# What kind of waterer do you prefer?



## BarnOwl (Sep 6, 2020)

So, I'm supposed to get my doelings sometime at the end of the month (yahoo!) so I am gathering supplies. What do you all recommend as waterers? I want something small enough I can dump it over to clean (or with a good drain so I can drain the water and clean it), but I also I want it to be big enough that I don't have to worry about them being without water in our hot humid summers. 

I'll be starting out with 3 nigerian dwarf doelings (they'll be about 3 months old).

I was thinking of a stock tank like the one below, but I'm afraid it might be too tall for Nigerians?? It is 53L x 36W x 20H inches.








oval stock tank


https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/tuff-stuff-products-heavy-duty-oval-stock-tank-110-gal?cm_vc=-10005



I'd love to know what everyone else is using! Thanks for any advice and feedback!


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## alwaystj9 (Apr 10, 2019)

Multiple types and kinds...but if it's bigger than a baby goat can hop out of I put a cinder block in it.
This has also saved a few wet chickens' lives.
Another farm I visited cut and shaped hog pen fence panel pieces for the tops: left room for animals to 
drink out of but not enough space for a baby goat to hop in.
I live in Mosquito heaven and have to dump all water regularly, I quit buying/using any container
that I cannot tip over when full of water. I also hang a long handle scrub brush on the fence near it
so it is easy to give it a quick scrub.
If you are in an area that freezes, remember that some plastics get brittle in the cold -- nothing sucks like
banging on the ice to get it out and breaking the bucket! (I also keep a rubber mallet hanging by the scrub brush in winter.)
Also consider whether or not you will be using a bucket or tank heater for the water during winter. 
Plan ahead because ALL the shops run out of them after the first bad freeze of the year.
Hope things I've screwed up and learned from can help you!


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## BarnOwl (Sep 6, 2020)

alwaystj9 said:


> Multiple types and kinds...but if it's bigger than a baby goat can hop out of I put a cinder block in it.
> This has also saved a few wet chickens' lives.
> Another farm I visited cut and shaped hog pen fence panel pieces for the tops: left room for animals to
> drink out of but not enough space for a baby goat to hop in.
> ...


Thank you so much, that is very helpful! I'm still trying to decide about the de-icer. I'm just starting my second year with pigs, and they did okay last winter w/out a heater in the water. Our winters are relatively mild. In the morning, I'd break the skim of ice on top of the water when necessary, and it wouldn't freeze over again until the night. Before I got the pigs, I went to the trouble of getting a 55 gallon barrel and installing water spigets/nipples in it for them to drink, and they refuse to use it.They just want to drink out of an old turtle sandbox that my kids abandoned. Oh well.

I love the idea of keeping a scrub brush and mallet hanging on the fence--I'm definitely going to do that also!


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## alwaystj9 (Apr 10, 2019)

I have the same sandbox! The baby goats love jumping on the lid and one of my dogs wallows in the water-filled other half!
I am in Louisiana and never considered a de-icer until this past winter. I may pick one up for emergencies.


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## Mike at Capra Vista (Nov 30, 2017)

I just use a plastic bucket. It's about 10" across and 10' tall. It is in a corner in the barn, so out of the way of rough housing goats. I hook the handle to the wall with a bungee cord so the pail cannot be moved or knocked over. It holds about two gallons of water. I usually dump and fill in the morning and add in the evening if needed. I have never run out of water even with 11 goats.


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## MellonFriend (Aug 8, 2017)

I like two and five gallon buckets. I use the two gallon ones when there are babies around and the five gallon when there are not. I find them easy to carry and clean. And they come in pretty colors.😋 I like to put more than one water source out so that if one gets knocked over, pooped in, or emptied, they still have water.


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## BarnOwl (Sep 6, 2020)

Mike at Capra Vista said:


> I just use a plastic bucket. It's about 10" across and 10' tall. It is in a corner in the barn, so out of the way of rough housing goats. I hook the handle to the wall with a bungee cord so the pail cannot be moved or knocked over. It holds about two gallons of water. I usually dump and fill in the morning and add in the evening if needed. I have never run out of water even with 11 goats.


Thanks! I was worried that buckets wouldn't hold enough water, but if it works for 11 goats it should work for just 3. The bungee cord is a great idea.


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## NigerianNewbie (Jun 6, 2018)

Fortiflex brand flat back bucket, comes in 8 quart and 3.5 gallon sizes. Sold separately is a bracket that can be mounted, and features a pin that slips down into the handle on the bucket into a hole below. There is also a lip that holds the rim of the bucket snug into the bracket. I like these buckets because they hold up well to freezing, are easy to carry, wash up well, empty out easily, the height of the bracket can be adjusted for bucket height, so far they have been goat sturdy for 3 years (and going strong) without replacement and the goats can not turn the buckets over even when being rowdy with each other.


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## BarnOwl (Sep 6, 2020)

MellonFriend said:


> I like two and five gallon buckets. I use the two gallon ones when there are babies around and the five gallon when there are not. I find them easy to carry and clean. And they come in pretty colors.😋 I like to put more than one water source out so that if one gets knocked over, pooped in, or emptied, they still have water.


Thanks! I even have some buckets in the garage already. Maybe I won't have to buy a $$$ trough...


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## NigerianDwarfOwner707 (May 17, 2018)

That stock tank is going to be too big for nigerians - and not dump-able. I don't recommend troughs unless you have a lot of goats.

I like multiple two gallon buckets - super easy for the goats to drink from and easy to carry around!


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## BarnOwl (Sep 6, 2020)

NigerianDwarfOwner707 said:


> That stock tank is going to be too big for nigerians - and not dump-able. I don't recommend troughs unless you have a lot of goats.
> 
> I like multiple two gallon buckets - super easy for the goats to drink from and easy to carry around!



Thanks for the feedback. I was afraid that trough would be too tall. Seems like buckets are the way to go. I just want to make sure they have enough water, and I don't necessarily want to spend all day carting water up to the barn, but it sounds like refilling them morning/night would be sufficient.


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## BarnOwl (Sep 6, 2020)

Has anyone ever used an automatic waterer like this one? I don't have plumbing in the barn, so I'd have to use a water buckets up there, but I think I could stretch the hose to the front of the fence.




















Amazon.com : Little Giant Automatic Animal Waterer (Red) Float Controlled Automatic Waterer for Livestock (4 Gal) (Item No. FW16RED) : Livestock Watering Equipment : Patio, Lawn & Garden


Amazon.com : Little Giant Automatic Animal Waterer (Red) Float Controlled Automatic Waterer for Livestock (4 Gal) (Item No. FW16RED) : Livestock Watering Equipment : Patio, Lawn & Garden



www.amazon.com






The trough below below holds fifty gallons and is 12 inches tall...but no drain, wondering if it is hard to clean.



https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/rubbermaid-structural-foam-stock-tanks-50-gal-capacity?cm_vc=-10005


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## Mike at Capra Vista (Nov 30, 2017)

I would suggest spending time, effort, money on getting water to your barn, rather than fancy containers or swimming pools. You'll need fresh water every day and it is handy for other than just watering the goats. After a few weeks you will appreciate not having to haul water everyday.


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## BarnOwl (Sep 6, 2020)

Mike at Capra Vista said:


> I would suggest spending time, effort, money on getting water to your barn, rather than fancy containers or swimming pools. You'll need fresh water every day and it is handy for other than just watering the goats. After a few weeks you will appreciate not having to haul water everyday.


I wish, that would be nice. Maybe next year.


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## Montanagirl17 (May 5, 2021)

I like using a 15 gallon Little Giant rubber feed bin. It's easy to dump out and clean everyday, and if you live in a place where things freeze through in the winter, it's easy to break ice out of without it cracking. Plus, it's pretty affordable. Works great for my flock of 7.


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## goathiker (Apr 14, 2011)

I use the small flat backed buckets with a seperate float that normally goes on troughs.
Dark colors don't grow as much stuff and dark green stays the cleanest. The goats have to stand on a 4 inch step to reach, no poop that way. 

Since we don't freeze up much here I use heavy salt water packs to keep away the little bit of ice and black hoses to retain heat. Hoses are uncoupled and drained when the night temperatures are below freezing. 

Heavy salt water: using warm tap water stir as much salt as possible into the water. When it quits absorbing more, leave it to cool overnight covered loosely. In the morning or whenever you get around to it stir again and see if it will take more salt. Pour into thin walled water bottles or other conductive container. Tubing with a join can be used for chicken waterers outside with a bottle inside the reservoir. Use a 20oz per gallon size container. The salt lowers the point of freezing even if it's not touching. Just shake the bottle daily, they last a couple weeks.


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## BarnOwl (Sep 6, 2020)

goathiker said:


> I use the small flat backed buckets with a seperate float that normally goes on troughs.
> Dark colors don't grow as much stuff and dark green stays the cleanest. The goats have to stand on a 4 inch step to reach, no poop that way.
> 
> Since we don't freeze up much here I use heavy salt water packs to keep away the little bit of ice and black hoses to retain heat. Hoses are uncoupled and drained when the night temperatures are below freezing.
> ...


Thanks! I'm going to try the salt water pack! Here in TN it freezes in the coldest part of the winter, but not so bad that I've found I've needed a heater for our waterers. I do have a heated chicken waterer, but last winter I didn't even bother setting it up. The pig water I just break the ice each morning and it's fine until it freezes again at night. 

Does your float just hook up to a hose and then rest inside the bucket? That seems like it'd be easier for cleaning. 

After reading some reviews, I think I'm going to forgo the automatic waterer/bucket I was contemplating above. Looks like it'd be kind of annoying to disconnect to clean, which would negate the convenience of having an automatic waterer.


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## alwaystj9 (Apr 10, 2019)

I keep several sources of water at several different heights available. In the main pasture I have an antique (not a good antique, just an old antique!) bathtub with a tennis ball in the drain and with 2 cinder blocks in it. It is tilted a leetle bit so the overflow hole pays off into a foot high oval small trough (less than 25# when full of water) and next to that is a 6 inch fortiflex pan. That way everyone, from the horse, all sizes of goats and their babies and the chickens & dogs can drink. There are also tomato cages tied on top of the fence behind because the chickens were using the rim of the big trough to launch themselves into my backyard.


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