Impact of Observed and Controlled Water Intake on Reticulorumen Temperature in Lactating Dairy Cattle

Precision technologies are often integrated on dairy farms to monitor individual animal health. One precision technology used is a bolus that is inserted into a cows’ reticulorumen to monitor reticulorumen temperature. Although it is known that both water temperature and water quantity ingested are associated with changes in reticulorumen temperature, limited quantifiable research exists on the impact and magnitude of controlled water intake on reticulorumen temperature. We conducted an observational study to determine the effect of natural water ingestion on reticulorumen temperature, and performed a modified Latin square where cows were drenched with specific water quantities at specific temperatures to determine the effect of controlled water intake on reticuloruminal temperature. Our results demonstrated that water quantity and water temperature affect not only the magnitude of change in degrees in Celsius, but also how much time is required for reticulorumen temperature to return to baseline. This study provides insights in how to adjust the temperatures measures affected by water intake when using cattle reticulorumen temperature monitoring systems and how to estimate water consumption using decreases in reticulorumen temperature