How to keep animal water clean longer

How to keep animal water clean longer
 
This post may contain affiliate links, which means that I may receive a commission if you make a purchase using these links, with NO additional cost to you. 
 
The most important nutrient to any animal is water. Having clean water is important to health too. Dirty water encourages bacterial growth, parasites, and bug larva growth. Animals also tend to not drink the dirty water as well. There are several ways to help keep your animal’s water clean. 
 
For big stock tanks goldfish work well to keep bug larva, especially mosquitoes and algae build up down. You will still have to clean the algae out, but you can typically go longer between cleanings. 
 
Have waters only big enough for the animals to empty in 1 day. Most bacteria, algae, and such grows in stale water that has been sitting. I have several different size waters for different age groups and seasons. The adult flock will go through 5 gallons on a hot day, but only maybe 3 when its cooler. The young birds will go through about 3-4 gallons and the new Guinea chicks about 2 gallons. The horses I decreased their stock tank size so the water would be refreshed more frequently. So far, I haven’t had the algae build up on that tank that I usually have. 
 
About once a week, in the summer, I go though and clean all the waters out. Take a scrub brush and make sure the sides come clean. Spray the tanks out good with the hose and refill them. In the fall I make sure the tanks are really clean on the last forecast warm day. Over winter not much grows, but I will clean them if I get a warm day over the 2-3 months of freezing weather. 
 
Once algae starts building up, it’s really difficult to keep the tanks clean again. There are some things you can do to help though. For plastic tanks you can use vinegar on the inside of the waterer, let it sit then scrub and rinse. Do NOT use vinegar on metal a waterer though, you will start it rusting. For my tanks I like to use my plant based all-purpose Thieves cleaner. I will usually just use the concentrate for waters, splashed on the edges and let it run down. Then scrub it in and rinse well. 
 
Clean water is important even for your animals, but easy maintains is also important to busy lives. 
 

 
As I've grown in  my journey as an entrepreneur, mom, gardener, and livestock owner, I struggled to find a planner that met my needs and kept me organized. So I MADE MY OWN. You can take a look at it on the link blow and buy it on amazon below
Don't want the whole calendar part? I got you! I pulled the gardening and animal care pages out and put them in a book all their own. 

Wanting a community to lean into? Join the FREE Helping Your Family Homestead for Food group! This community is for the Mommas, looking to stay home and raise their kids, but unsure how to keep everyone fed and make ends meet. I share tips from my journey from the office, to half the income and feeding my family from home, while maintaining good nourishing food. Tips include: gardening, bulk buying, caning,/preserving, livestock, homesteading, and home remedies. Your family is precious and this group is to help you gain the knowledge and tools to keep your family well and not reliant on outside professionals. Remedies and tips are easy and simple for the busy momma, time is precious after all, including pregnancy, birth, young kids, and illness. Trust your Momma gut again! This community offers the resources + community you need to help get started on your journey and prepare for whatever future you envision. 
 
Starting to garden doesn't have to be hard! I gathered all the tips I've learned over my gardening learning curve and made them into a simple course to jump start your gardening your life. 

Supporting Your Family Naturally From the Inside Out community!! This community is for the Mommas, looking  to Support Your Family from Nature for Wellness. Tips range from nutrition, herbals, detoxing, natural cleaning, and essential oils. Basically all the things I’ve learned slowly over the past 5+ years if my journey. We have moved off Facebook, so to better serve our community and be able to discuss openly option for providing for your family in the best way possible.
Join the FREE Community

I've had 3 very different pregnancies. After the first traumatic birth, I learned better and how to care for my body naturally and prevent common pregnancy and birth problems before they arise. This quick course will get you the tools you need to have a naturally healthy pregnancy, labor, and delivery. My first pregnancy I had a normal western medicine all the things pregnancy. My second? I flipped to completely natural, no medicine. Bonus: Preventing Preeclampsia Without the Aspirin & Healing from Birth Trauma

Click here to get the stories straight to your email:
 
For more on wellness tips click here:
 
For more on homesteading on your budget click here:
 
For more simple DIY updates click here:



What is the best Watering system?

What is the best Watering system?

This post may contain affiliate links, which means that I may receive a commission if you make a purchase using these links, with NO additional cost to you. 

 

Pretty much every garden will need water at some point. Depending on where you live, how much and how often you will need to water it. As with planting a garden, there are also different watering systems. Each with its own pros and cons. Below I’ll outline the overall common systems. You will have to determine what is best for your garden. At the end you will find what I use. 

 

By far the most common system is the simple sprinkler. Attach a hose and broadcast the water by a sprinkler over an entire area. The advantage of this system is it is simple and cheap to install. Buy the hose and a sprinkler and you can move it wherever you need. The disadvantage is that if you have very dry air, or must pay for your water, this system can use a lot of extra water. You can also have issues with to much moisture and possible mold on plant leaves if you water at the wrong time. 

 

Another popular option is the soaker hose. The advantage of this is the hose is usually inexpensive and keeps the water low to the ground. This means you loose less to evaporation right away. You also keep the water off the leaves eliminating the mold issue. The downside is if you have a large area to cover, it requires a lot of hose. 

 

An increasingly popular system is the drip line. Within this there are several different types, I am only going to discuss the overall. The advantage of the drip line is you can get the water exactly where you need it without wasting any (also not watering unwanted grass or weeds). The disadvantage of this is it can be costly to set up. It also does not move easily to another area. 

 

As you might have guessed, I use a combination! In the main garden area, I use the big sprinkler to cover the large area. To get around the mold issue, I stop watering by noon, so the leaves have time to dry before dusk. In my flower beds away from the main garden, I use soaker hoses. These I leave out year-round and chance the mice eating them.  In the new orchard area, we installed a drip line due to the large spread-out area. At the same time, I didn’t want the existing weeds and grass a chance to get extra water and grow. This drip line we have to drain before winter, so it doesn’t crack. 

 

 

As I've grown in  my journey as an entrepreneur, mom, gardener, and livestock owner, I struggled to find a planner that met my needs and kept me organized. So I MADE MY OWN. You can take a look at it on the link blow and buy it on amazon below
Don't want the whole calendar part? I got you! I pulled the gardening and animal care pages out and put them in a book all their own. 

Wanting a community to lean into? Join the FREE Helping Your Family Homestead for Food group! This community is for the Mommas, looking to stay home and raise their kids, but unsure how to keep everyone fed and make ends meet. I share tips from my journey from the office, to half the income and feeding my family from home, while maintaining good nourishing food. Tips include: gardening, bulk buying, caning,/preserving, livestock, homesteading, and home remedies. Your family is precious and this group is to help you gain the knowledge and tools to keep your family well and not reliant on outside professionals. Remedies and tips are easy and simple for the busy momma, time is precious after all, including pregnancy, birth, young kids, and illness. Trust your Momma gut again! This community offers the resources + community you need to help get started on your journey and prepare for whatever future you envision. 
 
Starting to garden doesn't have to be hard! I gathered all the tips I've learned over my gardening learning curve and made them into a simple course to jump start your gardening your life. 

Supporting Your Family Naturally From the Inside Out community!! This community is for the Mommas, looking  to Support Your Family from Nature for Wellness. Tips range from nutrition, herbals, detoxing, natural cleaning, and essential oils. Basically all the things I’ve learned slowly over the past 5+ years if my journey. We have moved off Facebook, so to better serve our community and be able to discuss openly option for providing for your family in the best way possible.
Join the FREE Community

I've had 3 very different pregnancies. After the first traumatic birth, I learned better and how to care for my body naturally and prevent common pregnancy and birth problems before they arise. This quick course will get you the tools you need to have a naturally healthy pregnancy, labor, and delivery. My first pregnancy I had a normal western medicine all the things pregnancy. My second? I flipped to completely natural, no medicine. Bonus: Preventing Preeclampsia Without the Aspirin & Healing from Birth Trauma

Click here to get the stories straight to your email:
 
For more on wellness tips click here:
 
For more on homesteading on your budget click here:
 
For more simple DIY updates click here:


What is the Most Important Nutrient??!!

What is the Most Important Nutrient??!!

This post may contain affiliate links, which means that I may receive a commission if you make a purchase using these links, with NO additional cost to you.


Going through college I loved my nutrition classes. I was an animal science major and went on to get my masters degree in cattle nutrition, I loved the nutrition focus so much. Those classes were the first time I was exposed to the importance of good nutrition. The saying I heard over and over was “prevention is the best medicine.” My veterinarian friends favorite saying was they “fixed what the nutritionist screwed up.”


The most interesting thing to me is that the most important nutrient is the same across all species, humans included. 


Water. 


Yep, that simple thing of water. Without water your body can do nothing. Keeping your body hydrated is critical to keeping you healthy and your body functioning at optimum. Over half your body weight is actually water!  


Water helps to keep the gut moving and regular. It is necessary to make saliva, reducing the bacteria in your mouth, thus decreasing the bad breath. It is needed to keep cells hydrated and plump, helping with the healthy appearance of the skin. Water helps keep the.blood volume up, so your oxygen is delivered more effectively to the tissues that need it, like muscles. For your body to flush toxins out, water is needed. Water is a pretty big deal!


What happens when you don’t drink enough water? Even before you are technically dehydrated, you may notice some things from not drinking enough water. If you are not drinking enough water you may notice constipation, persistent bad breath, fatigue, frequently ill, poor skin health, sugar cravings, and decreased urination. When you are dehydrated your body can not easily access the glucose stores in your body, which triggers the cravings for the sugar. You may experience a slight headache, lack of focus, or mood change, when slightly dehydrated. Those dark bags under your eyes is not just from lack of sleep, but more lack of water too. 


How much water should you drink? The Mayo Clinic recommends 2.7 liters for women and 3.7 liters for men a day. This can change based on weight and size. A good rule of thumb is an ounce of water for every pound you weigh. So if you weigh 130 pounds your goal fluid intake should be 130 oz, which is close to one gallon (128oz). If you feel thirsty or hungry try drinking some water. 


But I don’t like the taste of water. How will I ever drink that much water? I love to add lemon or lime to my water, especially if I’m traveling. I am a very picky water drinker and often don’t like the taste of water away from home. A drop of lemon essential oil (a great detox helper too) and I’m good for a couple fill ups through my tumbler. 


I can’t keep track of my list, how am I ever going to keep track of my water intake? I love to use my 30 oz tumbler. I fill it 4 times during the day and I know I’m pretty close to my goal water intake. One of my friends loves her giant gallon water bottle. I recommend stainless steel and something that will stay cold for several hours. I also found that I drink water better if I have a straw to drink out of (and prevents backwash from kids). 



Wanting a community to lean into? Join the FREE Courageous + Purposeful Mommas group! This community is for the Mommas, mommas to be, in the midst of raising, and kids grown, looking for tips on building your family up and providing for them through natural methods. Tips include: gardening, bulk buying, caning,/preserving, livestock, homesteading, and home remedies. Your family is precious, and this group is to help you gain the knowledge and tools to keep your family well and not reliant on outside professionals. Remedies and tips are easy and simple for the busy momma, time is precious after all, including pregnancy, birth, young kids, and illness. Trust your Momma gut again! This community offers the resources + community you need to help get started on your journey and prepare for whatever future you envision.

Join the Free Community

 

Click here to get the stories straight to your email:

Sign up for the Blog

 

For more on wellness tips click here:

Sign up for Wellness tips

 

For more on homesteading on your budget click here:

Sign up for Homesteading Tips

 

For more simple DIY updates click here:

Sign up for easy DIYs