Water requirement for various classes of beef cattle are indicated in Fact Sheet GPE-1400. If only salty water is available, cattle will often refuse the supplement or may be forced into a toxicity situation. Several factors influence the concentration of salt required in a mix to achieve a certain feed intake. Where large amounts of salt are naturally present in drinking water or forage, the amount of salt in the mix must be reduced in order to get satisfactory feed intake. On the other hand, it usually is necessary to increase the salt content of the mix over a period of time as cattle become accustomed to the high salt level.
Cattle also tend to consume more of a salt-limited supplement when forage is scarce or unpalatable.
Extra precautions should be taken under these and other emergency conditions to insure that water supplies are adequate. Estimates of salt needed to limit feed intake are shown in Table I . Actual salt intake occasionally varies from the indicated values. Forage intake, palatability of supplement ingredients, salt content of the water and animal adaption all influence salt intake. If cattle have not eaten concentrates before, a training period of a week or more of daily hand feeding of meal without added salt may be necessary, particularly with young cattle.