The Rural Voice, 2002-04, Page 58Research Scrap Book
Study shows cattle prefer trough water
Given a choice between water in a
trough and a natural water source,
cows will choose the trough most of
the time, a researcher at Agriculture
Canada's range research unit in
Kamloops, B.C. says.
Doug Veira told cattle producers at
a conference in Swift Current,
Saskatchewan, that researchers at
Kamloops observed behaviour of
cattle that had free access to a creek ,
and also water pumped from the creek
into a trough. Over a two-year period
they monitored 15 cattle from dawn to
dusk for two weeks at two locations
where troughs were placed near points
of main access to the creek.
"Over the two years we observed
that about 80 per cent of the drinking
took place from the troughs," Veira
said.
The results at one location in the
first year were slightly lower. That
was due to one 11 -year-old cow that
would not drink from the trough.
"Individually animals do behave
slightly differently," he said.
Veira said the cattle would often
walk farther to drink from the trough
rather than the creek, even though it
was the same water.
In another trial, which included 173
cow -calf pairs on a winter feeding
ground, 91.6 per cent of the cattle
chose to drink from a trough rather
than a river.
Veira said he doesn't know why
cattle chose the trough. They like
natural water areas, often because
there are trees they can use as
scratching posts.
"If we had a back scratcher beside
the water trough, maybe we would get
them to the trough even more," Veira
said.
The question now, he said, is
whether reducing stream use to 10 or
20 per cern will satisfy those who
want cattle completely out of
waterways. The argument is that cattle
add manure to the water sources and
harm fish. In some areas fencing off
entire waterways would be impractical
and expensive. Reducing waterway
use is a substantial improvement, but
it still costs money. In western areas
where producers graze cattle on crown
land, they're often reluctant to make
expensive improvements, Veira said.
He said urban people focus on
controlling cattle because they can
often see, as they drive by, the animals
defecating in water. They worry that
pathogens dangerous to humans can
be added to the water.
In one study, giardia and
cryptosporidium were found in water
to which cattle had no access, Veira
said.
`The problem is perception."
The next question in Veira's
research is to answer whether parts of
streams can be barricaded to force
cattle elsewhere. The research
included putting global positioning
system collars on cattle and tracking
their locations every five minutes.
Early findings show a cow ranged
across virtually an entire quarter
section in two weeks. The GPS
tracking also showed that cattle don't
stop to drink for long periods of
time.0
— Source: The Western Producer
Cooking fat may power delivery trucks
Cooking fat and chicken waste could fuel the trucks of one of Britain's largest
supermarket chains beginning this month.
Ian Bowles, environmental manager for Asda, a 258 -store supermarket chain,
says the stores generate 138,000 litres of chicken waste and cooking fat a year
which he proposes to turn into biodiesel for company trucks. "Historically,
chicken waste and used cooking fat from our in-store rotisseries and canteens has
gone to landfills, but now we have a more sustainable option."
He said processing waste food into fuel has a big potential. Used cooking oil
is put through a process called esterification, in which hydrogen and carbon
molecules are altered, yielding a product similar to diesel fuel. "The U.K. prod-
uces 50-90 million litres of waste cooking oil a year and it seems like an awful
waste to just send it away to landfills or pour it down the sink," Bowles said.0
— Source: Reuters News Agency
54 THE RURAL VOICE
Feedlot cattle deaths
linked to diet
Digestive diseases in feeder
cattle are a complex problem
responsible for about a third of
deaths in feedlots says a researcher
from Texas.
Michael Galyean, an animal
scientist with Texas Tech
University in Lubbock, says
feedlot cattle are more prone to
digestive problems because they
receive concentrated grain diets
that, along with environmental
conditions, animal genetics and
behaviour, produce high levels of
acid in the rumen. This leads to
problems such as acidosis, liver
abscesses and bloat.
Acidosis coincides with
processed grain diets and low
roughage levels. Animals suffering
from acidosis eat less and can
develop rumen lesions.
Roughage can make a
difference because it has some
buffering ability, but many feedlots
do not use much hay or silage
because it is bulky and hard to
handle.
Liver abscesses are not
detectable before slaughter and are
hard to treat, other than providing
animals with Tylan or other
antibiotics, he said. About half of
the condemned livers found in
American slaughter plants are due
to liver abscesses.
Bloat in feedlot cattle tends to
be the frothy type and often
happens as animals are adjusting to
high -grain diets, especially those
with large amounts of feed wheat.
Bloat is blamed for 24 per cent of
feedlot deaths. Offering more
roughage helps slow rumen ferm-
entation and lowers acid produc-
tion. Providing ionophores like
monensin is also effective, he said.
Polioencephalomalacia is
believed to be caused by a
thiamine deficiency. The disease is
characterized by blindness, lack of
co-ordination, tremors and possibly
seizures. Other studies suggest
high sulfur levels in water or feed
may contribute to the problem.0
— Source: The Western Producer