horse water troughs / drowning

[nminusyplusm]

One of my mares likes to play in the 150 gal. tank! She will sometimes tip it over if it's down to 30% full or less. She has broken a heater too! I can see her messing with the blocks in the tank. If the OP has less playful horses, it might work well.
Mary

That's what I was afraid of... if they can tip the whole tank, blocks wouldn't stand a chance.

 

[wild chick]

Thank you all for your comments. Yes, one of my horses is a terrible meddler. He displaces anything that's not tied down. Sticks & floating boards wouldn't last an hour. He has dragged a 10' 2 x 4, around his lot, leaving amusing patterns in the dirt. When I first got chickens I thought about this water tank thing a LOT and couldn't come up with a practical solution. The concrete blocks as steps might work, but what a pain to have to work around, remove & replace when cleaning the tank, and how much algae would grow on them. I guess I posted here more in frustration than expecting answers. Thank you all for understanding.

 

[driver]

Chances are that it will never happen again. My only thought for a solution that would work for horses and chickens is if you were to cover the entire tub with a sheet of plywood, screwed down into the lip of the tub, with just a bucket-sized hole for the horses to drink from. Sure, a chicken could fit through a bucket-sized hole, but the chances of it landing in that exact spot would be much slimmer. Instead of screwing down the lid, you could use bolts or clamps to make removal/cleaning easier, but not easy enough for "the meddler"

 

[casportpony]

So sorry for your loss. I have found that they aren't as likely to drown when the troughs are kept full.

 

[Folly's place]

Me too! I try to keep them topped off, for the wild birds, and in case of a power outage. Mary

 

[gimmie birdies]

I didn't use a trough for normal watering but went on a vacation for a few days and filled a large tub with water, and had wood blocks for them to stand at the edge to drink. While I was gone all went fine, but I left it in the yard area for a few more days and the daughter of my avitar fell into it, and got wet could not hop out. she could stand up but it was spring time and got cold over night. I went back to watering with a shallower pan for when I am around, to be safe if I am gone I use the large tub, but put an object they can stand on inside the tub, if they fall in.

I also wanted to mention, I lost a hen when I used to have one of those big black plastic planter pots that a tree would come from, it was in my garden, and I think my hen wanted to perch on the edge. It flipped on top of her and it was summer, I didn't find her till the next day.

 

[peckpeckpeck]

I'm so sorry for your loss!
It's always the favorite and also always just when you stop worrying about it.
Maybe since you're back to thinking about it, it won't happen again.

 

[theoldchick]

Sorry for your loss. I suspect the cold water probably shocked her heart and it stopped beating. An option to consider is creating a no slip rubber 'lip' over the edge of the trough. I've seen people try all kinds of things, but horses think all these things are toys. A more expensive option is automatic water devices that horses put their nose in to start water flowing.

 

[Budgetfarm50]

I was wary that my free range chickens might perch & fall into the 100 gal. rubbermaid water trough, but after raising day-old chicks to pullets & cockerels all now 1 1/2 year old hens & a roo, plus 2 broody clutches at 6 months old, I've never seen a single one on the edge of the trough, let alone in the water. I have long quit worrying about it. Tonight, closing up the coop for the night I counted & re-counted and realized one was missing. After looking high and low and well after dark I found her in the water trough, dead. An hour earlier she was amongst the flock when I fed evening treats. She was, of course, my favorite. I won't quit free ranging my chickens, so what is the next best thing to chicken-proof a horse trough? And why the favorite? Ok, ignore the last question, I'm all sorts of teary right now.

I just had the same thing happen tonight. My heart is heavy even though its just a chicken. I thought about putting a board in too but i have a horse and goat in with the chickens and they would for sure pull it out. Did you come up with a solution?

 

[wild chick]

I just had the same thing happen tonight. My heart is heavy even though its just a chicken. I thought about putting a board in too but i have a horse and goat in with the chickens and they would for sure pull it out. Did you come up with a solution?

I never changed anything about the water trough and it has never happened again. I did put the blame on the young rooster as he was harassing the pullets for favors and they weren't in lay. I saw several of them go running from him, half flying, and I "think" that's what may have happened. It's been over 3 years now and no problems with the water tank.