Watering trough

History

In Australia, the watering trough is established so that sheep, cattle and other domesticated animals can drink, but native species such as kangaroos may be attracted. To reduce this, some water troughs are designed to reduce their use of the trough or exclude them from that use. One design is the "Finlayson Trough", which uses a low-lying electrified wire that sheep usually step over but kangaroos cannot.

Watering troughs were very common in many towns and cities as a means for horses to drink while they were tethered to a post. In 1927 animal lovers, Annis and George Bills, funded the building of up to 500 watering troughs in Australia, Ireland, England and the United States. Many can still be seen today inscribed with Donated by Annis and George Bills Australia.

Nowadays, manufacturers provide a variety of water troughs for animals made of different materials. Permanent access to freshwater is essential to all animals, especially to dairy cows. The more water a cow drinks, the more milk she produces.