Walk into many Kenyan zero-grazing units in the afternoon and you will find the same thing: a plastic drum cut in half, a quarter full of green water with chopped napier floating in it, and a cow that has not had a proper drink since the morning bucket was carried in. Nobody planned it that way. Water just ended up as a chore done when someone has time, rather than a system that runs by itself.
That is a costly habit, because water is the cheapest feed a dairy cow takes in and the one she needs most. Milk is mostly water, roughly 87 percent by weight according to standard dairy science references, and a cow cannot make milk she has no water for. When drinking water is short, dirty, or hard to reach, cows drink less, eat less dry feed, and yield drops, often without anyone connecting the two.
This guide explains how much water cattle and goats need, the difference between open troughs, float-valve troughs and automatic drinking bowls, how to plumb and place them so they stay clean and full, and how to size the tank behind them. The intake figures below are general guidance from extension sources; your county livestock officer can advise for your breed and climate.
How Much Water Does a Dairy Cow Really Need?
There is no single number, because intake rises with milk yield, body size, dry feed intake and temperature, and falls when the ration is wet, such as fresh napier or silage. Extension guides commonly put a milking cow's needs at several litres of water for every litre of milk produced, on top of what she needs for maintenance, and at well over 50 litres a day for a cow in good production, more on hot days. Dry cows, heifers and calves need less, but still need clean water available all the time.
Two patterns matter more than the exact figure. First, cows drink most heavily soon after milking and around feeding, so the supply has to keep up with a rush, not just with the daily total. Second, a cow drinks in several bouts across the day and night. If water is only offered twice a day from a bucket, she cannot drink as much as she would with water in front of her all the time, and the cow lowest in the pecking order often drinks least of all.
Open Troughs, Float-Valve Troughs and Drinking Bowls
There are three common ways to give cattle water on a smallholding, and each has a place.
Open troughs filled by hand are the cheapest to start: a half drum, a concrete trough or a hollowed log like the one in the photo above. They are fine for a few animals if someone fills and cleans them reliably. Their weaknesses are labour, running dry between fillings, and contamination with feed, dung and algae, because the water sits still and open to the sun.
Float-valve troughs are the same troughs connected to a pipe, with a floater (ball valve) that opens as the level drops and shuts when it is full. They remove the carrying and the running dry. They still collect feed and dirt, so they need regular scrubbing, and the floater must be protected from cows, who will chew or knock an exposed float arm.
Automatic drinking bowls are small cast iron, stainless steel or plastic bowls fixed to a wall or post. When the animal pushes a paddle (tongue) in the bowl with its nose, a valve opens and water flows in; when it lifts its head, the flow stops. Because only a little water stands in the bowl at any time, it stays fresher, and each bowl can be fixed exactly where the cow stands. A small unit often uses one bowl per pen or per two cows, with a trough as back-up for hot weather.
Cast Iron, Stainless Steel or Plastic Bowls?
Cast iron bowls are heavy and very hard to break, which suits cattle, who push, rub and occasionally kick fittings. Their enamel or paint coating protects them; once it chips, they can rust, so check them when you clean. Stainless steel bowls do not rust, are easy to scrub and show dirt clearly, which helps hygiene. Both types are normally sold for cattle. Plastic and copper-alloy bowls are lighter and smaller and are mainly made for goats, sheep and pigs, where the push from the animal is much gentler.
Whichever you choose, look at the valve as much as the body. A good bowl has a paddle that a cow learns to press easily, a valve that shuts cleanly without dripping, and a way to take the valve apart for cleaning. Ask for spare valve seals when you buy, because a dripping valve wastes water and keeps the ground around the bowl permanently wet.
Placing Bowls and Troughs So They Stay Clean
Most dirty water problems come from where the drinker is fixed, not what it is made of.
- Height: mount bowls and trough rims high enough that cows cannot dung or step into them and low enough that they drink with the head comfortably lowered. For adult cattle a rim height in the region of 60 to 80 centimetres is common; adjust to your animals, and set goat bowls lower.
- Away from the feed: fix drinkers away from the feed trough so chopped fodder does not drop into them, but within easy reach of where cows rest.
- On a firm, drained base: stand bowls and troughs on concrete that drains away from the cow, so splashes do not turn the standing area to mud.
- More than one point: two drinking points in a group pen stop a dominant cow from guarding the only one.
- Shade: water in a trough in full sun warms up and grows algae faster.
- Protect the plumbing: bury pipes or run them behind walls, and guard float valves so cows cannot chew or knock them.
Our guide to laying out a zero-grazing unit shows where water fits alongside the feed trough, cubicles and walkway.
Sizing the Tank Behind the Drinkers
Automatic drinkers are only automatic if the tank behind them is big enough to cover a full day, ideally with a reserve for the morning the pump fails, the power goes or the borehole is slow. Work out your herd's daily need using your own figures, then add a margin. The worked example below uses assumed figures to show the method.
In that example the herd drinks about 415 litres a day. Add water for washing the milking equipment and the floor, and a reserve, and a 1,000 litre tank is the smallest sensible choice, with a larger tank or a second one if supply is unreliable. Our guides to tank stands and gravity flow and to farm plumbing with PPR pipe cover the height, pipe sizes and fittings.
Goats and Sheep Need Clean Water Too
Goats are fussier drinkers than cattle and will often refuse water that is dirty, warm or smells of dung, then drink too little. Dairy goats in particular need plenty of clean water to keep up their milk. Small automatic bowls fixed to the side of a raised pen, outside the bedding area and above dung level, solve most of these problems; set them low enough for kids to reach and check that every animal has learned to press the paddle. Our dairy goat farming guide covers the rest of the goat house.
Use the Short Rains to Fill the Tank
October and November bring the short rains to much of Kenya, and the roof of a zero-grazing unit is a ready-made catchment. Gutters along the iron sheets and a downpipe into a covered tank can supply a good share of a small herd's drinking water through the season and top up the reserve for the dry months that follow. Fit a first-flush diverter or simply discard the first runoff, which carries the dust, droppings and leaves collected on the roof since the last rain. Our rainwater harvesting guide explains gutter and tank sizing.
The rains also bring mud. Ground around a trough that is splashed by cows all day and soaked by rain all night quickly becomes a churned, dung-filled patch where cows stand with wet feet and where flies breed. A concrete apron around each drinking point, sloping away to a drain, is one of the most useful small building jobs you can do before the rains settle in. If the apron is already cracked or sunk, repair it now, while the ground is still firm enough to work on.
Do Not Forget the Calves
Calves are often given milk and nothing else to drink, on the assumption that the milk covers their water needs. It does not. Calf rearing guides consistently advise offering clean fresh water from the first week of life, because a calf that drinks water eats more starter feed, and starter feed is what develops the rumen for weaning. A small bucket or bowl fixed at calf height in each pen, emptied and refilled daily, is enough. Our calf rearing equipment guide covers the rest of the calf pen.
Keeping the System Running
A watering system needs a few minutes of care each week to stay reliable. Press every bowl paddle and check the flow and that the valve shuts. Scrub bowls and troughs. Clean the inline filter, because a blocked filter is the commonest reason a bowl slowly stops filling. Check the floater shuts the trough off and has not been knocked. Look at the tank for leaves, dead insects and algae, and clean it as our tank cleaning guide explains. If water comes from a dam, river or shallow well, ask your county officer about testing it before you rely on it for a milking herd.
Drinkers and Fittings, With Prices
These prices are from the Fuga price list at the time of writing; check the site for current prices and confirm stock before you travel.
| Item | Stock code | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Drinking bowl, cow, stainless steel | 6188 | KSh 3,500 |
| Drinking bowl, cow, cast iron | 6189 | KSh 3,500 |
| Goat/sheep automatic drinking bowl | - | KSh 1,600 |
| Drinking bowl, goat, copper | 6190 | KSh 1,300 |
| Drinking bowl, goat, plastic | 6191 | KSh 600 |
| Floater | 6226 | KSh 900 |
Clean water, available all day and night, at a height and place where cows cannot foul it, is one of the cheapest ways to protect yield. See the cast iron drinking bowl, the stainless steel drinking bowl and the goat and sheep drinking bowl, or talk to any Fuga branch in Eldoret, Nakuru or Nairobi, or WhatsApp 0716 961 018, and we will help you plan bowls, fittings and the tank behind them.
Key Takeaways
- Milk is mostly water, so a cow short of clean water eats less and yields less; water is the cheapest feed she takes in.
- Cows drink most soon after milking and feeding and in several bouts day and night, so water must be available all the time, not just from a morning bucket.
- Automatic drinking bowls hold only a little water at a time, so it stays fresher; cast iron and stainless steel suit cattle, smaller plastic and copper bowls suit goats and sheep.
- Fix drinkers high enough that animals cannot dung in them, away from the feed trough, on a drained concrete base, with at least two points per group pen.
- Size the tank for a full day's drinking plus cleaning water and a reserve; a raised tank lets gravity do the work.
- Use the short rains to fill the tank from the unit roof, and give calves clean water from their first week.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much water does a dairy cow drink per day?
It depends on milk yield, body size, feed and temperature. Extension guides commonly put a milking cow at several litres of water for every litre of milk on top of her maintenance needs, and at well over 50 litres a day in good production, more in hot weather. Dry cows and heifers need less. Ask your county livestock officer for figures for your breed.
Are automatic drinking bowls better than troughs?
For housed cattle, usually yes, because only a little water stands in the bowl, so it stays fresher, and each bowl can be fixed exactly where the cow stands. Troughs hold more water at once, which helps on very hot days or with a larger group. Many small units use bowls in each pen with a float-valve trough as back-up.
Do drinking bowls need a pump?
Not necessarily. Most small units feed bowls by gravity from a raised tank. Check the bowl maker's minimum pressure, because a tank only slightly above the bowls may give a slow flow. A pump is only needed to fill the tank from a well, borehole or lower tank.
How do I teach cows to use a drinking bowl?
Press the paddle by hand so the bowl fills while the cow watches, and keep the old water source available for the first few days. Most cattle learn quickly once they have pushed the paddle with their nose a few times. Check that every animal, including the shy ones, is drinking.
How often should I clean water troughs?
Scrub bowls often, and empty and scrub open troughs at least weekly, more often in hot weather or if feed falls in. Clean the inline filter and check the tank regularly too.
