Water Troughs and Hay Feeders

[ladymcts]

Finally my first farm!!! Oh yay fun fun fun!!!

I need to buy a hay feeder or feeders, and water trough(s).

For water troughs, is there any advantage to doing smaller rather than larger? The layout is such that there’s a paddock area by the barn which opens to a larger paddock area, which then can be opened to a 2 acre pasture or a 5 acre pasture. The previous owner had 4 horses and one water trough. I will have a minimum of 2 draft horses, and a maximum of 4 draft horses, altho it could be 2 draft and 2 regular, not sure yet.

Right now I’m eyeballing a 300gallon metal Tartar trough to put in near the barn where the horses would spend the most time. Then maybe a 100 gallon to put out in the 2 acre pasture where they will spend some time as well, knowing they won’t have to walk much further to get to the 300 gallon, but keeping the size of trough small enough I could move it from the 2acre to the 5acre if I should want to.

I also really liked a “french drain” kind of system that was instaleld at one of the boarding barns … basically a squared off area for the trough to rest into which consisted of many inches deep of gravel, but bounded by wood. So if there was an overflow at the tank, this secondary wood & gravel system would catch a good deal of it. Since this will take some building, it’s important to me to make sure I get the size right.

Any reason I should go smaller on my trough?

For the feeder, I was just going to do a simple round bale horse feeder, even tho this first year I might end up doing squares all winter. I hope to get my own tractor and do round bales after next Spring. Any other suggestions for hay feeding besides the typical metal round feeder. Will NOT do hay huts - they ruin my draft horse’s manes.

Thanks!

[ToTheNines]

I started out with big troughs, but after years of horsekeeping, the easiest for me is big 38 gallon plastic garbage cans. The troughs are too difficult to keep clean. The garbage cans are are easy to tip over and dump, and then spray clean with the hose. Plus the horses can’t paw in them. However, I am only keeping two horses per pasture. So for more horses, I think I would still use the garbage cans, but two of them.

One horse does tip them over once in a while, but all in all, they are most convenient for me.

[Simkie]

I have four horses–all light riding horses, though–and by the time they drain a 100 gallon tank down, it’s definitely ready to dump and scrub. A bigger tank may ready get grubby before getting low enough to dump.

[Tory]

In the summer I use smaller tanks in the pasture because I want to dump and clean on a weekly basis. A 50 gallon tank is big enough for my 3 horses in the summer (I top it off daily except the day before I dump to clean it).

In the winter I put out 2 100 gallon tanks with water heaters in them. If the weather is going to be below freezing (not often in the PNW) I will fill both to the top and plug in the heaters. That way if any of my pipes freeze on the farm I have about 200 gallons of water available.

Each of my stalls w/attached paddocks have a 40 gallon tank in them. I keep them about 1/2 full in the summer and clean often.

[danacat]

I use plain old plastic muck baskets – the big size. One per horse. Super easy to dump and clean. I cut off the nylon rope handles so no one gets a foot stuck. I also let one basket get low on water (easier to dump and clean when the time comes) and rotate which one I let get low.

[js]

@ToTheNines

I started out with big troughs, but after years of horsekeeping, the easiest for me is big 38 gallon plastic garbage cans. The troughs are too difficult to keep clean. The garbage cans are are easy to tip over and dump, and then spray clean with the hose. Plus the horses can’t paw in them. However, I am only keeping two horses per pasture. So for more horses, I think I would still use the garbage cans, but two of them.

One horse does tip them over once in a while, but all in all, they are most convenient for me.

This is exactly what I use, been using them for many years. If your worried a horse might try to tip them over, just tie the handle to your fence. Get the light blue ones, easier to see if they are dirty etc.

[Crazy4aOTTB]

I second all the others who say go with the smaller troughs! I have a hard time dumping them to clean even if its half full. And the plug at the bottom never seem to work properly to drain. So maybe go with a couple small 100 gallon or less troughs.

[trubandloki]

If you want to buy a feeder I have seen this several times and really like them.

Their small square feeder.

Their round bale feeder.

[ladymcts]

Thanks everyone. i guess the more I think about it, the 300gal water trough that i I liked so much was at a big barn with 20+ horses. But I also don’t think they were dumping and scrubbing anywhere near weekly. Maybe it was going on well before the clientele got there (I know they started work at 3:30-4am), but I dont’ recall ever seeing them dump & clean while boarding there for several years.

I guess I’ll start out with a couple of 100 gal for now … I’m just worried that my playful beasties will make my life difficult so the more permanent and “big” I can make it the better.

[HPFarmette]

Regarding water, another factor is what kind of winter weather do you experience? In winter I fill two of the hundred gallon troughs for my two full size horses because I have to run hoses from the hydrant. Algae doesn’t seem to build up as much in the winter. I don’t do that in the summer because I can leave hoses out then…

[Mukluk]

@danacat

I use plain old plastic muck baskets – the big size. One per horse. Super easy to dump and clean. I cut off the nylon rope handles so no one gets a foot stuck. I also let one basket get low on water (easier to dump and clean when the time comes) and rotate which one I let get low.

Same here. In the summer I have 3 for two horses. Very easy to keep clean and fill. When cleaning. I put a 5 gallon bucket in to get the old water out- till it’s low enough to pour from the muck bucket into a 5 gallon bucket and use that for plants.

[stb]

I also vote for smaller water troughs. When I bought my farm it came with two 100 gal Rubbermaid troughs. I have two horses here, as did the previous owner. I replaced the 100 gal troughs with 70 gallon troughs. They are much easier to keep clean.

[Scarlet_Gilia]

I live in an area where mosquitoes can be a problem. Mosquitoes lay their eggs in standing water; troughs are standing water; I need to dump and scrub my water trough every few days in the summer. A 100 gallon trough works well for me.

[TrotTrotPumpkn]

I never unplug my trough. I use an aquarium siphon. Then I can have the water go further away into the grass, instead of making mud where I’m doing stuff. You don’t even need to buy one for an aquarium, you just need some big tubing.

It’s super easy.

I can’t let the water get low enough to dump, or the mini donkey can’t reach it.

This method also avoids ice where you don’t want it in the winter. There is usually one day a month where it is warm enough that I can clean the tank.

[ladymcts]

I’m in “the midwest” (do you know how freakin’ large an area that people call the midwest?), but the southern edge of it. I can get to Kentucky in a little over an hour. So we usually get some snow in early Spring, but mostly the freezing temps go in fits and starts, not evil chronic cold like Iowa\Minnesota\Wisconsin.

Still haven’t bought anything yet … my truck has been in the shop. But hopefully this weekend or next. Aiming to bring the boys home in July.

[Palm_Beach]

I use 70-100 gallon Rubbermaid troughs. They need to be dumped and scrubbed regularly, and anything larger is too hard to handle. I can also move them around if needed without needing a tractor.

http://www.rubbermaidcommercial.com/rcp/products/subcategory-expanded.jsp?categoryCode=agriculture&subCategoryCode=agriculture_stock_tanks

I use a round bale ring and a round bale net when feeding round bales. I can move the ring to different areas so the horses don’t beat up the ground and cause a mud hole where the round bale is.

[Anne_Long]

You don’t even need to buy one for an aquarium, you just need some big tubing.

I cut a section of old hose about 8’ long. I have had to drain/siphon a full 100 gal tub a few times after finding a drowned squirrel. Bigger is faster!

[BeckyS]

For two horses, I have a 40 gallon tank resting on an upended half-55 gallon drum. It has an automatic float on it, so I never have to worry about refilling.