We have had a couple of our readers ask us about cows drinking urine. It is certainly not a pleasant sight when a cow pees into the ground, and once finished turning around and drinks the urine. You may be wondering if this means something is wrong with your cow, or if it can be dangerous for your cow to drink urine. We will answer both important questions in today’s article.
Why do Cows Drink Urine?
Below are the main reason cows drink urine:
Mineral Deficiency
One reason your cow is drinking urine is because it is not getting certain minerals from its regular food or drink. The most common deficiencies are salt deficiencies. If your cow is drinking muddy water that has urine in it, there is a possibility that your cow has a sulfur deficiency.
Boredom
As weird as it sounds, your cow may be drinking urine simply out of boredom. You should make sure your cow is getting enough exercise and socializing in order to avoid this problem. Â
Not adequate water
Another reason your cow might be drinking urine is because the water you provide for it is not clean or tasteful. Your cow could also drinking its urine because the water supply is not easily accessible.
Is it dangerous for a cow to drink urine?
While drinking urine by itself will likely not make your cow sick, it is still very dangerous. This is because there are many diseases that can be transmitted through cow urine, including tuberculosis and salmonella.
How to stop a cow from drinking urine
The first thing you should do is ensure that you are providing fresh, clean water for your cow. You need to make sure that the water is easily accessible for your cow.
Secondly, you should move the cow to a different area. This is because if one cow is drinking urine, it could entice other cows to start drinking urine.
You should also check the drainage of your land. If you have better drainage, than the urine wont sit on the top of the ground as long and your cattle will not have the opportunity to drink it.
If your cow continues to drink urine, we recommend giving your cow a blood test. This will let you know if your cow has a deficiency of any minerals, which could be causing it to drink its urine in the first place.
