RANGE WATERING PLACES IN THE SOUTHWEST 3 
Further development should not be expected to increase the num- 
bers of livestock grazed on most ranges. Many southwestern ranges 
have been seriously damaged by overgrazing. It is no longer a 
question of crowding in more animals by the addition of new water- 
ing places, but rather of improving damaged ranges and of main- 
taining on all ranges only as many head as proper range and live- 
stock management will permit. Additional water development will 
largely be of benefit, therefore, as an aid to better distribution Oe 
grazing animals, more uniform forage utilization, and sustained for- 
age and livestock production. 
WATER REQUIREMENTS OF RANGE ANIMALS 
The class of livestock, kind of feed, climate, and season are factors 
that cause variations in the water requirements of range animals. 
Henry and Morrison (/3) state that “animals can live much longer 
without solid food than without water” and “consume a fairly uni- 
form quantity of water for each pound of dry matter eaten.” They 
place the average daily water requirements of farm animals approxi- 
mately as follows: Horses, 10 to 12 gallons; dairy cows, about 1214 
gallons; fattening 2-year-old steers, not less than 10 gallons; and 
sheep, from 1 to 6 quarts. Protein-rich feeds seem to require more 
water than starchy feeds. Hot weather increases the water require- 
ments. 
Sheep on a dry grama-grass range in New Mexico each drank on 
the average from 3 quarts to 1 gallon a day during the May lambing 
period. Later in the season the same sheep obtained a large share 
of the necessary water from succulent forage plants upon which they 
were then feeding. On a near-by range cattle drank about 8 gallons 
a day each during hot June weather when the forage was very dry. 
All classes of livestock drink relatively less water when the feed is 
succulent, when the weather is cool, and when dews, fogs, or showers 
are frequent. For practical range purposes fairly safe estimates of 
average daily water requirements may be put at about 10 gallons for 
‘range cattle and horses, and 1 gallon for sheep and goats. 
| 
| 
| 
FREQUENCY OF WATERING 
_ Many cowmen figure that on the average about two-thirds of their 
cattle water every day when feed is plentiful. On the grama-grass 
ranges of the Southwest, many of which are grazed the year round, 
cattle prefer to drink every day during the hotter, drier summer 
months and about every other day during the cooler months, vary- 
ing not only with the weather but also with the succulence of feed. 
When cattle are subsisting largely on juicy plants during the early 
spring they get along without water for two or three days. When 
winter feed is scarce near the usual watering places cattle occasion- 
ally remain away from water for two weeks by eating snow, even 
'when the weather is cold and the snow fairly dry. During milder 
weather, when the snow melts a little each day, they can go without 
other water for longer periods. During hot, dry weather more 
cattle drink during the cooler mornings and evenings that at mid- 
day; frequently some do not arrive at water until after dark. 
| 
| 
] 
1 
| 
i 
