How Much Water Does a Cow Need to Make a Gallon of Milk?

Water is an essential element of the diet of a dairy cow, since water is an indispensable component in the metabolism in the body. Water enters the body with the main feeding ration in the form of drinking.

The water content of the feed ranges from 3 to 90%, depending on the type of feed (green, coarse, juicy or concentrated). Water plays a significant role in the process of producing milk by animals. It is known that for the formation of 1 liter of milk you need about 4-6 liters of water. With water deficiency, milk production decreases almost the same day, with approximately a 15-20% reduction of normal milk yields. Usually, when calculating the ration, no particular attention is paid to the presence of water in it, because the farms are equipped with individual (mainly with tethered contents) or group drinkers (mainly with loose housing). The following factors affect the amount of cow water consumed:

Milk production

Highly productive cows need more water; therefore, the animal must be taught to drink plenty of water. Ambient temperature is also important. On hot summer days, high-yield cows can need up to 150 liters per day.

The Complication

Winter comes to the finish line and there comes a period of mass calving on dairy farms. This is a period of increasing milk production and, alas, the time of manifestation of related diseases.

Among the main and most common diseases of this period are postpartum paresis, delayed afterbirth and endometritis (as a mandatory consequence of the disease), mastitis, and dyspepsia in young animals.

The Solution

Preventative maintenance is key for winter months which is a period of calving, in addition to favorable conditions for microorganisms. Hard surfaces, hoses, holding tanks, and areas where the animals dwell, such as calf pens, need attention for proper sanitation.

A proper maintenance/sanitation plan will help producers to mitigate against issues in the production of milk.

GO2 Chlorine Dioxide can play an important role in providing a clean environment for milk production. GO2 is an EPA approved disinfectant, sanitizer, fungicide, algaecide, slimicide and deodorizer. More importantly, GO2 has a team of technical experts which can provide sanitary solutions for dairy farmers. Please feel free to reach out to ask us about or roots in the dairy industry, and to find out more about what separates our chlorine dioxide in the marketplace.