Abstract
Despite the clear importance of drinking water, calves are not always provided water on farm for the first few weeks of life. The main objective of this study was to investigate the effects of water provision (access or no access) and milk allowance (high or low) on the behavior and growth rate of calves. Fifty mixed-breed calves were each assigned to 1 of 4 treatments: (1) water and high (10 L/d) milk allowance (n = 13), (2) no water and high milk allowance (n = 12), (3) water and low (5 L/d) milk allowance (n = 12), or (4) no water and low milk allowance (n = 13). Visits to the water trough, water intake, milk drinking behavior (visits and drinking speed), proportion of observations eating hay and calf starter, and lying behavior were recorded from when the calves were, on average, 5 d of age (standard deviation: 2 d) for 4 consecutive weeks. Calves were weighed weekly. Some calves began to visit the water trough from the start of the recording period, as early as 4 d of age, and water intake increased with age for all calves that had access to it. This increase was greater for calves provided a high milk allowance. Water intake increased with ambient temperature, which highlights the importance of providing drinking water in warm conditions. Overall, calves spent a greater proportion of observations eating hay and calf starter with age. The provision of drinking water was associated with a greater proportion of observations eating hay but less eating calf starter. The increase in the proportion of observations eating calf starter with age was greater for calves on a low milk allowance than of those provided a high milk allowance; this is likely due to calves on a low milk allowance searching for nutrients and energy. Calves on a high milk allowance grew faster and spent more time lying compared with calves with a low milk allowance, thus suggesting greater satiety of well-fed calves. Our results suggest that calves should have free access to drinking water from birth and that access to drinking water may aid in hay (fiber) intake and possibly rumen development.
Highlights
Water is essential for life and required for the digestion and metabolism of energy and nutrients, the transportation of nutrients and metabolites to and from the blood, the excretion of waste products, and for maintaining ion, fluid, and heat balances (Houpt, 1984; Murphy, 1992)
Water intake increased with age (F1,241 = 146.1; P < 0.001) regardless of milk allowance, this increase was greater for calves on a high milk allowance (F1,227 = 5.82; P = 0.017)
The increase in total number of visits [χ2(1) = 12.29; P < 0.001] and number of actual drinking events [χ2(1) = 7.19; P = 0.008] was greatest for calves on the high milk allowance, whereas the decrease in visits where no water was consumed was greatest for calves on the low milk allowance [χ2(1) = 5.20; P = 0.023]
Summary
Water is essential for life and required for the digestion and metabolism of energy and nutrients, the transportation of nutrients and metabolites to and from the blood, the excretion of waste products, and for maintaining ion, fluid, and heat balances (Houpt, 1984; Murphy, 1992). Partial water deprivation has been shown to result in reduced feed intake (Little et al, 1978; Senn et al, 1996), milk production, and BW (Little et al, 1980), and physiological changes (e.g., altered urine and fecal concentrations, Hogan et al, 2007). The provision of sufficient clean water is critical in warm weather for enabling animals to reduce heat load and maintain normal body temperature; cattle increase water intake and time around the water trough in warm weather, especially if they have no access to shade (Mader et al, 1997; Schütz et al, 2010). The importance of providing drinking water has been demonstrated in dairy calves. Previous studies have demonstrated that water intake is closely associated with calf starter intake and BW gain (Thickett et al, 1981; Kertz et al, 1984; Khalili et al, 1992). Calves that were deprived of water had 38% reduced weight gain and 31% reduction in starter intake
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