The distribution of drinking water-to-cattle ratios in the summer across four feedlots in the Texas High Plains

Abstract

In this short communication, we report the findings of a cross-sectional pilot study of the amount of water available per head of cattle (water-to-cattle ratio) and the associated feedlot and environmental factors across 26 pens in four Texas feedlots. The water-to-cattle ratio varied greatly among pens within and between feedlots. Mixed-effect linear regression modeling with feedlot as a random effect indicated that water in troughs with a higher water-to-cattle ratio was generally warmer when compared with water in troughs with a lower water-to-cattle ratio. This may have implications in the transmission and persistence of pathogens in feedlot cattle, such as Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli and Salmonella, because warmer water has been reported to favor the growth of these pathogens. Therefore, future field studies in feedlot cattle are warranted to assess whether the water-to-cattle ratio affects the prevalence of these pathogens in the water itself or in feces shed by the animals.

Share and Cite:

Gautam, R. , Pinedo, P. , Park, S. and Ivanek, R. (2013) The distribution of drinking water-to-cattle ratios in the summer across four feedlots in the Texas High Plains. Agricultural Sciences, 4, 282-286. doi: 10.4236/as.2013.46040.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

References

[1] Boyles, S., Loerch, S., Fluharty, F., Shulaw, W. and Stanfield, H. Feedlot management primer. In: Beef Information, Ohio State University Extension. http://beef.osu.edu/library/feedlot/feedlot.pdf
[2] Gautam, R., Bani-Yaghoub, M., Neill, W.H., Döpfer, D., Kaspar, C. and Ivanek, R. (2011) Modeling the effect of seasonal variation in ambient temperature on the transmission dynamics of a pathogen with a free-living stage: Example of Escherichia coli O157:H7 in a dairy herd. Preventive Veterinary Medicine, 102, 10-21. doi:10.1016/j.prevetmed.2011.06.008
[3] Vital, M., Hammes, F. and Egli, T. (2008) Escherichia coli O157 can grow in natural freshwater at low carbon concentrations. Environmental Microbiology, 10, 23872396. doi:10.1111/j.1462-2920.2008.01664.x
[4] Wang, G., Zhao, T. and Doyle, M.P. (1996) Fate of enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli O157:H7 in bovine feces. Applied Environmental Microbiology, 62, 2567-2570.
[5] Kaspar, C.W. (2009) Waterborne dissemination of Escherichia coli O157:H7. Unite States Food and Drug Administration. http://www.fda.gov/AnimalVeterinary/NewsEvents/CVMUpdates/ucm138286.htm
[6] LeJeune, J.T., Besser, T.E., Merrill, N.L., Rice, D.H. and Hancock, D.D. (2001) Livestock drinking water microbiology and the factors influencing the quality of drinking water offered to cattle. Journal of Dairy Science, 84, 1856-1862. doi:10.3168/jds.S0022-0302(01)74626-7
[7] LeJeune, J.T., Besser, T.E., Rice, D.H., Berg, J.L., Stilborn, R.P. and Hancock, D.D. (2004) Longitudinal study of fecal shedding of Escherichia coli O157:H7 in feedlot cattle: Predominance and persistence of specific clonal types despite massive cattle population turnover. Applied Environmental Microbiology, 70, 377-384. doi:10.1128/AEM.70.1.377-384.2004
[8] LeJeune, J.T., Besser, T.E. and Hancock, D.D. (2001) Cattle water troughs as reservoirs of Escherichia coli O157. Applied Environmental Microbiology, 67, 30533057. doi:10.1128/AEM.67.7.3053-3057.2001
[9] Environmental Protection Agency (2012) Conductivity. In: Water: Monitoring and Assessment, Washington DC. http://water.epa.gov/type/rsl/monitoring/vms59.cfm

Copyright © 2024 by authors and Scientific Research Publishing Inc.

Creative Commons License

This work and the related PDF file are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.