Water Quality = Yield
Clean water improves animal health
When considering animal health and productivity, the two most obvious contributors are diet and environment, I doubt anyone will be surprised by that. What may surprise some though is the importance of clean water. Many studies have shown the advantages associated with providing clean water to your livestock.
Clean water from safe and consistent sources is critical to maximising reproduction and yield performance. Cows require clean water for normal digestion, proper flow of feed through the intestinal tract, nutrient absorption and maintaining normal blood volume. When you consider that a cow will drink around 120-150 litres a day and up to 190 litres in some situations the importance of clean water supply suddenly comes in to focus.
The cost of poor-quality water
We could consider the economics of animal husbandry as a simple equation. Take the price sold at market, minus the cost of our inputs and the remainder is our yield or profit. Simple right, spend less on inputs and we make more profit?
Anyone who knows how it really works will laugh and respond with “it is much more complex than that…” of course it is. So when we consider the real situation and all the other factors that influence this it is obvious that doing the simple things right would be a good start.
Good water, simple!
Let’s look at the cost of poor water quality; decreased milk production, reproductive failure, depressed immune function, lower weight gain, appetite suppression, scours, erratic eating patterns… just to name few. It’s hardly surprising that all of these down sides are going to eat into our profit or lower our yield. So it’s not only about reducing our input costs, rather it’s about maximising the benefit provided by quality inputs to increase our yield or profit.
Let’s look at the upsides to clean water:
Improved immune function
Increased appetite
Increased digestive function
Increased milk production
Increased weight gain.
What a season
For some folk, this season has been a provider of abundant rain and green pasture. Unfortunately, for many it has also been a season that saw devastating floods. Apart from the obvious impact on family, infrastructure and animals the abundant rain can have a hidden cost – polluted water.
High rainfall will cause runoff and built-up materials to move down waterways into dams or through to our riparian areas. Although troublesome, the sticks, debris and leaves etc. are not going to be the cause of our serious health problems. Let’s focus a bit more on the more problematic materials on the move:
Faecal matter
Excess nitrates
Chemical build up
At best these are unpalatable to stock. At the other end of the spectrum these can cause bacteria and rapid algal growth, reducing oxygen levels and turning the water black and putrid. Parasite intake through contaminated water can have obvious detrimental impacts on an animal’s health and well-being, bringing us back to significant list of downsides.
Clean water – quality water troughs
A good quality water system can have many advantages and one option available for the provision of clean water is a quality concrete water trough connected to a tank or other reticulation system. Fitted with a quality float valve the system offers many advantages:
Consistent supply
Cool clean water
Lower evaporation loss
No water fouling
No waste contamination
…not to mention the resulting health benefits.
At Mid West Concrete we specialise in the design and manufacture of quality livestock water troughs, acknowledging the importance of providing stock with clean water and implementing it back into how we design and continually improve our products. Our cattle, stock, equine and small animal concrete water troughs are high-quality, durable and available in a range of shapes and sizes to suit your needs. Not to mention they are simpler to use, simpler to maintain, simpler to own, simpler to buy.
Contact the friendly Mid West Concrete team today to learn about our concrete livestock troughs, or view the range here