New watering/feeding site

[Rydero]

I personally feed my herd strictly hay and some might remember I like to take bales out for up to a week and just open gates every couple days.

At work it's a little different, we do TMR with a wagon with primarily chopped silage. It's taken a couple of years but I'm having a (hopefully good) influence. This year we're. Putting 2/3 days worth of feed out behind gates for the main group of cows. The area we fed in up to this point wasn't ideal, one area was too small and was getting rough. Just finished setting up the new water site yesterday and moved cows in today.

The well is almost 75' from the well and it's cold so we made an overhead holder for the water line so the line can drain when not in use. Pill switch in the trough to trigger the pump. Running off a generator. Idea is to figure out the correct amount of gas to provide enough water but leave the trough empty towards the end of the day to avoid getting too much ice.

 

[wbvs58]

I find it very interesting how you cope with the cold. What would the water temp be coming from the well and how deep?

Ken

 

[Rydero]

I find it very interesting how you cope with the cold. What would the water temp be coming from the well and how deep?

Ken

Not sure the exact temp but I'd estimate it at maybe 3-4 degrees C, it's pretty cold to the touch still. That particular well has water at ground level which is why the plastic and insulation is wrapped around the well casing and first bit of line. There's a heat trace inside the water line down about 15 feet in the well that we'll plug in if there's any freezing issues.

 

[Silver]

In theory, I believe the water in that well at the level the pump is set should be about the same as water at a similar depth in Queensland.

Looks like a good setup Rydero, keep us posted on how it works going forward.

 

[Rydero]

In theory, I believe the water in that well at the level the pump is set should be about the same as water at a similar depth in Queensland.

Looks like a good setup Rydero, keep us posted on how it works going forward.

I'm a little concerned about the span and how gentle the angle of the line is when the really cold stuff hits but the boss thinks it'll be fine. We'll find out eventually who's right.

 

[Silver]

I'm a little concerned about the span and how gentle the angle of the line is when the really cold stuff hits but the boss thinks it'll be fine. We'll find out eventually who's right.

I would think it should be fine, but I might be inclined to heat trace and insulate, but the good news is I'll get to find out if it would be required and not have to suffer any consequences!

 

[wbvs58]

In theory, I believe the water in that well at the level the pump is set should be about the same as water at a similar depth in Queensland.

Looks like a good setup Rydero, keep us posted on how it works going forward.

You would need to get away from the surface a bit wouldn't you Silver? My bore only goes down a bit over 20m with the water starting at about 15m. It is more like a spring, certainly not a major aquifer but it is reliable even if slow yielding. Is this the sort of depth you are referring to Silver?

Ken

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

Aren't you worried about the ice already built up in the tank? There isn't a lot of thawed water to drink. Maybe I missed something in the explanation. I also have to deal with the cold and trying to provide water to my cows. Fortunately, I either have cattle close enough to electricity or have constant water flow from tile or creek.

 

[Silver]

You would need to get away from the surface a bit wouldn't you Silver? My bore only goes down a bit over 20m with the water starting at about 15m. It is more like a spring, certainly not a major aquifer but it is reliable even if slow yielding. Is this the sort of depth you are referring to Silver?

Ken

I have heard that somewhere around 6-10m of depth the temperature of the earth is relatively constant at about 12C.

 

[Rydero]

Aren't you worried about the ice already built up in the tank? There isn't a lot of thawed water to drink. Maybe I missed something in the explanation. I also have to deal with the cold and trying to provide water to my cows. Fortunately, I either have cattle close enough to electricity or have constant water flow from tile or creek.

The picture is a little deceptive. The ice in the pic only a few inches thick, water that was sitting on the bottom of the trough from testing the pump. It was floating and the switch was still able to function with it there. I doubt it will last very long, there's about 400 cows drinking from the trough so I suspect enough water will turn over to melt it pretty quickly.

 

[kenny thomas]

Looks like a good set up. Hard for me to think about ice when it was 67F here yesterday.

 

[Rydero]

You would need to get away from the surface a bit wouldn't you Silver? My bore only goes down a bit over 20m with the water starting at about 15m. It is more like a spring, certainly not a major aquifer but it is reliable even if slow yielding. Is this the sort of depth you are referring to Silver?

Ken

The well is drilled to about 30m pump at less than 10m The water is high but it isn't exceptionally so for that area. There's flowing Wells within a mile or two.

 

[Rydero]

Looks like a good set up. Hard for me to think about ice when it was 67F here yesterday.

I can only wish it was that nice here Kenny, probably till May.

 

[wbvs58]

I have heard that somewhere around 6-10m of depth the temperature of the earth is relatively constant at about 12C.

Does anyone live underground in Canada for warmth? We have people on some of the opal fields out west here that have made their homes underground in old workings to escape the heat, seems to be very effective.
Ken

The strange underground homes in the middle of the Australian desert

Here's what happens when mining for opals has the added benefit of expanding the bedroom.

www.cnet.com

 

[wbvs58]

The picture is a little deceptive. The ice in the pic only a few inches thick, water that was sitting on the bottom of the trough from testing the pump. It was floating and the switch was still able to function with it there. I doubt it will last very long, there's about 400 cows drinking from the trough so I suspect enough water will turn over to melt it pretty quickly.

That's a factor I hadn't considered, having enough animals on it so the water turns over before it freezes.

Ken

 

[Rancher]

Real nice setup for large herd. You get a lot of wind in winter down there? That cools the surface of the water tanks pretty fast even at only 0 degree f. Our water from 60ft well is 38 degrees so freezes quickly if below zero and windy

 

[Rydero]

Real nice setup for large herd. You get a lot of wind in winter down there? That cools the surface of the water tanks pretty fast even at only 0 degree f. Our water from 60ft well is 38 degrees so freezes quickly if below zero and windy

Yes it's wickedly windy, there in particular, only about a mile from Lake Manitoba and it's flat and open to the West. It'll freeze a bit but cows are pretty wise here they'll step on the ice if they need to. We don't plan to leave water in it overnight if we can avoid it. I believe they're going to mount a game cam that can send pictures by text so it can be monitored throughout the day.

 

[Rydero]

I would think it should be fine, but I might be inclined to heat trace and insulate, but the good news is I'll get to find out if it would be required and not have to suffer any consequences!

-25C and a wind this am and no freezing in the pipe yet.

 

[Silver]

-25C and a wind this am and no freezing in the pipe yet.

Nice! I suspect you should be just fine then.
I'm a little envious of your temperature there, but seeing as it comes with a wind I'll keep my current overnight temps in the -30's lol

 

[Stocker Steve]

Does anyone live underground in Canada for warmth? We have people on some of the opal fields out west here that have made their homes underground in old workings to escape the heat, seems to be very effective.
Ken

Bears and gamers.