Moveable water supply

Katharine Norton February 6, 2015 at 3:55am

I love this group too!! The toilet has me chuckling all morning, fantastic!! Would love a photo of your goats feeding from their pink toilet! Can you imagine if I did that here, they think I'm mad enough already!!! I've changed to a bigger bowl this morning and put a big rock in it, I'll see how that goes - hopefully they can't tip it, and hopefully the kid can jump out if he ends up in there - I'll keep an eye out today and see how it goes.

Thanks for all the tips and for sharing your challenges too, its so encouraging to know its not just me pondering these things.

Katharine

Glenna Rose February 5, 2015 at 10:16pm

I just had to go searching because I was certain it was here I read about the toilets. It was! Almost two years ag0, Feb. 22, 2013. It was Margaret! Thank you, Margaret. :-)

http://nigeriandwarfgoats.ning.com/forum/topics/goat-pen-size-and-f...

Have I ever mentioned how much I absolutely love this group?!!

Patty Meyer February 5, 2015 at 10:07pm

These are all very interesting ideas. The toilet being the most unique! :)

Glenna Rose February 5, 2015 at 9:27pm

Good ideas! I was thinking a few rocks in the bucket but the jar full of water would be so much easier to work with.

Julia @Woody Glen Farm February 5, 2015 at 9:19pm

Oh I love the toilet idea and Donna thank you for your idea too! I don't use buckets big enough to drown a kid in-- he could have jumped back out easily but since it had ice in it it was a particularly bad situation. I use a large size heated bucket with one flat side and I have some brick risers in the bottom. I put a 2 gallon bucket inside the big one and fill water around the sides to warm the inside bucket. This way when I bring out full buckets of hot water with ACV in it, I just switch out the buckets. The big heated buckets are a royal pain to clean so this works much better and they get fresh water frequently. When my doe had freshened 2 days before my incident with the kid, I had been bringing her water into her pen and put the bucket in a bucket hanger off the ground. That morning, the bucket was frozen on the top so I was taking it out and set it outside where the little buckling promptly found it and jumped in! It certainly alerted me to the potential problems so I made sure they were high enough off the ground!

Donna Peck February 5, 2015 at 9:05pm

This idea may help save a kid from getting soaked, or even drowning in a bucket. Take the largest possible jar you can find(restaurant sized huge jars work well for a big bucket, and they usually give them away) and fill it full of water, then put the lid on the jar. Place this jar full of water inside your bucket making sure there's only 3-4" of space between jar and bucket. Now fill your water bucket, and the goats will be able to sip around the edge, but a kid cannot fall in. This has worked for me with a rambunctious litter of puppies in the past. I'm home all day, so can go refill when needed, but not sure how the level would hold up for anyone who must be away for the day. Maybe a second bucket? Just a suggestion to help save an unknowing kid!

Glenna Rose February 5, 2015 at 9:00pm

Not an answer for you but a thank you for asking the question. Mobile caused me to think when I finally get their water system set up, I could make it mobile. Now I use the 2-1/2 gallon flat-back buckets like Patty mentioned. My goal is to use a toilet for water. I read where someone does that and has it hooked to a garden hose and just flushes when it's time for fresh water, brush and flush and clean water with no effort. I actually watched FreeCycle until someone offered a pink toilet, honest. After all, pink is for girls. I was going to install it in the barn where I have power because my bucket heater can be in the tank. With my spoiled girls, I can turn the timer on the heater and ten minutes later flush for fresh warm water. It would certainly be possible to set the toilet on a little cart and move it to another pen for them though there would no heater.

A bit of humor: Someone asked me where it would drain to. They were horrified when I said onto the ground. They couldn't get past that it was a toilet not thinking about it not being used as one. <g> They would really be horrified if I changed directions and planted mint in it.

Julia @Woody Glen Farm February 5, 2015 at 9:11am

I had a 3 day old kid jump into a bucket with ice and water the other day! Fortunately I was right there to grab him and rush him in to be dried off. He could have gotten hypothermic so fast even if he had gotten back out by himself! I use buckets that are raised high enough the kids won't jump in but in this instance I had just set one down outside the barn for a few minutes. I use clips to hold them up higher for some buckets and others are flat backed and sit in corners where they are not easily tipped.

Katharine Norton February 5, 2015 at 5:52am

Thanks Rachel and Patty for your ideas - yes, its me in Nigeria with the mad questions - as usual! Any tips are welcome, as maybe I can copy them even if I can't buy them. My situation seems always a little more complicated, which I always find so ironic since this is where these goats come from!! Anyway.......I like the idea of something clipped, I'm worried with a big container that our enthusiastic kid will go for a swim...

Thanks for your ideas,

Katharine

Patty Meyer February 4, 2015 at 4:10pm

I have buckets with flat backs like this. I use clips like this to attach them to the field fencing or cattle panels. Or, put an eye hook into anything that will hold it, like a shelter or a tree, so you can attach the handle of the bucket to the eye hook with the clip.

LOL! I just realized who I was talking with. I guess it might be harder than running down to the hardware store for you. I was also going to suggest if you couldn't do that, you could fill a container that when full of water was too heavy for them to tip, but wasting water may also not be an option for you. Not sure how helpful I'm being.

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Moveable water supply

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