The right size livestock watering tank

One cow can drink one-to-two gallons of water per 100 pounds of body weight every day. Multiply that in the hot summer months or if the cow is lactating. It’s important to have a big enough watering tank so every animal can get the water it needs. But how do you know if it’s enough?

Brad White is a professor at the College of Veterinary Medicine at Kansas State University, and director of the Beef Cattle Institute. He says the placement of the tank and how often they’re coming to it is critical.

"If cattle are grazing a large area and they’re specifically going to come up to that tank to get water and they may only come up once or twice a day, then I need a capacity for everybody to come up that wants to get a drink to be able to get a drink," says White. "So, if I’ve got a cow that’s drinking 10-20 gallons a day and I’m going to have 20 cows come up, I may need a pretty big tank if they’re all going to get a drink at once, so they don’t have to wait for it to refill before they leave."

If your cows are on a small pasture and have easy access to water throughout the day, you may not need a large-capacity tank.

"I’ve seen situations work where they may have a five-gallon tank, relatively small, that refills because the cattle can come up and they kind of mingle and go through," he says. "And a lot of times, observing, will let you dictate what’s my use scenario? Do I always see there’s either 20 cows at the waterer or zero? Or, do I see one and two come up at their leisure?"

White says where your water tanks are placed also greatly influences the pasture getting even, efficient grazing.