, I was very surprised, I did not expect such an extreme reaction. They act focusing directly on the sound of the music. In our initial research, it is seen that they respond more to Turkish Folk Music, jazz music, meditation music compared to other music. After the project is completed, its scientific data will be explained in articles and scientific environments. Then we will have much clearer data in our hands." He said.

Emphasizing that the milk yield of cows is related to external factors and that an increase in milk yield occurs when they are happy, Prof. Dr. Nacakcı said; "According to the information I received from other expert colleagues, the less stress cows have, the more milk they produce. Therefore, after eating their normal meals, when we play music in relaxation modes, which are actually meditation and music that will not make them move too much, we see that they lie down or rest much more comfortably. This also increases their daily milk production, and they feel much more lively in lively music. Just as people show different reactions to different music, the same animals show different reactions to different music, and we are also obtaining the results of this. The project started a year ago. Within a year, we obtained valuable data. We see this both in blood samples and by observing their behaviors. We are approaching the end of the project. Our project will be completed in about 3 months." He said.