THE FARM.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXVI, Issue 4799, 16 January 1925, Page 1

THE FARM.

WATER FOR THE DAIRY COM’.

ITS MANY FUNCTIONS EXPLAINED.

It is probable that the dairy cow, if she is a good one and produces milk in profitable quantities, needs more water than any other domestic animal. Water has several in the body of the animal, each of which is important, and contributes to the proper functioning of the various parts of the body, and of the milk system. In the first place, water, dissolves the nutrients that are taken into the body of the cow m the way of feed. No feed can be utilised by the body of the cow until it is dissolved and brought into complete solution. The more feed that is consumed by the cow the more water she requires for this purpose.

In the second place, water is a medium for distributing the feed to different parts of the body. It serves both as a dirfect .and indirect transferring agency. In the digestive tract water is mixed with the feed and serves directly for the transfer of the latter, while during the process of mastication the feed is mixei with saliva in the mouth, and jsaliva is about 90 per cent, water.

Waler is also a medium for the transfer of waste and poisonous matter from the' system of the cow, a process which is carried on througa the skin, the kidneys, and the digestive tract. In each of these instances water plays a very important pare, and, particularly in the case of the dairy cow that consumes a very large quantity of protein, the use of water in eliminating waste is more than msually important. Urea, for instance, is one of the poisonous substances arising from the protein in the ration. Aided by water and a proper circulation, this substance is got rid of thiough the kidneys. About 12 per cent, of the total amount of water drunk is eliminated througa the skin even under winter conditions, and investigations have shown that about 27 per cent, of the water drunk in the summer-time is eliminated through the skin. About half, or 56 per cent., is eliminated through the faeces, and about 13 per cent, finds its way out of the body of the cow through the urine. Thus it will be seen that all the excretory agencies of the body need a constant supply of water to enable them to properly perform their various functions. It will easily be understood, also, that a dairy cow needs plenty ot water for the manufacture of milk. Milk contains about 87 per cent, of water, and the amount of water neccsstiry for this purpose will depend, of course, upon the producing ability of the cows. Moderate producers will utilise water in milk manufacture to the extent of about 15 per cent, of the amount drunk, according to investigations that have been conducted, cows that produced more liberally utilising us high as 24 per cent, for this purpose.

Water also acts as a temperature regulator for the body. It is evident, from the figures given above, that the evaporation from the body of the cow, find particularly through the skin, is greater in warm weather than in cold weather, which means more loss of body moisture. This means that the intake and outgo of water exert an effect on body temperature A similar example might be used in the case of cows watered in the winter with ice cold water, whici must be warmed by the body of the cow before it can pursue its normal functions. Water is seen, therefore, to be a very important necessity for the boilv of the animal and for the formation of milk.—Farmers’ Advocate,