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Enter your values and press Calculate.
Enter the herd size, the cattle type and the temperature band. The calculator starts from a typical daily intake per animal, adjusts it for heat, and scales it to the herd per day and per week, plus a trough reserve of 7 litres per cow and a gallons conversion. Results are planning estimates, not veterinary advice.
A lactating dairy cow needs about 115 litres per day in this calculator, a dry dairy cow about 41 litres, a lactating beef cow about 55 litres, a dry beef cow about 38 litres, a heifer about 25 litres and a calf about 9 litres. Heat lifts intake: the hot factor is 1.3, cool is 0.85 and moderate is 1.0. Ten lactating dairy cows at moderate temperature need 115.00 litres each, 1150.00 litres per day and 8050.00 litres per week.
Milk is about 87 percent water, so milk yield drives water need directly: high yielding cows drink far more than dry cows. Dry matter intake also matters, because cows need roughly 4 to 5 litres of water per kilogram of milk and several litres per kilogram of dry matter eaten. In heat, intake can nearly double from cool weather levels, so size troughs and flow rates for hot days, not for average days.
Cows drink in groups, often 30 to 50 percent of daily intake within an hour of milking, so trough capacity and refill rate matter as much as the daily total. Allow a trough reserve of about 7 litres per cow and a flow rate that refills fast enough for the whole group. Place troughs near feed and milking areas, keep them clean, and check them daily, because dirty or empty troughs cut feed intake and milk yield quickly.
Twenty dry dairy cows in hot weather need 53.30 litres each, 1066.00 litres per day and 7462.00 litres per week, with a 140 litre trough reserve. For a 100 cow dairy herd in milk, plan on more than 11500 litres per day before washing water, and meter actual use for a month to replace these planning figures with your own herd figures.
A lactating dairy cow drinks about 115 litres per day in this calculator, a dry dairy cow about 41 litres, and a beef cow about 38 to 55 litres depending on lactation.
About 115 litres per day at moderate temperature in this calculator, rising in heat and with higher milk yield, because milk is about 87 percent water.
Multiply cows by the per cow figure: 10 lactating dairy cows need 1150.00 litres per day, and 100 such cows need about 11500 litres per day before washing water.
Yes, heat lifts intake sharply. This calculator uses 0.85 in cool weather, 1.0 at moderate temperature and 1.3 in hot weather.
Allow a trough reserve of about 7 litres per cow, so a 20 cow herd needs about 140 litres of reserve, plus a fast refill rate for group drinking after milking.
Roughly 4 to 5 litres of water per kilogram of milk produced, plus water for feed digestion and body maintenance, which is why high yielding cows drink so much.
Yes, limited or poor quality water cuts feed intake and milk yield quickly. Clean troughs, good flow and easy access are essential for dairy herds.
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