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It can be hard to tell whether an animals is content in its surroundings, but scientists have now discovered how goats express emotions.

The findings could help farmers gain a better insight into the wellbeing of their stock and turn boost welfare.

They believe the animals express contentment with a stable bleat and small ear movements. 

Scientists have examined how goats express subtle positive emotions, which could lead to greater understanding of their welfare. They discovered that goats are more likely to point their ears forward (stock image pictured) and keep their tail up when they are in a positive state

While it can be easy to spot an animal in distress, it is often harder for people who work closely with animals to know when they are content.

Dr Alan McElligott and Dr Elodie Briefer of Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) studied goats at Buttercups Sanctuary for Goats in Monchelsea, Kent.

They wanted to get a clear understanding of how the animals express their emotions through sound and behaviour in positive in mildly positive and negative situations.

The researchers discovered that the goats were more likely to point their ears forward and keep their tail up when they were in a positive state.

They also produced more 'stable' calls that varied less in frequency.

The scientists hope that by studying how different animals portray their emotions, they can ensure that they are happy in their surroundings, which is of importance not only to animal welfare groups but to consumers who try and buy free range meat, for example. 

The scientists hope that by studying how different animals portray their emotions, they can ensure that they are happy in their surroundings, which is of importance not only to animal welfare groups but to consumers who try and buy free range meat, for example. Free range chickens are pictured

'It is often relatively easy to identify negative emotions in animals but we know little about how they show that they are experiencing positive states,' Dr McElligott said.

'Subtle hints from goats like small changes in their calls, their heart rate or the position of their ears tell us about what state it is in and could indicate whether their environment is good for their welfare or not.'

Dr Briefer, who is now at ETH Zurich, said: 'In this study, we were able to identify not only indicators of emotional arousal, but also whether emotions were positive or negative.

'Such indicators are important for the welfare of the animals, because they tell us when the animals are experiencing a negative versus a positive emotion, and we can thus adapt the environment to avoid negative emotions and promote positive ones.' 

...HORSES USE SUBTLE EAR MOVEMENTS TO SHARE THEIR THOUGHTS

Horses look at each other's ears to read emotions (stock image) and when they are interested, their ears prick up

Just like humans, horses read each other's faces. But, unlike us, they gain important information by specifically examining the ears, according to a study published in August.

It seems that when a horse is interested in something, it pricks up its ears and swivels them towards whatever has caught its attention.

When a horse's ears are flopping down, it means the creature is relaxed, but when they are pinned back, the horse is expressing anger.

The movements are so important that, if its ears are covered up, another horse struggles to know what it is thinking.

The finding comes from University of Sussex researchers who studied what makes one horse pay attention to another horse.

Researcher Jennifer Wathan, a PhD student said: 'Although horses have very mobile ears, they can only swivel them round, point them forward, pull them up or flatten them back. Cats and dogs have more movements.'

She added that a greater understanding of how horses communicate could help improve their welfare.