Interesting question...pond water

[TennesseeTuxedo]

I have seen cows drink from putrid water puddles in a feed lot when all they had to do was walk 100 feet to a clean water trough. Bout made me sick to be honest.

I'd say they will drink just about any water they find but in the long run I doubt it's the healthiest thing in the world so I'd suggest you haul in fresh water and fence off the swamp.

 

[tnwalkingred]

I had a similar question. I'm going to fence off a new pasture in the next few weeks and it has a pretty good pond on it. It never goes dry and looks/smells pretty good to me. Before I turn cattle into the pasture is there anything I should put in the pond to clean it up any further or should I not worry about it? I also was curious if I should have the water tested and if so where I would do this at?

 

[denvermartinfarms]

I had a similar question. I'm going to fence off a new pasture in the next few weeks and it has a pretty good pond on it. It never goes dry and looks/smells pretty good to me. Before I turn cattle into the pasture is there anything I should put in the pond to clean it up any further or should I not worry about it? I also was curious if I should have the water tested and if so where I would do this at?

If it looks and smells ok it should be fine.

 

[slick4591]

I don't have the name of it, but I put a blue dye in mine to keep the algae growth at bay.

 

[dun]

I had a similar question. I'm going to fence off a new pasture in the next few weeks and it has a pretty good pond on it. It never goes dry and looks/smells pretty good to me. Before I turn cattle into the pasture is there anything I should put in the pond to clean it up any further or should I not worry about it? I also was curious if I should have the water tested and if so where I would do this at?

The first thing I would do is fence it off and set up a water facility that is supplied by the pond. I'll gaurantee you that although it smells fine now, after a year of cows watering and their other bodily functions in it that the smell won;t be nearly as good.

 

[Chris H]

Dun is right.
My husband put a waterline out to the middle of the pond. The end has a strainer over it and is suspended from a plastic barrel to about 4 feet below the water surface. Any higher and it tends to get clogged with floating pond weeds. We use a water pump to fill a 1000 gallon tank on a wagon running gear. Then we haul the water wagon to wherever we have the cows and use a float valve on a hose to fill water tanks.
Our other pond has a dry hydrant, http://us.yhs4.search.yahoo.com/yhs...t=w3i&hsimp=yhs-syctransfer&pqstr=dry hydrant

We run an electric wire around our ponds to keep the cows off the edge into the water. We also rotationally graze so the cows are only around the pond for 1 day out of 30.

 

[inyati13]

Here is what I think of ponds. I backfilled the one on my farm as the very first thing I did and put in a watering system on public water. As dun said, you cannot stop them from using the drinking water as a septic system. It is like a rather crude statement I once heard, "God did not do everything perfect, otherwise, when he made women, why did he put a play area so close to the sewer works."

 

[inyati13]

OK here goes...I have a small pond adjacent to one of my pastures...this pond had trees grow up around it for the past 30 years or so...therefore it has lots of leaves and decomposing material in it. I have removed all the trees from around the pond to allow the sun to get in there...but it still smells like swamp water. I realize I have to have it cleaned out...but money is tight at this time...so the question...will my cows drink this water or do you think I will have to haul water for them? Are cows overly picky in their water selection? Just curious...as I know I have to get it cleaned out...

Thanks a million,

Tim

Tim, those leaves are organic as is cattle excretions. The leaves and other organic matter settle and the only bacteria that can metabolize them are anaerobic because there is minimal oxygen down there. That is what forms that foul smelling blue to black mud. These are not pathogenic bacteria but some can release toxins that can harm cattle. Pond water is not a healthy way to water your cattle. I know most people here still use them but even the state has promoted use of public water for livestock. They paid 50 % of the cost of me to convert from a pond to public water. Plenty of good clean water will put more weight on your cattle than just about anything.

 

[dun]

Thanks all...I pretty much knew the answer. Everybody around me uses ponds to water their animals. The only wells that have been drilled are about 20 miles south of me..and the reason is a new ordinance requiring cattle owners to keep animal excrement out of the natural waterways. But up my way everybody uses ponds. Seems like a pretty big expense to drill a well for my small outfit...but I definitely see the benefits. Maybe something to consider as I improve my operation throughout the years. Thanks for all the info!!

Tim

We put a pipe through the dam of our back pond and hooked a valve to it for the water tank

 

[cow pollinater]

Most of my cows are on ponds ONLY this year as we're dry this year and the springs have dried up. They do just fine on it. You do want to vaccinate for anything(lepto here) that local wildlife is carrying and use good injectable wormer but other than that they do fine. Even in years where the springs ran year round my cows have used the ponds heavily...
On the dairy side of things, I've watched tons of cows drink the flush water over the years when clean water is within a few steps and I really can't see that it has harmed any of them.

 

[tripleBfarms]

Thanks all...I pretty much knew the answer. Everybody around me uses ponds to water their animals. The only wells that have been drilled are about 20 miles south of me..and the reason is a new ordinance requiring cattle owners to keep animal excrement out of the natural waterways. But up my way everybody uses ponds. Seems like a pretty big expense to drill a well for my small outfit...but I definitely see the benefits. Maybe something to consider as I improve my operation throughout the years. Thanks for all the info!!

Tim

We put a pipe through the dam of our back pond and hooked a valve to it for the water tank

Did you drill through it? I'm trying to find a way to get a pipe in an existing pond without digging down through the dam.

 

[dun]

Did you drill through it? I'm trying to find a way to get a pipe in an existing pond without digging down through the dam.

One pond we dug out the dam, another we layed the pipe as it was being built. There is a guy ar5ound here that claims he can push apipe through the dam. Without a seep collar I would be leery of pushing it through

 

[js1234]

I don't have the name of it, but I put a blue dye in mine to keep the algae growth at bay.

I would guess it's Cutrine or a variation thereof.

 

[dun]

I don't have the name of it, but I put a blue dye in mine to keep the algae growth at bay.

I would guess it's Cutrine or a variation thereof.

Morethan likely something like this stuff:
http://www.killlakeweeds.com/index.cfm? ... duct_ID=41

 

[greybeard]

OK here goes...I have a small pond adjacent to one of my pastures...this pond had trees grow up around it for the past 30 years or so...therefore it has lots of leaves and decomposing material in it. I have removed all the trees from around the pond to allow the sun to get in there...but it still smells like swamp water. I realize I have to have it cleaned out...but money is tight at this time...so the question...will my cows drink this water or do you think I will have to haul water for them? Are cows overly picky in their water selection? Just curious...as I know I have to get it cleaned out...

Thanks a million,

Tim

Will probably get worse now that the sunlight can get to it. Lots of algae will grow in water that is exposed to sunlight that never used to grow in your shaded water.
Some of that pond additive stuff is just dye and very temporary. Other's somehow disperse small algae.
I haven't been over there in a few years, but there used to be a forum just for ponds.
Google Pond Boss.

 

[inyati13]

Most of my cows are on ponds ONLY this year as we're dry this year and the springs have dried up. They do just fine on it. You do want to vaccinate for anything(lepto here) that local wildlife is carrying and use good injectable wormer but other than that they do fine. Even in years where the springs ran year round my cows have used the ponds heavily...
On the dairy side of things, I've watched tons of cows drink the flush water over the years when clean water is within a few steps and I really can't see that it has harmed any of them.

CP, I see my cows drink from contaminated sources even when they have clean public water. There is also a creek on the back 40 that my cows use. In ponds that have certain types of algae that release toxins, the water can kill a cow. It happens here in KY, maybe not a problem in CA. In regard to parasites, the life cycles of many parasites are connected to intermediate hosts organisms which live in water and of course the cows have direct contact when they drink their feces in water. Thus, it is even more important to use a good injectable parasiticide as you said. The prior owner of my farm lost several cows due to an algal bloom during a drought year. He had to fence the pond and put out watering troughs. That is why I got rid of it but also because it was a nasty eye sore and took about 4 acres of land out of use. I cut hay on that old pond site this week and it was excellent orchard grass.

 

[skyhightree1]

Thanks all...I pretty much knew the answer. Everybody around me uses ponds to water their animals. The only wells that have been drilled are about 20 miles south of me..and the reason is a new ordinance requiring cattle owners to keep animal excrement out of the natural waterways. But up my way everybody uses ponds. Seems like a pretty big expense to drill a well for my small outfit...but I definitely see the benefits. Maybe something to consider as I improve my operation throughout the years. Thanks for all the info!!

Tim

I had to put 2 bored wells in and auto waterers and I am happy with the outcome. I was not happy with the bill.

 

[3MR]

Just one question. If I fill in all my ponds were am I going to fish and swim? ;-)

Seriously though. I use ponds to water my cattle. I dont know if Oklahoma cows are smarter than those in other parts but this last summer when it was dry I did see them walk past a mud pit with a little water in it going to a tank filled with fresh water with a float valve close to a tenth of a mile further away. Otherwise though, just like everybody else. They will drink from one end while they are shooting it out from the other.

If I can ever get around to it I am going to fence the ponds off so the cows cant get to them at all. I enjoy them to much to fill them in though.

 

[dun]

Just one question. If I fill in all my ponds were am I going to fish and swim? ;-)

Seriously though. I use ponds to water my cattle. I dont know if Oklahoma cows are smarter than those in other parts but this last summer when it was dry I did see them walk past a mud pit with a little water in it going to a tank filled with fresh water with a float valve close to a tenth of a mile further away. Otherwise though, just like everybody else. They will drink from one end while they are shooting it out from the other.

If I can ever get around to it I am going to fence the ponds off so the cows cant get to them at all. I enjoy them to much to fill them in though.

My wife won;t swim on our ponds, something about the muddy looking water that she doesn;t care for, or maybe it's the squishy mud between her toes. But we do fish them a lot, not sure how good those cats would taste caught out of a septic tank.

 

[jedstivers]

Did you drill through it? I'm trying to find a way to get a pipe in an existing pond without digging down through the dam.

One pond we dug out the dam, another we layed the pipe as it was being built. There is a guy ar5ound here that claims he can push apipe through the dam. Without a seep collar I would be leery of pushing it through

You can also put the pipe over the top of the dam, just dig deep enough to keep it from freezing. Just have to displace the air with water and it will run.