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Water requirement for dry cows.

  • 18-02-2015 12:15pm
    #1
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,554 ✭✭✭


    How many litres would a dry suckler cow need a day? Reason I ask is because we have a block of winterage that the spring dries up on after a dry fortnight and I am thinking of putting in a plastic tank that would hold enough water for 9 or 10 days for 15 cows. Would be getting half the price back through the BFCP so makes sense to do it.


Comments

  • Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 12,753 Mod ✭✭✭✭blue5000


    What are they being fed on? Cows on straw or hay would need a lot more than cows on wet pit silage. I have seen cows that were tightly block grazed on strong grass in nov-dec with no water and they walk right past a drinker, there was obviously enough water on/in the grass.

    If the seat's wet, sit on yer hat, a cool head is better than a wet ar5e.



  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,921 ✭✭✭onyerbikepat


    Water Requirements

    My colleague, Siobhan Kavanagh, Nutrition Specialist, has researched the water requirements of cattle. The figures available from different sources can vary so the following is a guideline. Water required as drinking water varies with the dry matter of the feed, the temperature in the environment and the production level of the animal. The total water requirement of dry cows is given as 40-55 litres (9-12 gals) per day. A dry cow on pit silage eating 42kg of silage at 20% dry matter would get 34 litres of water from the feed and would then need about 10 litres per day of drinking water. A cow is on drier baled silage of say 30% dry matter and consuming about 30kg of silage is getting 9 litres of water (2 gal) per day from the feed and will therefore need about 35 litres or (7-8 gals) as drinking water. Cows that are suckling a calf need about 0.9 litres of water per litre of milk produced. Suckler cows produce 6-10 litres of milk per day and therefore need 5-9 litres more water than a dry cow.
    Forward store cattle need similar water supply to dry cows. Weanlings of 300-400kg have a total water requirement of 20-30 litres per day. Again, wet silage will supply about two-thirds of this and if on wet silage plus 2kg meal the feed supplies about 50% of the water needs. As the feed dry matter content increases the amount of drinking water increases accordingly. If the temperature in the shed goes above 10 degrees C the water requirement also rises. Stock on high concentrate diets will have a big demand for water. Be careful when giving water to very thirsty cattle as over-drinking can cause severe problems.

    http://www.teagasc.ie/newsletters/farmingtips/2010/cattle-20100112.asp


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,554 ✭✭✭Limestone Cowboy


    blue5000 wrote: »
    What are they being fed on? Cows on straw or hay would need a lot more than cows on wet pit silage. I have seen cows that were tightly block grazed on strong grass in nov-dec with no water and they walk right past a drinker, there was obviously enough water on/in the grass.

    Fairly dry coarse grass along with 3-4kg meal from Febuary to middle of March. I wouldn't imagine they would get much of their requirement from grazing to be honest.


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