WATER AND SALT REQUIREMENTS 245 



If this amount or more of cold water is consumed twice 

 daily, as would be necessary with a heavy milker, a consider- 

 able proportion of her milk secretion is necessarily lost. It 

 is always economy to warm the water to a temperature of at 

 least 60 when drunk by the animal. 



King 1 at the Wisconsin Experiment Station found that 

 cows given water at 70 F. drank 10 pounds more each per 

 day than those having ice water. The actual consumption 

 of food per pound of milk was also a trifle less on the warm 

 than on the cold water. He shows that the heat in one pound 

 of beef fat would be required every 3.8 days to warm the 

 water to body temperature when the cold water is used, while 

 the same amount of fat would heat the warmed water (70 

 F.) drunk, to body temperature for 7.4 days. While this loss 

 of feed necessary to heat this water to body temperature is 

 considerable and should be avoided, the other reasons given 

 are still stronger. 



There is some difference of opinion in regard to the advis- 

 ability of having arrangement for watering cattle in the barn. 

 In climates where the temperature is such in the winter that 

 the animals are confined most of the time, it is a great con- 

 venience to have an arrangement whereby the animals may be 

 watered in their stalls during the days when weather con- 

 ditions are such that it is not desirable to turn them outside. 

 A number of devices have been put on the market for this 

 purpose. The main point to be considered in selecting such 

 a device is the possibility of keeping the water free from con- 

 tamination. If the arrangement is such that the water 

 stands exposed to the air in the stable all the time, it soon be- 

 comes foul from absorption from the air and more especially 



1 King, Wis. Exp. Station, Bulletin No. 21. 



