How much water will a calf drink?

Typically a bovine will consume 7 to 10% of it's body weight in water per day. In contrast, is common knowledge is that a cow (typically a lactating dairy cow) will drink around 25 to 50 gallons (95 to 190 litres) of water per day. However, these numbers only account for lactating dairy cows, not all cattle in general. Percentages are much safer to use than actual volumetric measurements, due to many factors that control the amount of water cattle will drink per day. These factors include:

• Age
• Weight/size
• Time of year/season
• Type of feed
• Salinity and moisture level of feed or fodder
• Reproductive status (lactating, pregnant and what stage of pregnancy)
• Type of cattle, being beef or dairy
• Daytime air temperature and humidity level
• Stress level of the animal
• Health status of the animal

Lactating cows tend to drink 3% more in body weight per day than other types of cattle that are non-lactating nor ever lactate. Bulls may drink a little more and calves and younger animals tend to drink less, since the larger the bovine the more water it will consume. Lactating cows need to consume more water because of the liquids their body is using to produce milk. This is the opposite for a dry-open or dry-bred cow. Also, since dairy cows tend to produce twice as much milk as beef or range cows do, dairy cows tend to drink more water on average than a typical beef cow would. So a 1000 lb lactating beef cow may drink around 15 to 20 gallons per day, whereas a 1000 lb lactating dairy cow may drink around 30 to 40 gallons a day.

If a certain feed is higher in salt content than another, a bovine will drink more water to counteract the amount of salt that is found in the feed. Dry feed will also influence water intake, since a lot of water in a bovine's system will be used to digest such a feed, and thus that bovine will need to consume more water. If a bovine is fed feed that is moist or eats grass that is wet from dew or rain, water consumption will decrease.

Air temperature also controls how much a bovine will drink. Hot days make cattle lose water more readily and easily than on colder days, encouraging cattle to drink more water on hot days than on cold days. Humidity will also contribute to water consumption; higher humidity levels make cattle drink more than low humidity levels.

Stress levels are also a factor. Cattle that have been herded or harried, or have been subject to high stress will loose more water and thus drink more water than cattle that have low stress levels, or have not been worked or harried. Stress is often accompanied with the health status of an animal. An animal that is in a stressful environment tends to have a lowered immune system and liable to get sick. Very sick animals tend to not drink water as much as healthy animals, or in some cases, drink way more water than what's necessary.

But ultimately, it's best to say that cattle tend to drink between 7% and 10% of their body weight in water per day.