Applied Therapeutic Sound for Rural, Domestic,
Marine and Native Animals
What is Biological Harmonics ?
Biological Harmonics is a registered name Robert J Boyd has given
to his application of therapeutic music for animals both domestic,
rural, marine and native. Robert has been involved in this interesting
field for many years as a parallel to his work with people, on the
basis that animals of any kind suffer stress in similar ways to
humans. Robert has devised interesting and unique methods and techniques
using sounds to enhance the wellbeing of animals.
A Bio Harmonics sound module on a farm at
Eneabba Western Australia. The cattle are Wagyu beef cattle.
The module is weather proof and needs no attention from the
farmer except an occasional check of the backup battery. This
unit is solar powered and fully programmable to play daily
at specific intervals. |
More Information on My Work With Animals.
Animals are very sensitive to sound. If you have had an association
with an animal (bird, fish or reptile) domestic or wild, you would
know that they respond to music.
However it depends greatly on the animal concerned as to the type
of frequencies, harmonics and rythmn of the music and sounds with
which it is compatible.
Most animals have a greater hearing range than a human being and
in most cases they are much more sensitive to sounds.
Sound is an important component in an animal's survival instincts
even in domesticated animals, whereas a great number of humans have
lost this sensitivity over the centuries of urban living, where
survival has a very different meaning these days.
The cattle experiment has been very interesting. For example the
musical sounds I have composed for the cattle photographed on this
page are very different to the sounds I have produced for dogs,
cats or horses, and it follows that each species of animal responds
to different musical harmonies and frequencies.
When I first produced the music for the cattle, I played it to the
animals via a small but reasonable quality portable CD player. The
farmer and I remained in the cab of the vehicle so as not to influence
the cattle by our presence.
The first reaction from the different herds we confronted was similar
in each case where, for the duration of the music the entire group
listened intently. There was no shuffling about, the animals stood
perfectly still till the end of the session. The herd of cows with
calves reacted likewise except the calves slowly moved to the front
and ventured very close to the vehicle obviously extremely fascinated
by the music with their juvenile curiosity overwelming any fear.
We then played the music to a small herd of 35 Steers in the feed
lot with the same initial results, but this time I played the music
for a second time.
Within 15 minutes of the second play 24 of the 35 steers were lying
on the ground asleep, some of them dropped so close to each other
that they were partially leaning on each other. When they first
lay down they attempted to chew their cud but they soon dropped
off to sleep with only a handfull remaining standing.
This experiment occured at around 11 am in the morning when the
animals are normally quite active, the farmer's comment was "I don't
believe this!".
The object of the music however is not to expect the cattle to listen
to a concert two or three times a day but more for the calming sounds
to become part of their environment to which after a time the animals
appear to ignore.
The benefits of this kind of application are two fold:
(1) The music relaxes and calms the cattle, therefore they don't
get excited and stressed (these big steers are so calm they will
suck your hand like a young calf). Therefore the animals put on
good weight and condition during the feed lot period.
(2) When animals are moved off the farm they undergo considerable
stress, being removed from the intitial comfort of the herd, to
being prodded on to a transporter and having to stand on a moving
vehicle for many hours without food or water which is a totally
alien environment from their farm life. This stress continues
after the animals arrive at the sale yards.
It is well known in marketing live stock that economic losses
due to stress can reduce the value of a herd by a considerable
percentage.
The use of this music can reduce the stress factor by playing
it to them during transit and at the destination. So when the
truck driver stops for a coffee break he plays the music to the
cattle and likewise at the market, this music is played to them
again.
So how does it work?
Because the music played on the farm becomes part of the environmental
sounds to the cattle - part of their happy home life so to speak
- then the music played as often as possible during transit creates
a psychological link in the animal's mind to that comfort time,
thus keeping the animal as calm as possible, reducing the stress
factor considerably and therefore, increasing the value of the animal.
This is not just an economics exercise, it also plays a large contribution
to the animal's wellfare. I refer to the incredible stress factors
which plague the unfortunate animals shipped live overseas. Surely
these animals would be relieved of some stress by the introduction
of musical and nature sounds to their alien shipboard environment.
Please note
I do conduct lectures and workshops on this subject. If you would
like me to speak to your group or association please contact me
for further details:
Robert Boyd
PO BOX 1823 Hervey Bay,
Qld, 4655
Australia
Mobile: 04388 01203
Telephone: +61 (7) 4125 2892
Email:
Bio Harmonics PUBLICATIONS
Harmony on the
Hoof
Report: Mike Wakeham
The West Australian, July
22 1998
(front page photograph and centrefold spread, You Magazine)
Making Moosic
Report: Mike Wakeham
The West Australian, July
22 1998
(sidebar article to centrefold spread, You Magazine (above))
Sound Therapy
Keren Bellos
Pets & Vets Magazine Australia, Vol 1,
Issue 9, 1999
email petsvets@powerup.com.au
The Magic
of Music
By Debby Mandat
Albany Advertiser
Down South supplement (front page spread)
and other regional and metropolitan newspapers |
