Water Tank Problem

[kansasdexters]

When we went out to check the steers this evening, Clay got a shocking surprise when he started to bail out the water tank. The thumb screws on the automatic fill valve had been pushed into the hot wire fence and the water in the tank was electrified! Those poor steers and two of our horses were getting a shock every time they tried to drink! None of them would go near the water tank tonight.

So we filled buckets and started watering them from buckets, then gradually lead them back to the tank with the bucket. It took a couple of attempts to convince them that the water was safe to drink again. Then we had a mob of thirsty steers. To slow them down, we completely emptied the tank and then they could only drink it as fast as it was refilling.

So it's not enough just to look at the water in the water tank, when checking the animal's water supply. If Clay hadn't put his hand in it, we could have needlessly lost some animals from dehydration. The heat index was 110 oF today -- and this was their only source of water. Thank goodness we found it and fixed it in time.

Patti

[Olga]

Was it Barb who posted the article that some cattle in TX are dying from drinking too much water? That would be my concern in a situation like that: no water for a period of time, than water abundance. Hope they are ok.

[legendrockranch]

Thank goodness Clay found the problem. He is also so very lucky he didn't get electrocuted. I'm sure you are rethinking having a water trough so close to hot wire fencing.
Thank you so much for posting, it's a learning experience for us all.

Yes Olga it was me who posted that article, might what to read it Patti

Barb

[hrfohio]

I've also had water tanks electrified by heaters in the winter. The heater gets just enough crack to put very low voltage into the water that the horses could feel, but a person wouldn't really notice in biting cold weather. I recognized what was happening because the horses suddenly quit drinking. Even after I unplugged the heater, they wouldn't use the trough again, so had to replace it. So, it definitely pays to pay attention to HOW MUCH water is being consumed, no matter what time of year.