My goats hate our water

IndyGardenGal · #1 04/22/10, 09:18 PM

Our water is high in iron. I have to use rust removing water softener to keep our clothes from turning orange---it's that bad. We've tried giving them water from the hose (no water salt) and from the kitchen tap (with the salt). They don't touch either.

I had about 1/2 a gallon of bottled water left, and put it in their water bucket. It was gone in no time. They are eating a LOT of fresh grass and browse (they love leaning on the fence and pulling down pine branches).

Suggestions? DH isn't too keen on buying bottled water for my goats

Alice In TX/MO · #2 04/22/10, 09:27 PM

Try a couple of things:

1. Add a bit of baking soda to one bucket. See if they like that.

2. Add a bit of apple cider vinegar to a second bucket. See if they like that more or less.

CaliannG · #3 04/22/10, 09:33 PM

Another alternative if neither of those work: Cheap Brita water filter. $15 at Home Depot.

I had a dog that could only drink filtered water due to allergies..I would cut the bottom off of a milk jug, stick the filter in there, and pour water into it.

Nina · #4 04/22/10, 10:06 PM

DH says aerate the water (turning the soluable iron to insoluable iron...read "rust") and then it can be filtered out probably with a sand-type filter that can be backwashed. You might need another filter (polishing filter) beyond that. Try asking a water conditioning company like Culligan or RainSoft.

Backfourty,MI. · #5 04/23/10, 06:17 AM

Our water that goes to our outside water spickets also goes through our water softner.
We too have very high iron content but I don't think quite as bad as yours, our inside of the washer is stained with rust but not our clothes.
I would also check to make sure the water softner is working properly, try one of those water filters that goes on at the spicket/hose?

Also mine Love apple cider vinegar in there water.
Another trick, if you set 5 gallon buckets filled outside & let them set for a couple days you can see the rust settle in the bottom of the bucket, I just wonder if that will make a difference to the goats?

Watch your bucks & wethers close too, we had a buck get UC before, I think a combination of his genetics & our water &/or the water softner not working properly at the time. etc. had alot to do with his problem.

Starsmom · #6 04/23/10, 06:23 AM

I was also going to suggest the outside water filter. I have seen them that go on the end of the hose as well. If I remember, I found them at a hot tub dealer. It doesn't add anything to the water like a softner does, just removes the particles and rust from the water.

IndyGardenGal · #7 04/23/10, 07:33 AM

Thanks for all the suggestions. We tried ACV, and it didn't work. I know our water softener works, because we see such a difference when we run out of salt pellets in the water. I am going to go look at the pool supplies place this weekend for a garden hose filter, and talk to DH about installing some whole house filters.

Jay27 · #8 04/23/10, 08:46 AM

How about collecting rain water?

How long will the goats go without drinking? I have iron in my water, not as bad as you from the sounds of it, and my goats didn't like it at first. They got over it after 3 days. I add ACV to their tank, as well, about 1 cup to 20 gallons of water (or whatever it is the tank holds).

thaiblue12 · #9 04/23/10, 10:01 AM

Just do not give them the water straight from the well spigot. My outside spigots that are on the house are runs through both whole house filters. They have both froze and would not work and I was using the spigot right from the well and that canceled out the copper/minerals. We too have iron but our water it thankfully soft and getting that second whole house filter was great for us humans.
Your water smells different and is new to them so it might take them a little bit to get use to it. I sold a few goats to people and they called me after two days and said these goats won't drink water. I told them it is new and they will drink it when they get thristy and sure enough they did.

Apryl in ND · #10 04/23/10, 09:54 PM

This probably isn't the problem you are having, but I fill up a rubber bucket and a plastic bucket for mine everyday and they won't drink out of the rubber bucket unless they have to. The plastic bucket is almost always gone by the next day. I guess the rubber one must make the water taste funny.

Willowynd · #11 04/23/10, 11:31 PM

Just a thought...I know I have an issue with some salt working better than others. I only have one salt I have found that works well. I am sensitive to the changes in my water as I have sensitive skin and I can tell the difference by feeling the water.
Also, I am getting ready to get a new softner as the one I have is having to be cycled alot manually for me to be able to bathe....I can recharge it and it will seem fine, but after so many gallons go through, I need to charge it before the softner charges itself if I want a bathe...then wait an hour for the cycle to complete. It is free to have someone come out and test your water if you call a softener company and act like your looking to replace your softener. You may find something wrong that you did not know about. I found my softner, even after being recharged earlier in the day was letting some iron through still even though water was clear.
BTW the salt I use is not pellets- the pellets never worked well for my softner. I use solar salt from AquaTec ...only one I will buy now. It at least gets a majority of the rust and hardness out so it is less detactable.

Quote:

Originally Posted by IndyGardenGal

Thanks for all the suggestions. We tried ACV, and it didn't work. I know our water softener works, because we see such a difference when we run out of salt pellets in the water. I am going to go look at the pool supplies place this weekend for a garden hose filter, and talk to DH about installing some whole house filters.

Laverne · #12 04/24/10, 02:10 AM

I'm sorry you have to deal with iron in your water. Iron of course interferes with copper utilization in goats so I would consider it a serious problem. The sodium from a water softener isn't healthy to drink either. So if a simpler solution doesn't work, I looked on Google about iron and the only decent possible solution I would try was a guy that made a filter with 2 tons of sand on pea gravel in a tank to filter out iron for his swimming pool.He spent 45.oo on sand,gravel and he also said a smaller unit could be made in a 50 gallon drum. So I would suspend a barrel above and or near the water trough and put the well water through it and see if that would help.

Willowynd · #13 04/24/10, 03:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Laverne

The sodium from a water softener isn't healthy to drink either. .

As a general rule, an 8-ounce (236 milliliters) glass of softened tap water contains less than 12.5 milligrams of sodium. According to the Food and Drug Administration nutrient guidelines, this is in the very low-sodium range.

Freeholder · #14 04/24/10, 01:37 PM

Someone mentioned the rubber buckets -- my goats prefer to drink out of anything other than the rubber buckets, too (I don't normally give them a choice, though), and so did the dogs, when I had them. I can smell the rubber buckets, even the ones that are several years old. I wonder if anything leaches out of the black rubber that isn't good for the animals, like what supposedly leaches out of plastic water bottles? I know that when I go in a store where there are a bunch of new tires, I get an instant headache from the smell.

Kathleen