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Show WATER ESSENTIAL FOR LIVESTOCK GAINS "Don't neglect water if you want maximum gains and efficiency." ef-ficiency." That was the timely reminder remind-er issued to livestockmen by Grant Esplin, County Agent. Dr. Doyle Mathews, extension exten-sion animal husbandman, U S U, says one of the most important items often neglected is water, and this is serious since 70 to 75 of an animal's body is water. A 10 loss can cause death. Stockmen too often unknowingly un-knowingly short-change animals ani-mals on water because they don't see deficiency symptoms. What happens is that the animals an-imals compensate for the shortage short-age of water by consuming less feed and gaining less. Feed and water have a rather rath-er constant relationship with animals; a reduction of one automatically reduces the other. oth-er. A 1,000-lb steer on a maintenance main-tenance ration needs about nine gallons of water. On full feed he requires twice that amount. Dr. Mathews cites a Missouri Mis-souri experiment in which lambs in a feedlot were encouraged en-couraged to drink additional water by holding it at 50 F. They consumed 7 more water 1 and 10 more feed than their counterparts furnished water at 32 F. Water intake is reduced whenever accessibility or quality qual-ity is reduced. Gains in weight suffer on ranges where water locations are too few or where they are trampled and muddy. In feed yards, stale, mossy watering stations in summer and frozen troughs in winter limit water intake. |