Drinking Behavior in Dairy Cows

[FarmGuru]

Water plays a key role in milk production, control of body temperature and many other body functions in dairy cattle. While feed and ration management are generally monitored in detail, water intake, availability and quality are often overlooked.


http://pakagri.blogspot.com/2011/09/drinking-behavior-in-dairy-cows.html

 

[Royd Wood]

Yes its overlooked or frowned upon - my cows eat snow in the winter which is better for them as they warm up each mouthfull over a period of time instead of walking to a heated trough just above freezing point and gulping down large quantities of very cold water. Dont get me wrong - we do have the troughs but I watch them eat snow or lick ice (their choice not mine)

 

[goodhors]

It takes a lot of energy from the cow to heat snow into water their body can use. Depending on the
snow density, it can be between 3 to 1 which is very dense snow. Or on up to 8 to 1 on the light fluffy stuff.
This would be measured snow, in a skinny vessel for depth only. So 3 inches deep would make 1 inch of water,
while the fluffy stuff 8 inches deep only makes 1 inch of water.

Your water troughs are actually letting the cattle get enough water intake for their bodies, that they
are not wasting extra body energy in melting snow for water. Snow snacks are fine, but they would
have a hard time without the troughs of water to get the volume they need daily.

For horses, having enough liquid water in their winter daily intake can literally mean life or death from impaction
colic. The dry matter of hay, old grass, doesn't move thru the digestive system if horse body doesn't
have a daily intake of 8 to 15 gallons of liquid water. Horse would have to eat and heat about 40 gallons
of snow to even be close to the needed amount of water, so heat created from eating is wasted warming
the snow instead of keeping the body going.

Cows drink and need LOTS more water than a horse, so having liquid in the heated tanks is even more
important to them.

I certainly pay attention to how much water is gone from the big tanks and buckets in stalls of horses and
cattle daily. Less consumed can mean I have problems developing, so I need to act now, prevent the
problem getting serious.

Animals can SURVIVE with water, even if food is a problem for a short time. They can't survive without liquid
water very long.

 

[kstaven]

Sorry to interrupt the more serious nature of this thread. But for some strange reason the title of this thread makes me envision a bunch of my dairy cows lined up at the bar waiting for a beer.

Now back to topic. With dairy cows and the huge amounts they consume a goodly part of their day would be spent chewing snow and not eating. personally I see that scenario as a recipe for disaster.

 

[FarmGuru]

Sorry to interrupt the more serious nature of this thread. But for some strange reason the title of this thread makes me envision a bunch of my dairy cows lined up at the bar waiting for a beer.

.

 

[elevan]

Sorry to interrupt the more serious nature of this thread. But for some strange reason the title of this thread makes me envision a bunch of my dairy cows lined up at the bar waiting for a beer.

.

Seems in BC they are experimenting with drunken cattle...

Drunk cows, better beef?
Watch out Kobe beef. Canadian chefs are going wild for a new type of beef from cows that enjoy a liter of wine a day
posted on July 28, 2010, at 7:09 AM
Do cows fed wine make tastier beef?

Grass-fed. Dry-aged. "Kobe-style." One-hundred-percent Wagyu beef. Steakhouse menus are awash in fancy descriptions of their meat. The latest rage may soon be "wine-fed." Ranchers in British Columbia are raising a new kind of gourmet beef that comes from cows that spend their final days guzzling a liter of red wine daily. Does this really make for a better steak, or is it just a pretentious foodie gimmick?

How is the beef raised?
It comes from a family business called Sezmu Meats, run by ranchers and siblings Darrel Timm and Janice Ravndahl. Their Angus cows are free-range, hormone-free, and non-medicated. During their last three to four months, the cows drink a liter of homemade local wine each day.

Can you really taste the difference?
Local chefs think so. Matthew Batey, the chef at Mission Hill Winery's restaurant, an acclaimed local eatery, says he notices a subtle difference. "It's beautiful beef to begin with. It's just adding one more dimension," he says. "It already comes pre-marinated." Michael Allemeier, who preceeded Batey at Mission Hill and now works as a culinary arts instructor in Calgary, is also impressed. "Red wine and beef are natural pairing partners to begin with," he says. "I found the meat to have a wonderful texture one of the benefits of dry-aging but the aroma and flavor are what truly impressed me."

Is it a lot more expensive than regular beef?
Ravndahl says the wine-fed beef costs about 15 percent more than non-boozy free-range, antibiotic- and hormone-free beef.

How did they get the idea?
Ravndahl saw celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay give beer to pigs on a TV cooking show, and thought, "Why not cows?" After talking with her brother, she feared beer's carbonation would bloat the animals, so they decided to try wine instead.

Don't Kobe beef cows drink beer?
Supposedly, says Mark Schatzker at Slate. "According to legend, they feed cows a secret ancient recipe that includes beer and keep their muscles tender by massaging them with sake."

Is anyone else working with wine-fed cattle?
Yes, researchers at Thompson Rivers University in British Columbia are looking at other effects of wine on cows. In one study, they're examining whether a wine diet might lessen a cow's methane production. They're also studying possible health benefits the resveratrol in red wine might help with heart health.

Where can I get this new beef?
It's currently only available in British Columbia, but Sezmu Meats say it will be expanding to other markets soon.

 

[goodhors]

Well, I think any serious discussion will be interrupted by much laughing here!!

We have LOST our focus. Ha Ha

 

[Royd Wood]

Trust me - Galloways can function perfectly well just eating snow. Studies in Canada have shown some cows have gone 50 to 60 days with snow as the sole water source without any adverse effects.

 

[FarmGuru]

Trust me - Galloways can function perfectly well just eating snow. Studies in Canada have shown some cows have gone 50 to 60 days with snow as the sole water source without any adverse effects.

Do u have any reports / links about it ?

 

[WildRoseBeef]

Trust me - Galloways can function perfectly well just eating snow. Studies in Canada have shown some cows have gone 50 to 60 days with snow as the sole water source without any adverse effects.

Do u have any reports / links about it ?

I ain't Royd, but I can give you several links on this:

http://www1.foragebeef.ca/$foragebeef/frgebeef.nsf/all/ccf1020
http://www1.foragebeef.ca/$foragebeef/frgebeef.nsf/all/ccf1020/$FILE/snoweatingpoweroutage.pdf
http://www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/livestock/beef/facts/09-065.pdf
http://www.gov.mb.ca/agriculture/crops/forages/pdf/bjb05s21.pdf
http://www1.agric.gov.ab.ca/$department/deptdocs.nsf/all/faq7991

Check out the Foragebeef.ca link (the very top one) for more links and research done on this. Also, if you simply Google "Snow as a water source for cattle" you will get a lot of links.