The quantity and quality of water required by livestock are important considerations for the overall maintenance of herd health and productivity. If water is suspected of causing a health problem, seek veterinary assistance to determine a diagnosis.

Water Quantity and Quality

Cattle may drink from 7 to 30 gallons of water a day depending on factors such as season, forage (dry or green), and physiological state (age, weight, pregnancy, and lactation). A clean stock tank with high-quality water promotes healthy livestock. Nursing calves have a 9 percent higher weight gain when the drinking water for the cow-calf pairs comes from a trough compared to cattle drinking directly from a pond. Cattle prefer good tasting water—poor tasting water can influence forage intake, especially hay. Drinking more water can mean more efficient forage consumption and increased weight gain.

What Are the Concerns?

Keeping your stock tank clean can be a challenge in the summer, but it is important. Warm summer temperatures, abundant sunlight, and nutrients mix together in a water trough to create ideal conditions for algae growth.

Algae may create less desirable drinking water taste, and some types of algae can poison cattle. Nutrients from livestock slobber, urine or feces, and debris blowing into the tank can stimulate harmful algae growth, such as cyanobacteria or blue-green algae. Cattle can become sick from toxins (microcystins) released by blue-green algae.

Viruses, parasites, and bacteria may also thrive in tanks that are not properly cleaned and can lead to livestock health issues.

Getting Control and Cleaning

Using rails to control and prevent livestock access to tanks can assist in keeping cattle from introducing nutrients. Make certain rails are positioned low enough so that a cow can’t slip under the rail. Controlling clogged overflows caused by algae can help avoid excess algae growth that produce toxins.

Check the tank for water quality and foreign objects that may promote algae growth or be harmful to the cattle. The presence of leaves, urine, and feces are linked to increased algae growth. Water quality (pH, salinity, temperature) should be within recommendations.

For details on drinking water recommendations, see Extension publication ANR-2381, “Drinking Water for Livestock,” that may be downloaded from www.aces.edu.

Clean Tank Tips

Cleaning the trough periodically is a good idea. Most troughs should be drained and cleaned once a year or every 6 months if they get very dirty. Consider cleaning out troughs in the spring before hot summer temperatures arrive to keep them relatively clean through the summer. If needed, add 2 ounces of household chlorine bleach (unscented, 5.25 percent sodium hypochlorite) to 50 gallons of water weekly to help regulate algae growth. Other chemical control options include copper sulfate at the rate of 1⁄8 teaspoon per 100 gallons. Be sure to remove the dead algae from the tank after treatment.