174 VETERINARY HYGIENE 



ought not to be placed close against the wall but set from it a few 

 inches and the space filled in with cement sloping up the wall. This 

 little extra space allows cows to rise with greater ease and is neces- 

 sary for large horned cattle. All angles formed at the junction 

 of the trough with the wall, partition, and floor must be filled in 

 with cement so as to facilitate cleansing. Troughs may be of glazed 

 fireclay, cement or iron. 



If hay racks are desired they should be placed above the mangers 

 on a level with the cows' heads when they are standing. Figure 

 75 shows a suitable rack for a byre without a feeding passage. 

 Hay racks are not commonly used in commercial byres, the hay 

 or straw being usually put down in front of the cows when they have 

 finished their concentrated food and milking is over. In some 

 localities, however, their use is more general. 



Watering. Cows are either turned out from the byre into a 

 yard to drink from a common watering trough, or in some cases 

 a pond, or they are supplied with water in the byre. In the latter 

 case they may be watered by hand with a bucket or there may 

 be some form of common supply, or each cow or pair of cows may 

 be provided w r ith a separate water pot. The only advantage which 

 cows gain by being turned out to drink is that they get a certain 

 amount of exercise during the winter months, but they are seldom 

 let out often enough and, consequently, are inclined to drink to 

 excess at the time. Insufficient water and prolonged periods of 

 abstinence are most common causes of digestive troubles and im- 

 paction of the rumen and omasum. The practice of turning cows 

 out of a warm, often too warm, byre into the cold wintry air to 

 stand and drink large quantities of ice cold water is not to be 

 recommended. Outside watering for cows cannot be considered 

 in the same way as for horses, because the latter pass in and out 

 of their stables more often than do cows and they are not kept 

 confined in a warm building throughout the day. Milch cows 

 require a plentiful supply of fresh, wholesome water, and they 

 should have access to it at all times. Hand watering with a bucket 

 is unsatisfactory and is not to be recommended ; such a method is 

 too extravagant with labour and time, and is too much dependent 

 upon the human factor to be a success. Cows should have a supply 

 of water constantly before them. This may be arranged either by 

 having a continuous trough fixed to the wall or by giving each 

 cow, or pair of cows, a separate trough. Individual pots are some- 

 times fitted with a lid that the animals soon learn to lift with their 

 noses when they want to drink. Some water pots are self-filling 

 so that there is a constant level of water. One continuous trough 





