watering solutions

computerchick · #1 10/24/06, 06:50 PM

now that the brrr brrr collldddd is coming in - I need to look at some goat height watering solutions.

Usually our goats have access to a stream and spring fed pond, but I'm moving them to a different part of our leased acreage and a paddock on our place and I am using a small trough.

I'm looking at a few options - from geothermal to a Ritchie Fount... can anyone give me some input!!??

Thanks!
Andrea

AllWolf · #2 10/25/06, 06:24 AM

Only thing I can say is run you a water hose to the place or carry warm water other than that I can't help..

Just going to say good luck with your goats and stay warm.

computerchick · #3 10/25/06, 07:15 AM

LOL - that's cause my LGD got the squirrel! :-p

Any hoo - that's a problem with the hose, etc setup now. That paddock is over 1000 feet from the house - of course our well is sitting right down there <doy!> so we're having the well guy come out and trench like 10 feet to the fence line and put in a hydrant (yeah, that's the word, hydrant!!!)

Ideas on how to insulate the hose for a short run if we just use a hose? Last year, for the horses, we used a basketball in their trough - worked great! No freezing. Of course we had to take a truck down to get the water down to them in the first place because the hose froze. I'm worried about a large trough for the goats though. They have a tendancy not to go near it. I lost a chick in it last year too

One bucket per 19 goats..ummmm that'sa haul.

Andrea

Jillis · #4 10/25/06, 08:33 AM

You don't say where you live, which might make a difference in the suggestions you will get.

Up here on the northern border, a basketball in the trough would just get frozen into the trough...and the trough would be frozen straight through to the bottom.

We use heated waterers in the chicken coop. Now that we have a pen and barn on top of the hill, and a lot more goats, we need to be finding what else we can do besides what we did last winter, which was bring in the buckets, fill them with hot water at the kitchen sink (lotsa poopy mud on the floor!) and nthen trukking them out to the barn.

Way too many goats and buckets for that to be a viable solution now. I'm looking into finding out what we can do instead.

computerchick · #5 10/25/06, 10:35 AM

WV - near MD and VA - ya know, the skinny part...

We did the bucket truckin' last year too...

Andrea

Batt · #6 10/25/06, 12:48 PM

Just something I'm going to try this year. 40 Gallon rubberized trough. Battery then a small AC converter and a small aquarium bubbler. May try to add a solar panel and regulator to keep the battery charged, but I think the battery will last a couple of weeks. A neighbor who used to raise ostriches says that is all he ever used and it kept the trough with at least a small hole in the ice.

To deliver the water, I have 2 - 15 gallon drums with faucets in the 3/4" hole on the top. I put them in the loader on the tractor, fill them with water from the freeze-proof faucet near the barn and deliver them to the goat shed about 300 yds. away.

first time I have tried this...We'll see, but that is the plan as today.