Winter Water

[jdarling]

What do you all do for water for your livestock in the winter? I just set myself up with short, easily drainable hoses, portable floating de-icers, etc. However, I recently saw something about heated automatic waters, so I know there has to be an easier way than continually draining hoses, etc. Would love to hear how you're set up, and if you have photos ... even better.

 

Thanks.

Jodi

[Bill Fosher]

Snow.

[silhouettestable]

I have a frost free hydrant for filling the trough and a floating de-icer. The two combined make winter watering super easy. I used to have to chop the ice out and bucket the water over from the tap at the back of my house, and I have also tried using a hose, taking it up over the grape arbour and a tree limb so that it would drain after each use. That worked okay most of the time, but did freeze up a couple of times when I didn't stretch it out enough and some water collected in a sag in the hose. I would disconnect the hose from the tap and stretch that end down to drain from where it went over the arbour, and then go to the other end by the trough and stretch it down from the tree. The system I use now is so much better, and to keep the hydro cost down for the de-icer I put it on a timer so it's only on part of the time, plus I insulate around the trough with some banked up soil and the snow when it comes. I also tip an old sled upside down over part of the trough to keep the heat in and cover it with snow for insulation.

[jomur]

In the leanto at my barn I have two heated automatic water troughs.They were expensive but have worked well for the past 7 years with temps well below freezing--as low as -40 degrees.

 

If you can get electricity to your troughs--maybe an extension cord,you can buy an immersion heater.It is a round metal coil that heats the water and is safe for the sheep.Also there are troughs with built in heaters.I use both types in a temporary shelter when I have to separate my sheep.

 

If you don't have electricity,I guess you must break the ice.

 

Jim Murphy

[Bill Fosher]

Most of the immersion heaters specifically warn against using extension cords -- the cord can heat up and cause a fire hazard, and if the insulation cracks they may also put stray voltage on the water.

 

My snotty answer above notwithstanding, the best water system I have ever used are the Nelson water bowls. When you need to clean them out, you don't flood half the barn the way so many cattle and hog waterers do. Very little water is kept warm, so electrical draw is pretty low. And the water is actually kept warm -- about 40 to 45 degrees -- so your animals are not eating food just to have enough calories to warm up after a drink.

 

http://www.nelsonmfg.com/a700L_001.htm

[Mark Billadeau]

We've been lucky so far; we've always had spring fed watering toughs. Our new place has two, one of those circular concrete tanks out in a field and a rectangle one in the barn yard. I hope to be adding a third in a field below the barn yard using the drain line from the trough in the barn yard.

[RMSBORDERCOLLIES]

Most of the immersion heaters specifically warn against using extension cords -- the cord can heat up and cause a fire hazard, and if the insulation cracks they may also put stray voltage on the water.

 

My snotty answer above notwithstanding, the best water system I have ever used are the Nelson water bowls. When you need to clean them out, you don't flood half the barn the way so many cattle and hog waterers do. Very little water is kept warm, so electrical draw is pretty low. And the water is actually kept warm -- about 40 to 45 degrees -- so your animals are not eating food just to have enough calories to warm up after a drink.

 

http://www.nelsonmfg.com/a700L_001.htm

 

Depending on the amount of sheep you have there are horse watering tubs, 32 litre, which are only 250 watt banded heaters built right into the plastic tub. They are a little pricy here in western Canada but are very efficient and cheap to operate. They cost about $125.00 here and are probably half that in the States. You still have to fill them but that usually isn't a big problem if you have frost free hydrants available. They are probably good for about 8 to 10 sheep each. We don't use them as we have too many sheep for one but the horse has one and it is excellent. Bob

[veezee]

We use heated water buckets, de-icers in other troughs, and have a heated hose that keeps the hose from freezing.

[juliepoudrier]

I just do it the old-fashioned way: carry 5-gal buckets of water out to the stock twice a day. Of course, I don't have a huge flock and live in the sunny, ahem,south, so the number of days I have to do this sort of thing is limited for the most part.

 

J.