[SilverSage]

We just recently got a windmill up on the well down in the pasture. This is what the results were when we tested the water.

total dissolved solids mg/l 10104

sulfate mg/l 2590

nitrate nitrogen mg/l <1

hardness mg/l 2312

sodium mg/l 435

I was hoping that this could be the summer water supply for all the boys. Is it hard enough that I shouldn't do that? It will have to be the water supply when we are gone, but if I need to, I can limit it to just those times.


Kathryne

 

[sweetgoatmama]

You could put a water softener on it for full-time use but I'd not use it all the time at that level.

 

[Rex]

I had a very upset guy call me a few years ago who said anyone promoting Goat Packing should be charged with some type of crime!. After he calmed down he told me he had lost every wether he had to UC and had spent a boat load of money treating them to no avail. He had followed all the recommendations on feed and supplements but his goats still developed stones and blocked. Both him and his Vet were at a loss to explain it. I don't blame him for feeling the way he did!

In speaking with him I discovered that they had all developed "calcium" type stones. I asked if he had a lot of white water deposits around his sink and tub and he said he did. Turns out he had a high calcium content in his water which I believe caused all of his problems.

We have an iron problem with our water where we live now, but other than orange TEETH it hasn't effected the goats much.

 

[kentd71]

What would be the upper limit of minerals in water so they do not cause calcium stones? Or be a big factor?

 

[sweetgoatmama]

The total amount of minerals have to be added together from both the water and the diet to make any educated guesses as to what level is actually getting into the goat. Also goats who are working harder seem to be at less risk than others, so may be able to tolerate more.

 

[jross]

We just moved from a place where our well water was high in calcium. Both because of that, and because I was too lazy to install a buried water line to the barn, I decided to try to use snow melt and rain as my primary water source for my goats and chickens. I put a gutter along the edge of the roof and ran it into a plastic barrel inside an insulated closet on the south side of the barn. The door of the closet was a glass door I scrounged from the dump. The barrel overflowed into a 40 gal water heater tank. Out the bottom of the tank was a hose going to a float valve attached to the goats' water pan. Occasionally things froze up in the winter and I had to haul some hot water to the critters. But for the most part I never had to haul water or drag a hose out. And the goat boys grew up drinking nice snow melt and rain water, ie no calcium or any other minerals. Where we live now the water is nice and soft so I don't worry about it anymore. Plus the goats get lots of hiking.