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Water availability is a growing concern for livestock farmers due to climate change, particularly in arid regions and increasingly in temperate regions. Water use efficiency may become an important trait to select for in temperate breeds, thus the objective here was to evaluate the water balance and body water dynamics of Lleyn ewes. Ewes (n = 15), assigned to one of three isotopically distinct drinking waters (DW) with δ2H values of −49‰, + 241‰ and + 1143‰, were housed individually and fed at maintenance for 82 days. Total water (TW) intake was recorded daily and water loss via urine and faeces was determined daily during four campaign weeks. The average TW intake was 2.7 ± 0.63 kg d−1 with DW contributing 86.3 ± 1.98%. There was a strong correlation between DW intake and temperature-humidity index (r = 0.77; p 2H values, but future work is required to refine the model to account for 2H incorporation into body tissues.
Smith et al. (Tue,) studied this question.