Livestock Water Solutions

[Peanut]

A place to put ideas for watering livestock… a problem brought this on. I have a couple of the blue tubs with rope handles for water, about 15g. Use them to water livestock on a temp basis when penned up for some reason.

My last beef calf would knock his water tub over occasionally. It was winter and sometimes when the water was low it’d freeze in the bottom of the tub. The calf would get frustrated and knock the tub over.

This new beef calf has knocked over his water tub every time I fill the darned thing since yesterday. Can’t have this!!! So tonight… the rope handles are missing from the tub so I took small chain and a quick link, ran it through the handle holes then fastened the tub to the corral. The calf will probably destroy it now!

The big picture… I don’t want a fixed water tub in the corral since the corral is scheduled for demo come spring. Also, when my cousin brings over the herd of heifers they’ll get water from the creek in the bottoms. I’ll turn the calf out and let him run with them when they arrive.

So, I’m looking for a temporary fix for a butthead calf that keeps knocking his water over.

But, any water problems and solutions would fit here...

 

[Caribou]

How about an old cast iron tub?

 

[LadyLocust]

A place to put ideas for watering livestock… a problem brought this on. I have a couple of the blue tubs with rope handles for water, about 15g. Use them to water livestock on a temp basis when penned up for some reason.

My last beef calf would knock his water tub over occasionally. It was winter and sometimes when the water was low it’d freeze in the bottom of the tub. The calf would get frustrated and knock the tub over.

This new beef calf has knocked over his water tub every time I fill the darned thing since yesterday. Can’t have this!!! So tonight… the rope handles are missing from the tub so I took small chain and a quick link, ran it through the handle holes then fastened the tub to the corral. The calf will probably destroy it now!

The big picture… I don’t want a fixed water tub in the corral since the corral is scheduled for demo come spring. Also, when my cousin brings over the herd of heifers they’ll get water from the creek in the bottoms. I’ll turn the calf out and let him run with them when they arrive.

So, I’m looking for a temporary fix for a butthead calf that keeps knocking his water over.

But, any water problems and solutions would fit here...

Does it have that lip that curls over or is it solid to the rim. If you drilled a hole or two near the rim, you could use a couple washers and screw it to a fence post.

 

[Peanut]

How about an old cast iron tub?

I do have a cast iron bath tub about 150ft away. Have to figure a way to stop up the drain. If he poops in it a heavy tub would be a pain to dump and rinse.

Does it have that lip that curls over or is it solid to the rim. If you drilled a hole or two near the rim, you could use a couple washers and screw it to a fence post.

The rim curls over, it had holes for the rope in the rim. Ropes are gone but the holes remain. It's where I ran the small chain tonight.

The blue tub is what I'm using...

 

[EastenerWesterner]

I use 100 gallon plastic stock tank. Have drilled to screw the waterer body to the lip. (Ponies like to play).
This is gravity fed with a 275g IBC tank.

I spend a lot less time filling tanks and have 375g of water (which should last the 3 about 5 days) in case I have to evacuate.

 

[LadyLocust]

I do have a cast iron bath tub about 150ft away. Have to figure a way to stop up the drain. If he poops in it a heavy tub would be a pain to dump and rinse.



The rim curls over, it had holes for the rope in the rim. Ropes are gone but the holes remain. It's where I ran the small chain tonight.

The blue tub is what I'm using...

View attachment 163598

You could still screw it to a post but would need a block of wood under the lip so it wouldn’t crush the plastic.
Otherwise you could hang it from a rope like a swing from a tree so it’s still flat on the ground but not tipable, but betting he would figure out a way to dump it still.

 

[Mountain trapper]

Do you have any of the galvanized water tanks? We use 55 to 350 gallon tanks here. They're easy to move around when empty. Of course you can always screw the smaller tanks of buckets to a fence board or post.
In winter I have to use a heavy bar to break ice every day. The water usually freezes about a foot thick over night. The water starts freezing immediately after I take the ice out of the tank.

 

[EastenerWesterner]

 

[Peanut]

View attachment 163599

I have the same set up, works well. Except both my pumps are down right now so I'm taking 10g of water from the house to the corral.

https://www.homesteadingforum.org/threads/beef-calf-2024.37716/#post-1019365

 

[EastenerWesterner]

I have the same set up, works well. Except both my pumps are down right now so I'm taking 10g of water from the house to the corral.

https://www.homesteadingforum.org/threads/beef-calf-2024.37716/#post-1019365

I have about 400+ foot of hose.

 

[Bacpacker]

We always used a cast iron tub when we had cattle at the house. Just used a rubber stopper to plug it up. Pulll it out and it drains right away. Wash out any smaller debris left,,

 

[Dani]

A place to put ideas for watering livestock… a problem brought this on. I have a couple of the blue tubs with rope handles for water, about 15g. Use them to water livestock on a temp basis when penned up for some reason.

My last beef calf would knock his water tub over occasionally. It was winter and sometimes when the water was low it’d freeze in the bottom of the tub. The calf would get frustrated and knock the tub over.

This new beef calf has knocked over his water tub every time I fill the darned thing since yesterday. Can’t have this!!! So tonight… the rope handles are missing from the tub so I took small chain and a quick link, ran it through the handle holes then fastened the tub to the corral. The calf will probably destroy it now!

The big picture… I don’t want a fixed water tub in the corral since the corral is scheduled for demo come spring. Also, when my cousin brings over the herd of heifers they’ll get water from the creek in the bottoms. I’ll turn the calf out and let him run with them when they arrive.

So, I’m looking for a temporary fix for a butthead calf that keeps knocking his water over.

But, any water problems and solutions would fit here...

If it's just temporary, how about three T post to stabilize?

 

[Pearl]

You need to keep my donkey for a couple of days, EVERYTHING is a toy!! I like Dani's idea!!

 

[Tim Horton]

I also used old built in steel bath tubs.. They were free, but did work best if mounted to a pallet type base with a frame to support the back side..

Like said, Sammy the donkey would mess with everything in the paddock..

 

[Peanut]

Ha! remembered i have a photo of the old tub dad and i installed in '74 when we built the house. I replaced it with a walk-in shower about 7/8 years ago. It's still laying out by the shed where I left it.

I checked the calf about an hour ago. He drank water after I feed him about dark. The tub was still upright, should be til dawn. He probably wakes up grumpy decides to destroy something.

I might have to use this tub. I have a pile of cinder blocks by the chicken pen.
Could easily make a base for it, just loosely stacked would work fine. Wouldn't care if they got crapped on either. I was already thinking about doing a base for the ibc tote. Neither can be permanent since the corral is going to be rebuilt with a completely different set up. It's going to move further down the slope and change shape.

I let my chickens help clean off this pile of block one summer... they killed everything growing on the pile. I'd cut the big stuff. Got a lot of it stacked that was worth saving.