WATER IN THE WINTER

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piedmontese

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i know a guy that does not worry about heated tanks,breaking ice or hauling water for his cows.he feeds hay only when the snow or ice is too thick for the cows to break thru to get the grass.my animals have heated tanks or we break ice.i know that when its really cold that the water freezes back pretty quick but i figure if the cows can get loaded up on water they should b good until the next day.i also feed hay,mineral and protein tubs.does anyone on here just pretty much leave the cows to do it all on there own?
 
There was a speaker that researched NOT WATERING dry cows in the winter - that had access to soft snow (vs crusted snow) and they did just fine.
I have a hard time even thinking about not providing some source of water. Our dry cows in their winter lots drink out of a drainage ditch & also a running tile. All other lots have heated or insulated water supplied.
 
Used to have a bunch of cows wintered on a place with no power or running water. I have a gas pump for the pond that I filled the stock tank from every evening on my way home from work. They all came running when I pulled in. They learned they had to drink then, and they did.

If they were in the back and heard me chopping ice, they'd start bawling and running.
 
I fill a tank (110g) that has a heater in it. Problem I have is keeping it full of water. The guy that had my place before didn't trench the water line deep enough and it freezes/thaws according to outside temps. I have started filling a couple of 55 gallon drums that I keep on the 2nd floor of the barn (dump it right into the tank from above, 5 gallons at a time) just to use when I can't get the water to the tank from the faucet. Luckily, the temps here go up and down so I have not run dry yet, but it sure is a PIA.

Did I mention how much I want March to get here?

I will be trenching a new line in the Spring for sure.
 
I know a few folks out here that let them "forage" for water, in my expereince mine drink just as much water in the winter as in the summer. Pain in the rear as temps haven't been above freezing for weeks here, but I always provide as much water as they can drink.
 
Well, from the studies out there, snow will work just as well as water for cows in the winter. But it doesn't work as well for younger animals that are growing or for the old cows. And it must be loose snow, or they have a difficult time getting enough water without spending hours and hours at it. Right now our bulls are eating snow. Their waterer developed a leak on us and is frozen solid, until it warms up, probably April or May, that waterer is done. They have been eating snow for about 10 days now, and you would not know to look at them. Our horses are also eating snow. They have access to a watering bowl, but tend to rather eat snow than drink from the water bowl.

Our main herd, however, we are cutting a water hole for, because we have all our bred heifers and numerous older cows too.
 
Does anyone have any experience with a 12v tank heater? I have my doubts about them, but have considered trying one. Obviously it wouldn't eliminate having to fill the tank daily, but would eliminate the ice build up which causes the tank hold a little less water every day.
 
Every animal on the place has access to water 24 hours a day. Now we all know that cows need a lot of water to keep cool in the summer but the way I understand it cows need quite a bit of water when its cold too. If they don't get enough water it causes issues with maintaining body heat (going off memory here so I may be wrong). Water is the cheapest nutrient I can provide for my cattle so I do what it takes to make it readily available to them.
 
I been condition 3 1000lbs. strees for the last 4 months, using the same tank for water. They have gained weight, larger now than when I started. I will say for a fact their water intake is less than half of what it was when it was hotter. I was filling a empty tank every day, usually 2 times , since it has been cold they drink less fill tank evey other day, and since the snow on ground the last few days even less....
 
ozarkbulls":1oqcprfw said:
I know a few folks out here that let them "forage" for water, in my expereince mine drink just as much water in the winter as in the summer. Pain in the rear as temps haven't been above freezing for weeks here, but I always provide as much water as they can drink.
u got some strange cows.mine drink alot less than when its hot,especially when its 90 + degrees out.i guess if u got dairy cows i could see it.
 
piedmontese":1ojdvscj said:
i guess if u got dairy cows i could see it.
It doesn't matter if it's dairy or beef, they should get all the water they want at all times. They will drink less when it's cold but just because they drink less doesn't mean it isn't just as important as when it's hot out.
 
piedmontese":2xmpip6v said:
does anyone on here just pretty much leave the cows to do it all on there own?

No. The ice was broken on any tanks without heaters twice a day - once in the morning and again in the late afternoon/early evening. Our water lines are buried about 6' deep and the inflow of fresh, warm water kept the tanks open for a fair amount of time. I cannot even begin to imagine leaving an animal to figure out how to get water on their own. They cannot eat enough snow to make up for readily available water and, in the case of lactating animals, water is a key ingredient to their milk production.
 
novaman":2w20xzmm said:
piedmontese":2w20xzmm said:
i guess if u got dairy cows i could see it.
It doesn't matter if it's dairy or beef, they should get all the water they want at all times. They will drink less when it's cold but just because they drink less doesn't mean it isn't just as important as when it's hot out.
i know that ALL cattle need water whether they r dairy or beef.i was just saying that n my experiences dairy animals drink more water than beef which stands 2 reason when u consider how much more is expected of a dairy cow.and yes i do have experience n dairy,my dad used to milk around 100 holsteins and many of my cousins still milk.
 
My personal observations at my place.

Given a choice:
Cattle will drink drilled sourced well water and walk a long distance (1000+ ft) to access the well water instead of water from a nearby stream. I have 3 streams, 2 are spring fed and the 3rd is a creek sourced from ground and surface water.

Cattle will walk more than 800 feet to access either clean stream or well water over clean fresh nearby available snow.

Well water is preferred in both hot and cold weather.

Overtime the cattle will almost cease drinking anywhere but at the well and will leave the streams alone.

I have read where heifers would just as soon drink dirty water as clean water. That is not true.
 
agmantoo":1h0nddi7 said:
My personal observations at my place.

Given a choice:
Cattle will drink drilled sourced well water and walk a long distance (1000+ ft) to access the well water instead of water from a nearby stream. I have 3 streams, 2 are spring fed and the 3rd is a creek sourced from ground and surface water.

Cattle will walk more than 800 feet to access either clean stream or well water over clean fresh nearby available snow.

Well water is preferred in both hot and cold weather.

Overtime the cattle will almost cease drinking anywhere but at the well and will leave the streams alone. i totally agree with u.this past summer my cow/calfs were n a pasture that has 2 ponds,well i decided to go ahead and fill up 2 tanks that were at the front of the pasture to be nice so they would have clean fresh water.they quit the ponds all together and acted like they were too good for pond water.it wouldnt b a problem except i dont live there and couldnt always make sure they were full.so then i got worried that they would not go back to the ponds.ended up cubing them by the ponds to get them back on them.

I have read where heifers would just as soon drink dirty water as clean water. That is not true.
 
we always provide fresh clean water 24/7/365 as you do piedmont. i wouldn't do it any other way. if this guy is too lazy to water his stock (and i don't care what excuse he uses; it's lazy) you've got to wonder what else he cuts corners on!!
 
Bar E":1u9jvmjd said:
How much water is too much? I got 2 cows that drink 100 gallons every two days.

I've never heard of overconsumption of water being a problem for cattle unless they haven't had any available for a long period, then they need to be limited on intake at first so they don't gorge themselves. Add me to the list of those providing unlimited clean fresh water at ALL times. Even when I have them penned or am working them they never are restricted from water for more than a couple hours especially in warmer weather.
 
Cucumber35":3ad52tpy said:
Bar E":3ad52tpy said:
How much water is too much? I got 2 cows that drink 100 gallons every two days.

I've never heard of overconsumption of water being a problem for cattle unless they haven't had any available for a long period, then they need to be limited on intake at first so they don't gorge themselves. Add me to the list of those providing unlimited clean fresh water at ALL times. Even when I have them penned or am working them they never are restricted from water for more than a couple hours especially in warmer weather.

Ya I didn't think so. But 25 gallons of water a day is a little much isn't it? Unless there's a pin hole leak in my water trough.
 

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