To give is to receive. That’s the law that we know. So, if you want to receive a lot from your cattle, then you must give them abundant care. What do you usually expect from your cow? Milk or meat right? Any idea how to get lots of milk and high quality meat from your cattle? Not others than taking a very good care of your cows, feeding them with high quality animal feed and keeping their health in monitored.
It’s a challenge for you to keep your cattle to stay healthy. Here we will discuss from the meal and drink intake that your cow should take to make them healthy and produce high quality milk and meat. However sometimes you are faced with some problems while taking care your cattle. One of the problems that can happen is that your cow stop eating and drinking. This is a very dangerous thing if you don’t solve it immediately as it will affect their productivity not to mention their overall health.
Here we will find out 4 reasons of why your cow stop eating and drinking. And let’s check 6 tips to start breeding chicken easily out. You can also get other info about cattle in Natural remedies to get rid of lice in cattle to take better care for your cattle.
So, what makes your cattle stop eating and drinking?
-
Rumen Fill
Your cow will stop taking any meal intake when they are full. A cow can only eat approximately 1.3 percent of the body weight. You have to pay attention on giving properly balanced ratio of the feed that NDF level is correct. NDF is Neutral Detergent Fiber which is a measure of feeding value to your cattle. If you don’t monitor it, you might overfeed or even underfeed your cattle which will affect their productivity. Fiber is needed to keep the rumen healthy.
-
Rumen pH level
Cattle will stop eating when their rumen pH level drops after a meal. They will start to ruminate where this process will provide salivary sodium bicarbonate to the rumen. This will prevent the effects of low rumen pH level. When it happens that your cattle have subacute rumen acidosis (SARA), they will stop eating when rumen pH drops.
-
No available feed (Empty Bunk Syndrome)
This sometimes happen when the owner of the cattle wants to cut the cost by leaving the feed container unfilled until all the food consumed by the cattle. However, this method is not too good as having a hungry cow without any available feed to consume is not recommended. Make sure to Feed Bunk is always filled especially after the cows are done milking.
-
Illness
Not only animals, even human being usually won’t eat nor drink when they are sick. That also happens with the cows. They don’t want to eat nor drink when they don’t feel well. Lame and Ketotic cows do not eat. The cows with high level of dextrose won’t eat either as their blood level is high. When your cattle don’t want to eat, sickness may be one of the cause of it. You should check them up thoroughly, examine them and keep an eye for following up evaluation.
-
Competition
When you can’t provide enough feed in the bunk, the cow might wander to find the feed in the next room. When they have to compete just to ruminate and to rest, the will be a high chance of having SARA (subacute rumen acidosis).
-
Poor ventilation
Let’s check and evaluate your facilities for the cow. Whether it is comfortable or uncomfortable for the cow to be there. You should check it out before the summer heat arrives. Let the place be wide open to have the air circulation. Especially if you have quite a lot of cattle in the place.
Do you have interest in having other animals as your house pets? Check these out for your references, 4 Must Know Tips for Raising Orphaned Kittens and also 6 Easiest ways of caring puppy at home for beginners.
For your information, every little milk a cow produces, it will need at least three liters of water to consume. It is also needed to regulate body temperature, body function which include the digestion. Cattle will automatically drink water when they have enough food to eat. It’s better to feed them enough dry matter content in the feeds to make them drink more water.
All water containers should be cleaned frequently to avoid any contamination which will cause the disease to your cows. As cows have the tendency to urinate or eliminate in water. So, you should check the water’s cleanliness frequently. Some of the cases where cattle decrease their water consumption can be caused by a number of factors. It relates to feed quality you provide for the cows, the salinity and impurities in water which affect the taste and odor and the lack of fresh clean water in the water bunk. Make sure to change the water in drinking troughs when necessary. Ensure the cleanliness to avoid any bad smell or taste. Clean the troughs regularly to prevent any water contamination leads.
Again, your cattle will automatically drink a lot of water when they have enough dry food to eat. Feed them adequately and always give them higher dry matter content in the feeding bunk. They will need lots of water after they consume those dry feed. Usually after the cow being milked, they will also need water to consume.
If they don’t drink enough water, you will find it out through your observation. Firm constipated stool, very little urine, decrease of milk production or/and urine drinking are some clues for you. Always keep the guidance below. Is the water clean, fresh, free from salinity? Is the water easy to access? Is the feed you give to your cow dry enough? If all are kept in check and the problems still arise, it’s better for you to contact your vet to check on your cattle.
During summer, you will have more jobs to clean the water as it will be easily got dirty. It should be cleaned daily to prevent bacterial growth. Water should be in great quality in terms of hygiene and health. It should be check regularly and on daily basis. This is needed to avoid any bacterial growth. It will be better if you can put barriers around the water to prevent the cattle to defecate inside the water. However, the bad side by putting the barriers is it will prevent them to drink a lot of water. The solution is to provide ample space around them. There will be passages with open water troughs which 13 feet wide to let the cows pass while others are drinking.
Inadequate water supply or bad quality supply will result in production losses, worsen production quality and great loss in overall. For maximum consumption, water temperature ideally is between 50° and 68° F.
So, these article of  Why Your Cow Not Eating and Drinking will give you better insight in taking care of your cattle.