Researchers have conducted tests in the Kent countryside to determine how farmers can tell if goats and other livestock are happy.

The team from Queen Mary University of London studied animals at Buttercups Goat Sanctuary, in Boughton Monchelsea.

Here they observed goats and discovered animals were more likely to keep their tail up and point their ears forward when they were content.

The goats' bleats also varied less in frequency.

The findings could help farmers tell if their animals are happy with their environment, important for those selling free-range meat.

Animal welfare groups are also likely to be interested in the research.

This is not the first goat-related revelation provided by the team working at Buttercups.

Experiments in 2012 found the creatures’ were more intelligent than previously thought.

Two tests required them to manipulate a food box with their mouth or muzzle to access dried penne pasta or grass pellets.

In 2011 testing first started on 12 goats from the sanctuary but three were unable to meet the standard.

The remaining nine re-performed the tests 10 months later and all were able to complete the task within a minute, suggesting a long memory.

Researchers from Queen Mary University of London are hoping to find out what impact domestication has on the goats’ thought processes.

In the wild they are highly selective grazers despite being faced with situations where food is difficult to access, such as negotiating leaves on a thorn bush.