Water is a critical nutrient for the growth of beef cattle on a feedlot. They need an abundant supply of clean drinking water in order to promote adequate temperature regulation, growth, and digestion. When an individual’s water consumption drops, it can indicate a number of issues that need to be addressed.
Several factors play into how much water beef cattle need on a daily basis. Temperature, humidity, weight, and much more have a big influence on different intake volumes between individual animals. In the hotter months, water intake is at its highest, while in the cooler months, water intake is at its lowest. For example, a 600lb calf averages 7.8 gallons of water per day when the temperature is 70°F, compared to 12.7 gallons when it is 90°F.
If beef cattle do not receive enough water their feed intake starts to diminish. On a feedlot, this becomes a problem. If the animal lowers its feed intake, its growth performance begins to suffer and the feedlot operator can face significant costs if it is a widespread issue on the lot. Cattle must be supplied with all the water they can drink to avoid stress, production losses, and dehydration.
There are three main reasons for an unexpected decrease in cattle water consumption. (1) the water quality has gone down; (2) the pen is not receiving a sufficient supply for all of the animals; (3) the animals are sick.
Water quality decreases from a variety of contaminants entering the bowl. Manure is the most common source of contamination on the feedlot. It can contain pathogens and bacteria that spreads to the cattle in the pen as they drink. Contaminated water can become unpalatable to the cattle and they can associate it with illness. Once this happens, they stop drinking the water, which leads to stress, reduced weight gain, and even mortality.
Poor water management results in not enough water provided to the pen of cattle. If this happens, the entire pen does not have enough available water to maximize their growth performance. The animals may become stressed and dehydrated leading to injury or mortality. It is highly important to maintain enough water to satisfy the entire pen of animals.
When cattle become ill, they often decrease their water consumption. Changes to drinking behaviour are a key indicator that the animal needs to receive medical care. Close observation of these behaviours can be a great asset to maintaining a healthy and profitable herd.
HerdWhistle monitors cattle drinking behaviour 24/7 to catch these issues and help feedlot operators to optimize their cattle growth performance. RFID sensors are installed above each feedlot water bowl to track each individual animal’s time spent drinking. The data is then analyzed to find any unexpected decreases in consumption and alerts are sent to the feedlot operator as needed. Flow meters are installed underneath the water bowl to track the amount of water used by each pen. This way feedlot operators can see exactly how much water is needed and make sure every pen receives enough on a daily basis.
