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Water is a fundamental requirement for livestock, playing a crucial role in digestion, nutrient absorption, and overall animal health. However, many farmers may be surprised by the actual volume of water their livestock require daily. Understanding these needs and ensuring adequate water supply is essential to maintaining high performance and meeting growth targets.
Understanding Livestock Water Requirements
The water needs of livestock vary depending on factors such as species, age, weight, diet, and production levels. Below are the typical daily water requirements for different categories of cattle:
- Dairy Cows: A lactating dairy cow requires approximately five litres of water for every litre of milk produced. A cow producing 40 litres of milk per day will consume an astonishing 200 litres of water daily.
- Suckler Cows & Calves: These animals typically require up to 15 litres of water per 100 kg of live weight.
- Beef Cattle: A 500 kg finishing steer could drink up to 75 litres of water daily, particularly when consuming a high dry matter diet.
The Importance of Adequate Water Supply
Ensuring livestock have continuous access to clean water is essential for several reasons:
- Growth and Productivity: Dehydration can lead to reduced feed intake, impacting weight gain and milk yield.
- Health and Digestion: Water aids in digestion and the efficient breakdown of feed, particularly in ruminants.
- Feed Dry Matter Influence: The dry matter content of feed plays a significant role in determining water intake. High dry matter feeds such as silages, straw, and concentrates require increased water consumption.
- Seasonal Variability: During dry summer months, grass dry matter levels can increase from 16% to 23%, leading to greater water consumption by livestock.
Practical Considerations for Meeting Water Demand
To ensure an efficient water supply for a 100-cow dairy herd, several key recommendations should be followed:
- Flow Rate: A flow rate of 0.15 litres per minute per cow should be maintained. For a 100-cow herd, this equates to 15 litres per minute.
- Trough Reserve: Each cow requires a trough reserve of 7 litres, meaning a 100-cow herd requires a total reserve of 700 litres.
- Drinking Space: Providing adequate trough space is crucial. A good rule of thumb is allowing 10% of the herd to drink simultaneously. For a 100-cow herd, this translates to 6 linear meters of trough space.
The Role of Water Troughs in Livestock Hydration
Water troughs play a vital role in ensuring animals have uninterrupted access to fresh water. Moore Concrete manufactures a range of high-quality precast concrete water troughs, designed to meet the needs of all livestock types, ensuring animals can drink efficiently and safely.
Scaling Up Water Infrastructure for Expanding Herds
In recent years, dairy herd sizes across Northern Ireland have expanded significantly. However, in many cases, water infrastructure has not kept pace with this growth. Farmers must assess whether their existing water supply and distribution systems can accommodate their growing herds. The easiest way to address this issue is by investing in additional drinking troughs.
Key Features of Moore Concrete Water Troughs:
- Varied Sizes: Available in multiple capacities, ensuring suitability for all farm sizes.
- Galvanised Steel Lids: Included on 40-gallon to 500-gallon troughs, providing a lightweight and durable alternative to traditional concrete lids.
- Safety-First Design: Rounded corners enhance the strength of the troughs while also reducing the risk of injury to livestock.
- Easy Draining System: Each trough is equipped with a rubber bung positioned in the side wall for simple and efficient draining.
- Fast-Flow Compatibility: Designed to work with both conventional and high-speed ball cocks, ensuring a consistent and adequate water supply.
Moore Concrete’s water troughs are stocked by a comprehensive network of agricultural merchants across Northern Ireland, making them readily available to farmers seeking reliable water solutions. Our list of stockists can be found here.
Also, for storage and handling instructions, click here.
Conclusion
Meeting livestock drinking water requirements is not just about volume—it’s about ensuring consistency, accessibility, and efficiency. Proper water flow rates, storage reserves, and trough space are essential for keeping cattle healthy, productive, and performing at their best.
Investing in high-quality precast concrete troughs, like those from Moore Concrete, provides a long-term, durable solution for meeting livestock hydration needs in full.
For further information on Moore Concrete’s range of water troughs, contact (028) 2565 2566 Ext 1 or visit our water troughs product page here.
