Trigger Mike Posted December 7, 2023 Share Posted December 7, 2023 I have 3 cows and we hit 27 last night and tonight. I didn’t want the water line that continuously fills their water trough to freeze and burst the line so I turned it off and turned it back on once it got above 40. as I did that I got to wondering how big ranchers in areas it stays below freezing keep their water for the cows. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rip Snorter Posted December 7, 2023 Share Posted December 7, 2023 Stock tank heater is one way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warden Callaway Posted December 7, 2023 Share Posted December 7, 2023 We use to chop holes in the ice on the pond. We got a water tank now. And put a heater in it. Any ag store should have them. It was down to zero out. Bet that calf wished it was back in where it was warm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J-BAR #18287 Posted December 7, 2023 Share Posted December 7, 2023 Cattle can handle surprisingly low temperatures if they have food and drinking water and shelter from the wind. Those microbes in their rumens generate a lot of internal heat. Keep the microbes happy and the cows will be happy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dogmeat Dad, SASS #48563L Posted December 7, 2023 Share Posted December 7, 2023 Check out the YouTube channel EnglesCoachShop. The link will take you to his playlists. He is primarily in the business of building/restoring old horse/mule drawn wagons but he has a series of videos about work on his farm. He lives in Joliet, Montana and it gets COLD there! He did an insulated geo-thermal heated stock tank for his few head of cattle before last winter and did some updates this fall as well. May not be applicable to your situation, but I thought it was clever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cypress Sun Posted December 7, 2023 Share Posted December 7, 2023 I thought that cows farted enough to keep the entire Earth warm. No? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trigger Mike Posted December 7, 2023 Author Share Posted December 7, 2023 They are still young so I feed them calf grower and on cold nights add some deer corn and they have a round bale of peanut hay and coastal hay along with rye grass that is trying to come up but they drink a ton . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trigger Mike Posted December 7, 2023 Author Share Posted December 7, 2023 I know why cowboys used to fight over water in westerns. One cow can drink a few gallons at once Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texas Maverick Posted December 7, 2023 Share Posted December 7, 2023 We didn't have cows but did have horses in Parker, CO. We had heated water bowls in each stall for the horses. This way they had water year round. They work great. When it got to a certain temp the heating unit would come on and keep the water line and bowl above freezing. That along with good hay and grain and a place to get in out of the wind kept them happy. TM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bailey Creek,5759 Posted December 8, 2023 Share Posted December 8, 2023 Some used, Cowboy Heaters. In water tanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yul Lose Posted December 8, 2023 Share Posted December 8, 2023 Back in the mid 70’s (1970’s) I worked for an outfit in Sheridan, Wyoming named J-K Manufacturing. They were a fledgling company building a stock tank that was vacuum formed plastic with an interior liner sprayed in and fiber glass reenforced. They had a tank heater in them and a flap on each end of the tank that covered half of the water. The flaps were vacuum formed plastic and insulated like the tank. The cattle would push the flap down with their nose and get their fill of water. It looked like a big green bathtub. We built quite a few test models that were used around the Sheridan and Buffalo ranching community and seemed to be really well received. The two partners in the venture took a bunch of the tanks to the Denver Stock Show and sold everything that they brought. I didn’t get along with one of the owners to well and quit after about 6-8 months and got another job. Anyway if memory serves me correctly they had a fire at the plant and never started it up again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oak Ridge Regulator Posted December 8, 2023 Share Posted December 8, 2023 When I was a kid my old man had a stock tank heater that was made out of cast iron and sat about 20” deep in the stock tank, every afternoon just before dark he would throw a bucket full of burning coal in the heater and then throw another bucket of raw coal on top, it would keep the tank warm enough so it wouldn’t freeze until he filled it the next night and we used to hit well below zero for weeks on end in January and February, the cows would all wander down in the morning and late afternoon to drink their fill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bailey Creek,5759 Posted December 8, 2023 Share Posted December 8, 2023 Oak Ridge used one that was converted. To burn used oil. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maddog McCoy SASS #5672 Posted December 8, 2023 Share Posted December 8, 2023 Grandparents had cattle. Had wood Bruner in tank and built. Fire in it to keep water warm. Brother has tank with ball in it that is insulated that keep water from freezing. Geothermal tank. Not sure where he got it but have 3 of them and autofill float keeps it full. Can check later in week. Where he got it. Cooperative extension office recommends warm water in winner for livestock . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
watab kid Posted December 8, 2023 Share Posted December 8, 2023 8 hours ago, Cypress Sun said: I thought that cows farted enough to keep the entire Earth warm. No? ya , me too , thats what they were sayin to stop us from wanting beef in our diet , i still like beef enough to tell them to kiss my redneck A$$ , im not a rancher but those i know have heated stock tanks and frost proof delivery systems , we get well below zero here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grumpy Old Man Posted December 8, 2023 Share Posted December 8, 2023 When I was young, we had a spring that flowed year round. Had a pipe stuck in it that ran to a trough. Never froze up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grass Range Posted December 8, 2023 Share Posted December 8, 2023 We have 3 artesian wells at about 1000 feet deep each. One of these runs the year around at about 20 gallons per minute and is kind of warm water. That pasture is about 1000 acres so that is where we keep the critters in the winter. Nothing is close to power or coal burner heaters. Horses can be kept anywhere as they get enough snow when grazing to meet the water desire. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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