How to Choose Nigerian Dwarf Goat Water Trough
Nigerian Dwarf Goats are short compact goats (one of the reasons I chose this breed). However, they live with my large 16 hand Appaloosa/Friesian Horse and large 120 pound plus Anatolian Shepherd Dogs. So, a couple of buckets of water just won’t cut it.
Buying new water troughs really wasn’t in our budget. My horse was coming from boarding at farm whose aging owner was selling due to health concerns. He had a 55-gallon barrel cut down as one of his troughs. My horse was one of the last two horses to leave so I asked to take it. That was my first trough!
My second trough came from another horse farm where I worked and boarded my horse. That owner ended up selling her farm and moving back to her previous home. I did lots of horsework and housework for her. Some of my payment came in the form of horse tack, boarding credit, riding lessons, and some miscellaneous farm stuff including two water troughs.
One of the troughs had a crack about halfway down. My husband was able to cut down the trough at the crack which just happened to be perfect height for my Nigerian Dwarf Goats. He sanded the top and we had our second trough completed.
When my horse and goats are in their mobile electric netting fence, I use one or two 5-gallon buckets for water. These are easy for me to move and provide enough water for a few hours of daily grazing.
What do you use as water troughs? Are they traditional troughs or something you made or repurposed? Leave a comment!