2000 - Volume #24, Issue #6, Page #27

[ Sample Stories From This Issue | List of All Stories In This Issue ]

    «Previous    Next»

Waterer, Feeder For Small Animals

Waterer, Feeder For Small Animals FARM HOME Miscellaneous 24-6-27 John Frank, Beaverton, Ore., designed a water fountain that can be taken apart and cleaned quickly. He started with a couple of 12-in. stainless steel bowls. In the bottom of one, he put in a floatless shut-off valve, plumbed to a 1/2-in. water line, which runs up through a 12-in. diameter pvc pipe in the ground. The bowl fits down in the pipe and animals can't dislodge it. The pvc pipe can be cut as long as necessary to have the waterer at the right height for the animals. Frank puts electric strip heaters and a thermostat control inside the pvc pipe to keep the water from freezing. In the top bowl, holes are punched in specific locations to allow debris to collect in the bowl, while allowing water to sieve through when the bowl is lifted out for cleaning. This bowl sits inside the permanent one. The valve keeps the bowls from overflowing, but allows water to flow in as fast as animals can drink. They're simple to clean. "If dirt or feed" get into the water bowl, all you have to do is take the top bowl out and dump it," Frank says. "These work fine for goats, sheep, llamas, and other small animals, but they don't hold enough water for horses or cattle," he says. Frank also devised a simple feeder. "It's a 6-in. pvc pipe, cut in half, with the ends closed up," he explains. "It hangs above the mangers on a sliding bracket. We can fill it from outside the pens and then slide it in so the animals in that area are all fed at once. This keeps them from fighting over feed," he explains. Contact: FARM SHOW Follow up, John Frank, 22750 SW Rosedale Road, Beaverton, Oregon 97007 (ph 503649-2128; Website: www.alpacatv.com.).