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The document discusses seven factors that determine how much water animals need: 1) animal type, 2) age, 3) ambient temperature, 4) production level, 5) moisture content of feed, 6) feed energy sources, and 7) protein level in feed.

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Civ Kyrie F Reytas
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103 views2 pages

Science

The document discusses seven factors that determine how much water animals need: 1) animal type, 2) age, 3) ambient temperature, 4) production level, 5) moisture content of feed, 6) feed energy sources, and 7) protein level in feed.

Uploaded by

Civ Kyrie F Reytas
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Continuation for module 4…

DETERMINANTS OF HOW MUCH WATER IS NEEDED BY THE ANIMAL

1. ANIMAL TYPLE
2. AGE OF THE ANIMAL- For the same type of animal, the requirements for water may vary
according to age, mainly due to the percentage of water in the animal’s body. For example, the
newborn’s body contains 75-80% water, gradually decreasing to about 50% with age due to
the changes in metabolic processes and the increased deposition of fat in the body, which
naturally follows the low rate of water consumption during that period for the reasons
mentioned earlier.
3. AMBIENT TEMPERATURE- Animal tend to increase water intake as temperature rise, with
27°C being the temperature. This may be attributed to the animal’s need to dissipate body
heat and/or the reduced feed intake (by 30% or more) under heat stress and the animal’s need
to maintain the sensation of gut fill by drinking a larger amount of water.
4. PRODUCTION LEVEL - the daily needs of water increase depending on the level of production.
For example, a cow that produces 10kg of milk per day needs about twice as much water as
another cow produces 5kg, assuming that the other factors affecting water consumption
remain unchanged.
5. MOISTURE CONTENT OF FEED- The amount of water required per day is increased if the
animal is fed a diet containing a low percentage of moisture such as hay or straw (10%
moisture) compared to the state of feeding on another diet based primarily on silage, which
contains about 70% moisture.With the same type of feed, the moisture level may vary from
time to time on the same day. For example, it is found that in some types of pastoral shrubs
such as Acacia, the moisture level is about 1% during the day, and then increases to 30% after
4 hours of sunset, then to 40% after 8 hours, which affects the rate of water consumption
during these different periods of grazing. The percentage of moisture in the feed material also
varies according to the method of manufacture of the feed material. For example, if
concentrates are produced in the form of pellets, their moisture content is reduced due to high
temperatures during the manufacturing process. This, in turn, increases the water
consumption rate compared with non-processed concentrate feeds. The difference here is more
evident in beef cattle reared for fattening, where the percentage of concentrate feeds amount
to about 50% or more of the total animal feed consumed daily
6. FEED ENERGY SOURCES- The daily needs of drinking water vary according to the different
energy source in the feed. In the diets where starch constitutes an essential source of energy,
water consumption increases in comparison with the diets to which fats are added in large
amounts to provide energy. This is mainly due to the difference in the quantity of body water
produced in each case (0.56g/g for starch oxidation versus 1.70g/g for body fat oxidation).
7. PROTEIN LEVEL IN THE FEED - The amount of water needed by the animal increases daily
depending on the increase in the proportion of protein in the food. In this case, the animal
needs extra water to dispose of the excess nitrogen from the body through the urine in the
form of urea dissolved in water. This phenomenon is more evident in mammals, but in other
species such as birds, the primary product of protein breakdown is uric acid, which is disposed
from the body in a solid state without the need for additional water for the purpose of
dissolution. The source of protein in the diet also affects the amount of water consumed by the
animal daily. It has been observed that there is an increase in water consumption if the
concentrate portion of the diet contains soybeans as the main source of protein due to its effect
on the softness of animal faeces. The addition of fishmeal to the concentrates also leads to
increased water consumption because it contains large amounts of sodium salts. In this case,
the animal will need additional amounts of water to dissolve the salts and thus reduce its
thirst.

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