livestock self-waterers

[cowboydoc]

Just an fyi as I know alot of you have horses and cattle. I purchased one of the drinking post waterers. You can see them at www.drinkingpost.com. DON'T buy them. They are very cheaply built and I seriously wonder about their design. They are made so that they don't freeze in the winter by self draining back down. Well they constantly clog up. If the animal goes over there with grain in their mouth and slobber it into the bowl your drains get blocked. Pull it out spend two hours cleaning it. Next it is very cheaply made and very expensive. There probably isn't $30 in the parts and they charge $325 for them. The post is too small for my bulls to drink out of and I don't even know still if some of my horses are using it. It is extremely hard for them push to get water. There are much better designs out there and better made as well.

 

[MikePA]

Thanks for the warning, doc. We've thought about getting a waterer that wouldn't freeze to replace our current system of rotating 5 gallon buckets between the barn aisle and the tack room. It's nice to know which products to avoid.

 

[toddwulf]

Thanks Doc. I've got two horses I have to set this up for and I've been thinking maybe just a big galvanized tub with a toilet bowl float somehow shielded from the animals would probably be the best, least expensive and perhaps have the longest life of what I've seen out there.

Course, the other option is to use the tractor to dig a pond and keep that filled up. Hmmmm....

Todd in Placerville, CA.

'98 NH 1920 4x4

 

[cowboydoc]

Problem out here is that you have to worry about freezing. If you don't have to worry about freezing they have a deal like that Todd that you just hook up to a water supply and when the water gets down it automatically fills the trough. I think they are about $20.

 

[MikePA]

Doc, have you ever used either bucket heaters or heated buckets?

 

[cowboydoc]

Yep I use those in my stalls Mike. They work really good. I don't have the horses in the stalls much so it works good for me as I just plug them in when they are in there. Most of my horses are out on pasture and it costs about $25 a month to run the tank heaters, not to mention always having to fill them and mess with hoses when it's 10 below zero. I've got 10--15 horses per pasture so they go through about a 100 gallons of water per pasture per day. I have the heated self-waterer over where the cattle are but wanted one without electricity. I tryed one of these drinking posts to see how it would be and I'm really disappointed. I'd like to try some of the others but am really gunshy now at other brands at $325 and up now. Anyone used a good one that doesn't require electricity?

<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1>Edited by cowboydoc on 12/07/01 09:39 AM (server time).</FONT></P>

 

[RichZ]

Thanks for the warning, Richard! I was looking at this very product, but I thought it was kind of pricey. I keep heated water in the horses stalls, and allow them free acess to them so they can always get a drink.
I keep my Belgian foal in her stall at night anyway. My vet suggested I do that, so she gets used to coming in when called (she has become very obediant!), and is used to being confined in a stall for any emergency. I let her out into the padock all day. She's still too young to join the other horses in the pasture. The dominant mare is still pretty hostile to her, so I have the padock divided in half with livestock fencing, topped with two electric strands, so she can see the other horses, and the dominant mare can't stomp her. Our gelding and older mare love her, and they socialize through the fence. I sometimes let her visit with her two friends, under supervision. I keep the goats in with her, and they're all pals.

Rich

 

[MikePA]

Where do you have outlets in relation to the buckets? We currently have flat back buckets hung in each stall and I am trying to determine where the outlet could be located so the horses can't chew on the cord.

 

[cowboydoc]

Mike,
Well that's the luxury of building your own barn. I built it so that there is an outlet for each stall out of reach of the horses.

 

[MikePA]

Doc,

Is the outlet below the bucket, above the bucket? If above, how do you route the power cord? Maybe a picture?

Thanks.