ANIMALS AND WATER ...

Water is the most important nutrient in animal feeding and animal health. It is the most abundant ingredient of the animal body in all phases of growth and development. A calf's body contains 75 to 80% water at birth and about 55 to 65% water at maturity. Of all farm animals, lactating dairy cows require the greatest amount of water in proportion to their size because water constitutes 86 to 88% of the milk they yield.

Sources of water include that obtained from the ground or surface, water in the feed supply and metabolic water obtained from the oxidation of fat and protein in the body. Water intake usually refers to free-drinking water plus that available in the feed.