Automatic tap gives a constant supply of clean water for animals

Animals on the farm should drink water to aid digestion and for their healthy growth but facilities like water troughs in which it is stored has disadvantages. The automatic tap or nipple ensures clean supply with these shortcomings.

Rearing animals can be a challenge when it comes to watering them. For example, they can tip over their drinking water and they can play and wallow, or even defecate in the water.

Many technologies have been developed to counter these challenges like the concrete water trough which cannot be tipped over, and the raised water trough in whose water they cannot play. But again, these present the challenge of constant cleaning if you are to deal with the infections that may arise as a result.

Labour-intensive and adopted by a number of animal farmers in the country, the automatic tap however seems to be an answer to most, if not all, of these challenges.

Dr Leonard Kawule, a veterinary doctor, explains that for a large enterprise like a piggery of 300 animals, the amount of water used will be quite high, making it a costly exercise. Add the twice-in-a-day cleaning of the troughs and a worker or workers in charge.

The cost on labour is, however, reduced with the automatic tap because the water supply is right in the pen and you do not have to clean a tap.

How it works
This automatic tap or nipple enables water to flow when an animal presses its mouth on it similar to the way many other such ordinary taps work. “Water will stop flowing once the animal takes off its mouth”, explains Mark Tusubira who sells these taps.

And how do the animals know the water source? One may ask. Tusubira says, “In the beginning, the farmer may have to demonstrate that water is here by pressing the tap when the animals are watching especially when they are thirsty. Soon, they too will begin to tinker with the tap and when they realise that water comes out, they keep going there to drink”.

Reduced disease incidence
The automatic tap will also reduce on the incidence of disease in your flock. “When the water is not clean, your animals will be predisposed to diseases like Salmonella and such infections. But these will reduce because the water is fresh direct from the tap,” Dr Kawule says. When the water is dirty or unavailable, this will compromise on the amount of food your animals eat because they will be thirsty and unable to eat without water which aids digestion.

And if you are in serious animal rearing business, this means your cows will not give enough milk or that the pigs will not have the weight you expect in the planned time frame, which translates into financial loss. The automatic tap saves cost of labour, reduces on the incidence of disease transmitted through dirty or contaminated water, and ensures a steady supply of clean water for your animals.

The tap costs Shs60,000 and can be bought from Tusubira who sells them. His contact is 075-0822502

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