What’s Happening #04 – Calves and Water

Here is a picture I took years ago at a calf ranch in the Central Valley of California in the United States.  This is the heart of the dairy industry in California, home to more than 1 million dairy cows.  Let’s fly to Tulare, California, the center of the Central Valley’s dairy industry!

You can see the long rows of wooden calf hutches which were typical for this part of the world at the time.  What’s interesting here are the nipples in each pen.  These nipples have nothing to do with the galvanized metal bottle holders, but instead are connected to the PVC plastic pipe that runs along the outside of all pens. 

So, what’s happening?  Providing water to calves is a constant challenge, especially in a dry climate such as the Central Valley of California where calves tend to drink a lot of water.

Well, the Central Valley isn’t THAT Dry.  Actually, it’s a beautiful place and one of the most productive places on earth.

Producing more than 250 different crops with a value of more than $17 billion per year, the Central Valley of California truly feeds the nation. It has less than 1% of total farmland, yet the valley produces about 25 per cent of the nation’s food, including about 40 per cent of the US supply of fruits, nuts and other table foods.

It produces more than 75% of the world’s tree nuts, including pistachios, walnuts and almonds. And about 33 per cent of total US vegetable production comes from the Central Valley. And of course, the Valley is the largest milk producer in the US. About 20% of the US milk supply is provided from the Central Valley.

Anyway, the farm manager wanted an efficient way to provide water to several thousand calves without the constant need to drive water trucks around the farm.  He devised this solution.  It’s really quite ingenious. 

So, what’s happening? Each pen has an individual nipple waterer used for piglets as in this photo. The manager had his team install the waterers on the length of PVC pipe for each set of hutches.  One hutch has three stalls.  Each end of the pipe is threaded so they can be linked together.

Here’s another view of the hutches, from the outside. The nipple waterer is inserted through a hole drilled through the wooden part of the hutch and into the pen where the calf can reach it.  Then, a calf nipple is placed over the piglet nipple and secured it with a zip tie.  That’s it.

Each row of hutches has its own water shut off, so workers can turn the water on or off as needed for each row of about 100 calves.  They found that the water needs to move constantly to keep it from getting too hot in the summer sun, but through trial and error, they found the right water speed to keep the water drinkable. 

Here are a few resources to learn more about pellet quality.  Feel free to stop the video and use the QR code to visit each site.

This is a link to an overview of management tips regarding water for calves from the UK.

And this Canadian post reviews the importance of water for calves of all ages.

And, finally, Calf Notes 68, 158, and 232 discuss various aspects of water management for calves.

Remember, calves crave water.  Make sure they have access to it at all times!

This ingenious method saves a lot of work for the farm and provides a constant supply of water to the calves.  The initial investment was significant, of course, but the investment certainly paid off in improved starter intake, better growth, and better calf welfare.

Well, that’s it for today. Thanks for watching and see you next time!

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