My, How Water Troughs Have Changed

I remember back in the 1950's having to do chores on our property, milking the cows (we had two), collecting the eggs from the chickens (we had a mess of them) and feeding the cow hay and making sure there was plenty of water in their water trough. In the winter time, I really disliked that wooden water trough, when it got really cold the water would freeze, making it hard for the animals to drink and the frozen water would push on the sides and eventually the ends of the trough would come off. After breaking up the ice, my brother and I would have to put the ends back on the trough by either nailing it again, or sometimes we would try some screws. The problem was that the treated wood had started to rot and it was difficult to repair. We tried to convince our dad to get a different water trough, but he would just tell us that if he did that, it would take away from our fun. Years later I realized that during that time frame, there wasn't any money to buy another water trough.

Being an affiliate marketer, I am always looking for new products to market and during my searches water troughs kept coming up so I thought why not. Well my wife just laughed and asked if this was how I was going to make money? My daughter and granddaughter's just shook their heads at this idea. With this ring endorsement and since I always have liked a challenge, I started with my research on water troughs. Once I started, I was really surprised how much water troughs had changed. All the different innovations and ideas that had gone into a large container that holds water for animals to drink out of really amazed me.

During my searching, I found a model that was just like the one my dad had (kind of). Instead of being made out of wood, this model was galvanized metal and it also had a connection for an incoming water pipe. There was an overflow system that keep the water moving, which we had, except ours was located at the bottom of the trough where there the wood and nails were rotting out. I then found some really elaborate models. There was one that I saw that was setup in one of the more fancier barns that I have seen and it would measure out a serving of water as the livestock would come to get a drink of water. There was another that was partially buried with water pipes running underground and the animal pushed this paddle and they got fresh water straight from the pipes.

The majority of water troughs I found were very practical, they were made from polyethylene, aluminum or galvanized metal and were designed to be transported from one grazing area to another. For the people who have just a few head of livestock there still the old fashion style that is designed to be setup in one place and left there.

It does not seem to matter if the water trough is square, rectangle, round or what other shape that is available, they are all durable and build to stand up to the punishment it will receive when a bunch of cows or horses or whatever start kicking and pushing to get at the water. Which is one thing that has not changed in the last fifty years.