Laying pipe on surface saves a lot of work, but we found in the hot weather we had this year that the cows were thirstier than normal and crowded round the tank...the pipes were softer than normal and with a few hooves on the pipe, water stopped flowing altogether, leading to more cattle round the tank and on it went. Had the mole drainer/pipe layer out since then to bury pipes safely away. Very thankful for concrete tanks, they'd have trashed metal or plastic ones
Our Journey
- Thread starter Samcowman
- Start date
- Location
- Owaka, New Zealand
I figure ours will be buried in 5 years or less at the rate we're going.
Ran our lines along the uphill side of the fences, to stop them wandering downhill and getting trodden on. We used 9 bar MDPE which has a very thin wall
- Location
- Hertfordshire
@martian
Do you have one trough per field and just fence to it/around it when shifting cows? I have to re think my water for next summer.
kiwitec thoughs couldn’t keep up this summer with a big group and as you say plastic get trashed so had to add protection to my big trough to get me through the summer
Attachments
- Location
- somerset
we only trench ours, when the field is going to be tilled, that way we don't get the 'dips' that are so annoying.
To be fair to pipe laid on the surface, it doesn't seem to take long, for it to 'bury' itself in, at ground level among the roots/stems.
Parents had some American farming friends, they told us they had just altered their pipes, dug them down 9ft, instead of 6ft, as they were freezing up, in really cold spells.
sometimes we don't really count ourselves lucky with our climate
We've been siting troughs in the middle of fields and running a hi-tensile permanent electric fence over the top of them, which makes it easier to rotate the mob round. Generally put a length of 20/25mm polypipe over the wire directly over the tank in case it sags or gets knocked so the poor beasts don't get a shock when they drink.
Fenwick
Member
- Location
- Bretagne France
How many cattle do you have in your group for a kiwitech trough? How far do they have to travel to water?
We currently have 65 cows in one group, but will have 90 or so within a couple of years.
One kiwitech trough has been sufficient so far, but i'm wondering what the solution will be as the group gets bigger. Two troughs? Bigger pipework?
CiderJan
Member
- Location
- Sunny Cornwall
Following this thread with interest Sam.
I've used 1 kiwitech trough with a group of 110 cows plus calves for the last week with no problems but can only get away with it because low dry matter autumn grass.
Would be absolute no go in summer like we had this year. Felt sorry for the concrete troughs at times.
I've used 1 kiwitech trough with a group of 110 cows plus calves for the last week with no problems but can only get away with it because low dry matter autumn grass.
Would be absolute no go in summer like we had this year. Felt sorry for the concrete troughs at times.
- Location
- somerset
and theirs us, scattering 500 gl water troughs all over the farm, 'no cow should walk more than 250 m to water', is my answer, And yet, when i started my ag journey, we hardly had any, looking back now, l can't see how they produced much milk at all, but they did.
- Location
- Devon
My cows only have to walk 150m at most to water. But its only a micro trough. But because its no distance, there's rarely a queue when they get there.
One of the jobs for next summer is to get the water sorted here for rotational. Small problem is the majority of the pipes come up directly into the trough so there’s no external pipe to cut into!!! I will probably be able to use the existing pipe work around the valves to join into.
TB test news. We had 2 inconclusives both in calf cows. Unfortunately because we really need to sell calves in January for cash flow providing we go clear then it’s means both cows will be going asap which is a real shame but it’s a risk we can’t afford to take.
TB test news. We had 2 inconclusives both in calf cows. Unfortunately because we really need to sell calves in January for cash flow providing we go clear then it’s means both cows will be going asap which is a real shame but it’s a risk we can’t afford to take.
- Location
- somerset
we try and keep distance down, but troughs are expensive, although we bought some cheap ones off e'bay last year. The 'regular' grazing fields are well 'troughed', it's the not so often fields, where there's not so many.
On a hot day, the cows can soon empty one.
- Location
- Hertfordshire
This summer it was 75 cows plus calves and bulls. The really hot days I would walk them back to the farm where I have a 2500l tank in the paddock behind the yard and also 0.25ha pond where they can cool off. But more by luck, my grazing plan had them grazing close by. Usually max distance to troughs is 150m but thats when paddocks get opened up to 1ha. On a smaller paddock, usually 0.5ha, it would be 50-100m.
Last year 95 cows plus calves and 3 bulls, Kiwitec troughs were fine.
We have 8 cows to calve in December 1 is our old matriarch Fatty which was Laura’s first wedding anniversary present as a calf which has saved her as she hasn’t been the best breeder, often has to have a rest!! The other 7 are 26 month old dairy bred Angus heifers we reared and when we got the tenancy decided to put them to the bull to get our cows numbers up a bit. They will all slip to the spring block next time which will be a nice tight 9 weeks once everything is settled probably starting some time in March. Undecided yet just depends on what we think is best on next spring and what the locals say because the aim will be to calve them outside or at the very least calve them in and get them out as soon as the calf is up and going.
turned this bunch into this grass today. Acre and a half which hasn’t been touched since 2021 due to the landlord putting a shed up. So by accident a safe to fail experiment @Kiwi Pete. I’m going to get them to take it right down and will be really interesting to see what it is like next year. I thought I had an across field pic but obviously didn’t take. I’ll grab one of it Sunday after getting back from the groundswell workshop tomorrow.
turned this bunch into this grass today. Acre and a half which hasn’t been touched since 2021 due to the landlord putting a shed up. So by accident a safe to fail experiment @Kiwi Pete. I’m going to get them to take it right down and will be really interesting to see what it is like next year. I thought I had an across field pic but obviously didn’t take. I’ll grab one of it Sunday after getting back from the groundswell workshop tomorrow.
- Location
- Owaka, New Zealand
Restrict the access to one cow at a time, ours are in the corners of the cells, for that reason.
Then the pipe only needs to keep up with one throat - not 100
- Location
- somerset
we are told so many inches of trough per cow, is a must. I just add troughs.
It's amusing to see how the next generation see things, we remove the 18 x 18in troughs, and replace, l would re-use that trough, where troughs are thinner on the ground, son won't, they are too small, waste of space!
Which concrete tanks do you use and are you getting on well with them ?
Tia
Last edited:
- Location
- somerset
we have/had a concrete tank in the yard, being concrete didn't save it from being trashed by a p/time helper, scraping up the yard.
Yesterday, he drove into a steel upright, on the feeders, felt the tractor 'stop', so reversed back, gave it some welly, and drove over it, result, 1 new tyre, at £400, when asked why he didn't stop, when he first felt it, 'dunno'. He had even cleared the rack out, just before he went to put the grub out.
lack of labour is the biggest problem we have, that lad cannot hold a job down, we had him last winter, a few hours a day, any longer, his concentration goes, since then, a spell on a concrete lorry, 4 failed 'test runs' on farm jobs, and a load of failed job interviews, for farm jobs.
We were glad to see him leave, but glad we can use him for casual labour, now, well we were. New decision, if he looks as if he doesn't want to be here, go home, and come back, when you feel like working.
#
What can you do, there isn't anyone else about.
Yesterday, he drove into a steel upright, on the feeders, felt the tractor 'stop', so reversed back, gave it some welly, and drove over it, result, 1 new tyre, at £400, when asked why he didn't stop, when he first felt it, 'dunno'. He had even cleared the rack out, just before he went to put the grub out.
lack of labour is the biggest problem we have, that lad cannot hold a job down, we had him last winter, a few hours a day, any longer, his concentration goes, since then, a spell on a concrete lorry, 4 failed 'test runs' on farm jobs, and a load of failed job interviews, for farm jobs.
We were glad to see him leave, but glad we can use him for casual labour, now, well we were. New decision, if he looks as if he doesn't want to be here, go home, and come back, when you feel like working.
#
What can you do, there isn't anyone else about.
- Location
- Owaka, New Zealand
This is the only pair of cells on our place with 2 troughs and they still only appear to have drunk out of one, the flying one at the end of the line, just out of shot to the left.
The one in the lower RH corner, I don't think it hardly got used.
- Location
- somerset
on a hot day, our lot can empty a 500gl one pretty quickly.
l would say, l am trough gunho, having never had enough troughs when younger, OM wouldn't buy any, l am a bit OTT with them now. And back then, half the farm, didn't have a water supply anyway.
Thinking on that, the farm was highly profitable, without all those 'things' we reckon now, we couldn't manage without. The logical, but unwelcome answer to that, is, if you didn't have them, you didn't have to pay for them, and labour was cheap.
Often it doesn't pay to look back, you start thinking of the huge amounts of money, we were talked into spending, by glib reps, in the pursuit of 'efficiency', and modernisation.
And once you have bought a 'must have' bit of kit, it needs replacing, after a few years, during which, you have convinced yourself, you can't do without.
And yet, here we are, trying to cut costs, by less machinery, less tillage work, block calving etc, just making it easier to manage, without expensive labour, you can't find!!!
And moving as far as we can, to be self-sufficient.
Ironic, the wheel always turns full circle
l would say, l am trough gunho, having never had enough troughs when younger, OM wouldn't buy any, l am a bit OTT with them now. And back then, half the farm, didn't have a water supply anyway.
Thinking on that, the farm was highly profitable, without all those 'things' we reckon now, we couldn't manage without. The logical, but unwelcome answer to that, is, if you didn't have them, you didn't have to pay for them, and labour was cheap.
Often it doesn't pay to look back, you start thinking of the huge amounts of money, we were talked into spending, by glib reps, in the pursuit of 'efficiency', and modernisation.
And once you have bought a 'must have' bit of kit, it needs replacing, after a few years, during which, you have convinced yourself, you can't do without.
And yet, here we are, trying to cut costs, by less machinery, less tillage work, block calving etc, just making it easier to manage, without expensive labour, you can't find!!!
And moving as far as we can, to be self-sufficient.
Ironic, the wheel always turns full circle
- Location
- Glen Clova, Angus, DD8 4RD
What a great pic of animal impact.
