# using rainbarrel for stock watering??



## kuwaha (Aug 22, 2009)

Does anyone use rainbarrels or similar for watering your goats? How do you keep it clean enough? my goats are fussy about clean water! Right now we get water in 5 gallon buckets from the well which is quite a ways away from the paddock. It would be easier to catch the water off the roof of the barn and use that... any thoughts??


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## Horsehair Braider (Mar 11, 2011)

I catch rainwater off the roof and use it for stock watering. As far as cleanliness, I just scrub them out whenever they get really low, generally about once a week sometimes more often, and then fill them with clean water from the hose. We have a well too. We also live in a desert during a drought. As they say, beggars can't be choosers, so we use whatever water we can find, and are thankful for every single drop.


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## NubianSoaps.com (Oct 26, 2007)

I would be worried if I had trees over my roofs, or lived further south closer to Houston and my roofs are filled with chemical pollution, course then the water is filled with mercury anyway  But clean water, as in scrubbing out containers everyday is a very human condition. The algae that builds around the sides of containers if undisturbed would clean anything in the water that could bother anything. Living on a well, automatic waterers, no way am I dumping out 25 gallons of water weekly in each pen (150 gallons of water) to keep my waters cleaned to someones ideal of clean. Now poop in the waterers, first your watering container is to low, then of course clean it out. Vicki


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## fmg (Jul 4, 2011)

Some of my animals are watered with irrigation water in the summer time. In the winter, those animals have to be toted water from the house...no way am I doing that year 'round! I worry about what kind of nasty stuff is in the irrigation water, but my critters haven't had a problem so far...

Sorry, this is kind of off topic. I have not thought of a way to catch rainwater from the roof...but not a bad idea if you can do it, especially if you have a metal roof or something.


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## Horsehair Braider (Mar 11, 2011)

Totally agree about the algae. It's actually a good sign.

No way would I dump 25 gallons out of a tank. For one thing, it's pretty darn heavy, about 200 lbs, and although I'm unusually strong for my size, I certainly can't lift 200 lbs, not to mention the waste of water. I dump mine out when they are really low, more like 3 gallons or less. 

I also agree, just because you can not perform surgery in your water tank it does not make it "dirty". If it has goat poop in it... that's different. But algae, maybe a little goat hair, some dust... it's going to be OK for them to drink.


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## tlcnubians (Jan 21, 2011)

We use gutters on our barn roof going to downspouts to fill our big stock tank/pond. On the house, we use the gutters and downspouts to fill a rainwater barrel that's used to water the garden.


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## feistymomma (May 20, 2009)

All of my water is rain water. If it doesn't rain, we hurt for water. So, if it is good enough for me to drink, it is good enough for the goats. I keep gutters as clean as possible and pressure wash to rooves when needed to keep the water clean, but we haven't died yet!


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## Annie (Jun 10, 2012)

Our Amish friends suggested we start "catching" rain water (we had never thought about it). They brought some recycled rain spout and a 250 white plastic tank and hooked it up on the front side of our barn. Having a new metal roof is great, 1/2" of rain and the tank is full. I used to haul 5 gallon jugs from a spring way down over the hill, thank goodness I don't have to do that anymore.

We use the rain water for the 2 horses, the chickens, and the dozen or so goats. The horses & goats do have access to the spring when they are in the pasture (horses at night, goats during the day). 

Once or twice a year I empty the tank and attempt to clean it as best I can. It's never been a problem at all. Hoping to get a pressure washer this year.

I also have a 150 gallon Rubbermaid black tub inside the basement of the barn - where I house my goats. When I know it's going to rain, I have a big funnel duct-taped to a hose that runs into the tank - that I tie up to the rainspout. I have to keep an eye on this so it doesn't overflow  It's a huge help to have water in the barn. On that tank I have a large piece of plywood on top - to keep dirt and critters out. It's out of the sun so it never gets green/algae. In the winter if this water starts to freeze I remove the plywood and can rig up a heat lamp over it, as the outside tank will freeze solid.


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## NubianSoaps.com (Oct 26, 2007)

Cool, Annie!


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## Hollybrook (Jul 17, 2009)

You cant do it if the roof has shingles the petrolium leaches into the water, metal roof would be ok.


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## kuwaha (Aug 22, 2009)

Oh man 7 posts getting me all excited about this idea and then POOF! Dave shatters it all with the shingles issue  Are you sure Dave? And how bad is petrolium for you anyway  (of course I have smelt Cydectin and that stuff smells just like petrolium - maybe the petrolium would be a good wormer?  ) 
Well, I'll keep thinking - thanks for all the info!!


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## feistymomma (May 20, 2009)

Can the petroleum really get into the water the 3 seconds it is on the roof? I have a shingled roof and that water runs into our cistern. I have had the water tested and nothing like that has been found in the water.


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## NubianSoaps.com (Oct 26, 2007)

Although we have metal roofs, for this reason and others, husband agrees that the small amount of time it is on the roof....there are more chemicals in the air washing into your water than found on a roof with shingles.


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## Hollybrook (Jul 17, 2009)

Sorry Charlie but I am sure of it, you cant be a Certified Organic if you do, it's not only the petroleum in the asphalt but there is zinc and other chemicals in shingles. Its not just 3 seconds when it rains, your roof stays wet for a period of time afterwards, then the subsequent morning dew's, next rain all that stuff gets washed off, if it's not good for your plants, I wouldn't do it with my milking does.


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## Hollybrook (Jul 17, 2009)

Vickie, now you know how I feel about Cotton Seed meal how much insectcide is in the actual seed itself and how much of that gets passed into the milk? Very minute traces Im sure but still use soy based feed's, I dont/wont sell it but we have drank milk from de-wormed does 4-5 days b4 we were supposed too, it didnt kill us, heck we might have benifited from the de-worming. lol


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## swgoats (May 21, 2010)

Lol, we don't discard milk at all for worming here. Don't sell milk, but I don't worry about it anymore. It's not like a full dose of ivermectin or cydectin is likely to hurt any of us. If I give it at kidding, I'm not likely to use the milk for a few days anyway.


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## NubianSoaps.com (Oct 26, 2007)

There certainly is more zinc leaching into water troughs made out of galvanized metal, than off a roof  And most roofs are galvalum, our house roof is stainless for obvious reasons but both the barn roof and my husband shop are either galvalum or aluminum. So what metals are leaching from metal roofs....the same metals and more that is coming off shingles? Considering few to any organic rules are written by anyone who has pulled a teat or planted a seed.....lets at least agree it's marketing?


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## Hollybrook (Jul 17, 2009)

Metal roofing is ok no problem, its the asphalt shingles that are supposed to be a no no , they had rain barrel demo's at Callaway Gardens cpl yrs ago making me the leading expert in the subject matter haha!


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## NubianSoaps.com (Oct 26, 2007)




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## feistymomma (May 20, 2009)

We haven't died yet.


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## Laverne (Apr 4, 2010)

Hate to rain a little more on the parade, but I got some topsoil mix, a yard of it, for gardens and it had some asphalt roof bits mixed in it. I called DEQ, the Department for Environmental Quality and they said it had heavy metals and it was not good for the garden. The company I got it from had to hire someone to come out and shovel it all up and give me a refund. Funny, a couple days later I saw the neighbor unloading some dirt. I asked if he got it from so and so company, he said yes. I asked if he can see any roofing in it. He said yes. He got a refund also.

Part of my house roof we coated with a white roof coating and it dried really hard so am wondering if that would be non toxic. It really covers the asphalt roofing well.


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