Animal Nutrition Dr.

Bahaa Abdulhussein
First Semester 2022-2023l
Master L1

Water in Animal Nutrition

They gain water not only through the action of drinking but also from the
food they eat. Water is needed by the animal in order to keep its body at a
relatively stable temperature. It keeps the body cool through the production and
evaporation of sweat. Water is necessary for digestion and absorption of feed, and
aids in the hydrolysis of nutrients like carbohydrates, fats and proteins.

Water is the single most important nutrient in the animal body. It is essential
for all metabolic processes, chemical reactions, temperature regulation, eliminating
waste from the body, and ultimately, health and survival.

Cattle need an adequate, accessible and frequent supply of fresh water to

facilitate physical and chemical processes of the body. For example, water is
needed to produce saliva, which helps breakdown and lubricate feed so it can
easily pass through the digestive system.

Among the consequences of too little water is a weakened immune system.

Moreover, where water becomes scarce, there soon will be no grazing land. The
animals become weak and undernourished – easy targets for parasites and
infectious diseases.

How much water do animals need to survive?

Temperatures play a large role in the amount of water that animals consume on
a daily basis.

Females that are nursing young will also have additional water requirements in
order to produce adequate quantities of milk. As temperatures increase from 500 to
900 Fahrenheit, Water requirements can more than double.

Forage moisture will also have a large influence on the amount of water
required by animals each day. Sheep and goats can often meet their daily needs
when grazing lush forage in the spring of the year.
Animal Nutrition Dr.Bahaa Abdulhussein
First Semester 2022-2023l
Master L1
Livestock Species Water Needed Per Animal 50 Water Needed Per Animal 90
Degree Day Degree Day
Dry Beef Cows 8-12 Gallons 20-30 Gallons
Lactating Beef Cows 12-20 Gallons 25-35 Gallons
Lactating Dairy Cows 20-30 Gallons 30-40 Gallons
600 Pound Weaned 6-9 Gallons 10-15 Gallons
Calves
Horses 8-12 Gallons 20-25 Gallons
Sheep and Goats 2-3 Gallons 3-4 Gallons
*A gallon is a unit of measurement for liquids, and a US gallon equals 3.78 liters. While the
gallon, which is used in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. It equals
277,420 cubic inches, which is equivalent to 4,546.09 cubic centimeters of fluid (about 4.5
liters).

*c ° to f °: ((c + 40) × 1.8) − 40 = f.

The water needs of livestock are filled from three major sources:

(1) free drinking water. (2) water contained in feed. (3) metabolic water produced
by oxidation of organic nutrients.

The catabolism of 1 kg of fat, carbohydrate, or protein produces 1190, 560, or 450

g of water, respectively.

Animal metabolism produces about 107-110 grams of water per 100 grams of fat,
41-42 grams of water per 100 g of protein and 60 grams of water per 100 g of
carbohydrate.

Preformed water includes the water absorbed from food and drinks whereas
metabolic water includes the water from cellular respiration and dehydration.

Obligatory Water Loss: it is water loss that always occurs via breathing, through
the skin, feces, and urine.

Facultative Water Loss: it is controlled water loss and hormonally regulated in

kidney nephrons. Define Fluid Imbalance. -when fluid output does not equal
intake.
Animal Nutrition Dr.Bahaa Abdulhussein
First Semester 2022-2023l
Master L1

Insensible fluid loss is the amount of body fluid lost daily that is not easily
measured, from the respiratory system, skin, and water in the excreted stool. The
exact amount is unmeasurable.

Water is formed when hydrogen and oxygen react to form H2O during the electron
transport chain, which is the final stage of cellular respiration

Water intoxication may occur as a result of a sudden ingestion of large amounts of

water after a short period of deprivation and is due to the slow adaptation of the
kidneys to the high water load. Water restriction reduces feed consumption and is
very stressful for animals.

Properties and function of water

1.Water is considered a diffusive medium because it is a good solvent and has the
ionization ability necessary for cellular reactions.

2.Water is characterized by its high quality, which helps in absorbing the heat
resulting from cellular reactions

3.Water has an essential role in transporting metabolites and excreta of metabolic

wastes

4.Water participates in the structural and destructive changes that occur in

intermediate metabolism processes.

5.Water also contributes to other general functions, including facilitating joint

movement and maintaining brain tissue and other components of the nervous
system that help in transmitting sound waves as well as its role in vision.
Animal Nutrition Dr.Bahaa Abdulhussein
First Semester 2022-2023l
Master L1

Source of lack of water from animal body

Water is lost naturally from the animal’s body, and that loss is affected by body
size, food type and nature compounds produced during metabolism, and sources of
water loss from the animal's body include the following:

1. Loss through the skin: This loss is considered one of the most important means
of eliminating excess heat from the body the method of evaporation of water to
regulate its temperature, and this loss is increased by an increase in muscle activity
and an increase in air temperature. The absence of sweat glands or being few in
most types of animals, the lungs can play an important role the process of
eliminating body heat by the process of eliminating water vapor by way of
exhalation.

2. Loss through the digestive system: Water is lost during the processes of
digestion and absorption, and the amount depends water lost on the type of feed
increases with an increase in the proportion of coarse feed intake and by an
increase in the proportion of non-feed portions. Digested food, and that amount
varies according to the type of animal, so cows lose more water compared to
Sheep, where the percentage of water in the feces of cows is 80% water, while the
feces of sheep are drier.

3. Loss through the kidneys: The two kidneys regulate the volume and
composition of body fluids, and they also regulate the volume of water excreted
according tothe volume of the amount consumed from it, the amount of water used
in the organs, and the concentration of compounds produced from metabolism
catabolism, such as inorganic elements and nitrogenous compounds such as urea,
in which water is used, and for the kidneys theability to filter and hold the filtrate
and absorb water again and thus it works to reduce water lost to a minimum. The
body’s needs of water increase with the increase in the loss, which is proportional
to the amount of mineral elements and protein in the food, and the reason is due to
the lack of metabolic water produced when consuming high content feeds high
protein in comparison with the amount of metabolic water produced from the
Animal Nutrition Dr.Bahaa Abdulhussein
First Semester 2022-2023l
Master L1
catabolism of fats and carbohydrates. In birds, ammonia, which is the final product
of protein metabolism, is converted into uric acid which is thrown as a solid with a
loss of a small amount of water to dilute it in addition to the demolition of protein
and its expression in this way saves more metabolic water compared to the amount
of metabolic water produced from catabolism of protein in the form of urea as is
the case with mammals, and on this basis the needs of the birds from the water are
less than the needs of the mammals, and accordingly, the birds are less sensitivity
to temporary shortage of water. As for mammals, it can withstand hunger more
than it can withstand thirst.