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While you wait, here are some benefits your livestock will gain by using Drinking Post!
If you wouldn’t drink your horses water, why should they?
Non Electric Automatic Waterer Health Benefits
Nothing has greater influence on the overall well being of horse, cattle, or livestock than water intake.
Because of this, maximizing water intake year round should be a primary goal in the management of all livestock and animals.
One of the most crucial elements to maximizing water intake of animals is to ensure they have uninhibited access to clean fresh water.
Drinking Post provides a number of benefits distinct to frost free automatic waterers.
No Standing Water
Most anyone who has been around troughs long enough has a story of a rodent or bird falling into the water source and dying, or an even more common source of contamination is bird feces. This causes obvious health hazards to all surrounding livestock.
Stagnant ponds, buckets, and water tanks contaminated with algae or over or under heated water can also discourage healthy water intake. Some algae, specifically blue-green, can be toxic to horses. Most use the rule of thumb that if a natural water source is not fed with flowing water, it’s not suitable for horses to drink.
In addition, some ‘fresh’ water sources can contribute to:
- Moonblindness
- Leptospirosis
- Increased possibility of mosquito-borne illnesses (such as West Nile Virus)
With The Drinking Post automatic waterer this is never an issue due to the water source being located three feet off the ground and the fact the there is never any standing water when the waterer is not in use.
No Electricity
If you are utilizing a bucket, trough, or any type of reservoir with a heater to keep it free of ice in the winter months; heaters are vulnerable to horse play to some degree.
Drinking Post Waterer offers an alternative to this potential safety hazard.
Electric waterers are a constant expense to try and keep animal’s water at the recommended drinking temperature. Water may even become too hot due to a malfunctioning or improperly adjusted water heating device. No electricity means:
- No expensive electric bill
- Should you experience a power outage in the winter, your animals will still have uninhibited access to fresh, clean, warm water.
- No risk of electric shock: A leading industry manufacturer of cattle-trough immersion heaters has issued a recall of products sold as recently as 2009 due to a shock risk.
- No risk of fire: Fire risk can stem from electric waterers or heating elements with faulty wiring, defective electric equipment, or misuse/abuse by your animals.
Your livestock gets fresh, clean water delivered fresh from the supply line at ~50oF year round.
Barn fires stemming from the use of electricity in automatic waterers and float or submersible heaters are often tragic and unfortunately a reality of life.
As you can see in the following excerpts, many respectable sources advise avoiding the use of electricity when possible and/or practical.
Horse Illustrated
“With a floating trough heater “young” or “mouthy” horses will play with them like bath toys, chewing on them or ultimately flipping them our of the trough and onto the ground. Also, because heat rises, this type of heater does not work well on deeper troughs in extremely cold climates. Ice will still form at the lower depths, keeping the overall temperature colder than ideal.
A short in the system could cause the unit to quit working. Worse, it could electrify the water, creating a shocking effect when your horse tries to take a drink….And of course, make sure electrical cords are well out of reach. If a horse chews through an electrical cord, it may be the last thing he ever chews on!” (November 2000 issue of Horse Illustrated)
Fire Safety In Barns
“Electric water heating coils can pose a problem if they are not attended because once the water has boiled out the coil will continue to heat the bucket, allowing heat to transfer to adjacent materials. In November of 2000, twenty Standardbreds lost their lives in a fire whose cause was believed to be a portable submersible electric water heater… Before you add heat—for whatever reason—please carefully consider if it’s really necessary.”
West Nile Virus & Your Water
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. As most everyone is aware, one of the easiest and most effective ways to prevent mosquito-borne viruses such as West Nile Virus as well as Eastern and Western Equine Encephalitis is prevention of mosquitoes themselves.
One of the most effective methods to deter mosquitoes is to eliminate their breeding grounds, which means eliminating standing water wherever possible.
Using traditional watering methods or traditional animal waterers makes this difficult if not impossible. This is where The Drinking Post can help by eliminating 100% of the standing water associated with watering, because there is never any standing water in the bowl when it’s not in use.
There is no cure for West Nile Virus. Horses that become ill are treated only by supportive measures (control of fever, IV’s, etc.) It may take several months for some equine to recover and even after recovery some will have persistent neurological deficits.
WNV Symptoms
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Muscle twitching
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Incoordination
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Muscle weakness
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Fever
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Sleepiness
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Inability to eat and/or drink
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Recumbency
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Seizures
Consider these facts:
WNV does not have any type of geographical preference. It has been spread across the United States and Canada by migrating birds Today anywhere mosquitoes are present, WNV is a real threat. It is widespread consensus that prevention remains the best practice to follow.
Drinking Post will provide peace of mind by eliminating the most prevalent breeding source of mosquitoes – standing water.
West Nile Virus equine mortality rates continue to be about 30%.
Winter Benefits
Providing livestock quality water during the winter can be challenging in most climates. As in any other season, animals need adequate water intake to maintain health.
Summer Benefits
Water intake can double during the summer months. When a horse is working hard and sweating it can lose 5-10% of its body weight that needs to be replenished.
Easy Installation
No electricity, no cement pad, no problem! Install the Drinking Post anywhere your livestock needs access to fresh water and you have a pressurized water line.
Choose Your Size
Identifying the right size waterer for your specific application is a simple, and we can help. Just tell us your needs and your location.