WATER FOR CALVES

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXXII, 22 December 1938, Page 11

WATER FOR CALVES

A PROVED NECESSITY Although a subject that has been experimented with for many years, the water requirements of the calf still remains a controversial topic. Some maintain that calves receiving sufficient milk do not require water and that it may cause them to become pot-bellied. Water, however, is the solvent in which the bodily processs of digestion,

absorption, and secretion take place, and some nutritional purpose may be served by it.

An American investigator states that calves do need water after the third or fourth week of their lives. In a test, two groups of calves of the same age and number were used. Group I recevied 1.4 gallons of milk daily, but no water. Group II received the similar allowance of milk, but in addition were given, twice daily, all the water they required, the calves consuming an amount of water equal to the quantity of milk fed.

The average live weight gain per clay in this group was I.Bolb, while the calves receiving no water only gained an average of 1.361 b. The difference was ascribed to the water group having the better appetites, for their hay consumption was nearly double, and the concentrates consumed about a third more than in the group receiving no water.