An English inventor and dairy farmer has developed a waterbed for cows that he says cut his vet bills in half and increased milk production by more than 6 percent. As inventor Alan Bristow explains in Future Present (Booth-Clibborn Editions, 2000), the waterbed was initially designed to cut straw bedding costs, but it’s had the additional benefit of stress relief. “The cows,” Bristow explains, “spend 14 out of every 24 hours chewing the cud more effectively because they’re relaxed.”
