Any cattle farmers on here?

[FFSBringbackLangCleg]

Four bullocks have been turned out in a field near me since Tuesday afternoon. The field has no water supply. Normally when stock are in there a water bowser is provided. This time, nothing.

How long is it OK for them to manage with just wet grass? I’m prepared to be told I’m unreasonable to worry, but I only know about horses, and Google isn’t much help.

Thank you.

Cattle drink lots of water.
Find out who the owners are and tell them to sort it ASAP. Call the RSPCA and report them.

Are you sure there is no water? No stream or anything?

Thank you. I called the owner 24 hours ago, and he said it would be dealt with by nightfall. It wasn’t.

I called the RSPCA yesterday afternoon, just for information/advice. They were useless (as always, in my experience). Just said if the beasts were standing up they must be all right.

No stream. No pond.

That's abuse. Did the owner offer any explanation as to where his /her animals are getting their water?

Can you put something out for them?

Call the owner again op

@ItsAllGoingToBeFine

Can you put something out for them?

You're not being unreasonable to be concerned. The owner is supposed to check them every 24 hours and they are supposed to have a water trough. If they don't get enough water, they'll stop eating. Buckets of water don't cut it.

The RSPCA are supposed to manage welfare but don't receive govt funding, are underfunded and overstretched so its often left to members of the public to get involved, which is wrong imo.
Keep a diary of what happens and the calls you made, hopefully it wont be needed.

Have you tried contacting your local council. Sheffield council for instance have a helpline to report problems with livestock. You could also see if there is a local ranger service.

Thanks, everyone. I have managed to rustle up (geddit?) a retired cattle expert of my acquaintance who is going down to the field again right away to check the situation. If nothing’s changed and he doesn’t think it’s OK, I'll ring everyone again, including the council (who actually own the field in question).

Sometimes you get a better response if you report the 'wrong' problem, if there's a number to report abandoned cattle you could try that and let them deal with it. The RSPCA are more likely to respond to the police or council than an individual.

Just said if the beasts were standing up they must be all right.

If I remember correctly, my dad used to say once a cow was down that was it. He even made a huge pipe tripod pulley system where you slung a bag under their stomach and hoisted them up again to keep them alive.

Maybe, it was a reference to the fact it was drought and lack of food rather than dehydration though, tbf.

Yes, cattle need lots of water.

Phone trading standards at the council, they prosecute animal welfare breeches for livestock as part of their statutory duties.

Still no water, but now promised for this afternoon...

I'm surprised they are still there to be honest. We have a private hill supply and I can tell when it's gone off because the cows escape. They drink a great deal.

@Winesalot yes if via illness or something like that but they do happily lie down as well.

Here we say if all the cows are lying down its going to rain.

Is this in Kent?

Derxa Genuine question - why would it not be ok for the OP to put a bucket of water in the field?

No, why? Is the same thing happening near you?

if via illness or something like that but they do happily lie down as well.

Yes, I should have clarified that I was taking about when they are ill and too weak to get up. Of course they lie down normally and get up quite easily when healthy. I wasn’t clear, so apologies.

Normally issues with farmed animals need to be reported to the dept of agriculture. The police will also liaise with them so I'd contact them.

Is this the same place where the OP took a picture of a skinny dairy cow?

Trading standards is the place to go as the owner should have a holding number.

why would it not be ok for the OP to put a bucket of water in the field?

A bucket of water wouldn't be anything like enough. Most cattle drinking troughs automatically fill and are controlled by a ball valve. Cattle drink gallons of water.

How's it going, OP?
Now that it's more than 48 hours.