Water troughs are an important part of most modern dairy farms, and they’re usually one of the largest pieces of equipment on the farm. It’s easy to understand why keeping the water clean in a livestock water trough is so important: you’re going to want drinkable water, clear and free from pollutants, if your goal is to keep your livestock healthy.
Undeniably, there is more to giving your livestock water safely and healthily than simply filling the trough with water. If the salinity or TDS isn’t within guidelines, certain ions like calcium, nitrate, magnesium, fluoride, and sulphate can lead to health issues for your animals. The goal is to keep them as healthy as possible in order to give them the best possible start in life. Knowing how to water animals properly with livestock water troughs will help to accomplish this goal.
Prolonging Water Quality
There are different ways to ensure that livestock water troughs are kept at their best quality no matter what the weather. Although there are some factors that are outside of your control – temperature, rain, cloudiness, and wind – there are ways that you can improve water quality by changing things on the inside of the structure. For example, you can buy livestock water troughs with baffles that help to reduce rain splash, and there are also products that you can buy that help improve water quality in the short term.
Baffles can be used to minimize rainfall damage and contamination to your livestock water trough by up to 90%. This includes tanks that have baffles fitted at both ends. Outside tanks without baffles are still recommended, but in areas where the rainfall can get very strong, this is an excellent way to protect the walls of the tank from damage caused by heavy rainfall. Additionally, some livestock water troughs have a movable bottom that will allow you to move it to a more convenient location if the weather conditions are too severe. The movable bottom also allows you to empty the water supply more quickly, which could be very important if you need to refill the tank as quickly as possible when it is low.
Algae? Not Today!
If you’re hoping that the water coming out of the livestock water trough won’t contain any algae, there is still something you can do about that. The most common cause of algae is standing water within the basin that is used for drinking and watering the animals. In order to prevent the water from containing any algae, it is important that you drain the water off of the water trough immediately after your animals finish drinking for the day. Doing this will keep the water clean and algae-free. You can also make sure that the water is pumped only when it is needed and not left sitting around in the water trough. The longer it sits, the more chances there are for algae to grow.
Care & Maintenance of Watering Troughs
One of the most common ways to clean water troughs is through the use of good ol’ fashioned soap. As with any livestock water supply, you want to make sure that you completely dry any standing water as soon as possible. This will help you avoid spreading the algae-causing gunk into a stable’s floor, which can spread throughout the entire establishment. If you are using soap, it’s a good idea to let the soap sit on the animal’s water supply for a period of time before cleaning it off. It is especially important to make sure that the soap is completely rinsed off of the animal’s water supply, or you could allow the soapy residue to be introduced into the fresh water and potentially harm your animals.
The Importance of Clean Water for Your Animals
Water consumption is one of the biggest limiting factors in the operation of a dairy or cattle farm. To conserve resources, it’s crucial that you educate yourself about your herd’s proper drinking practices. Their drinking water should always be carefully checked by an experienced veterinarian, especially if it is a frequent go-off. In order to promote better health and wellness for both you and your livestock, you should implement a healthy grazing regimen that emphasizes drinking throughout the day. If you do not take this step, you will quickly discover that the animals will become dehydrated and suffer health problems that could have been prevented.
Water Conservation Saves Money
To maintain a consistent and reliable livestock feeding system, you’ll need to install a livestock float valve between the water trough and the livestock watering site. This valve allows you to ration out the amount of water that is provided to the animals each day by only triggering when the animals are actively drinking. The float valve also helps to regulate the water pressure in the trough. Livestock water troughs can be designed with a float valve and a pump that allow the water to flow through the system and into the holding tank. The water in the holding tank is then pumped back into the water trough, keeping the water pressure in check.
Watering Troughs from SPI Plastics
At SPI Plastics, we’ve designed and produced a wide variety of plastic watering troughs for livestock of all varieties. With easy cleaning, sturdy design, and energy-free frost prevention, our troughs have made farming and ranching easier throughout Canada. If you’d like to learn more about our range of heated and energy-free water troughs for livestock, call us today at 1-800-269-6533 or contact us online.