[Slimjim]

 There is no piped water supply to my main sheep field and it is a real pain lugging buckets to it from the house - especially around lambing when they get dry cake and hay and their consumption of water rockets. I am thinking of collecting rainwater from the roof of the field shelter into one of those giant fruit juice containers within a metal cage and using that to replenish the troughs. I would cover it in black polythene to keep out the light to reduce algae growth. I guess it would need to be filtered to removed the big contaminants, but what else can be done to improve is quality? Does anybody else do this kind if thing?
They  have access to a small stream that runs along one edge of the field,  but of course being sheep that would be too easy and I have never seen them drink from it. Thanks.

[Rosemary]

We use rainwater for hens and for cattle. Never had any problems. They're not sheep though. Obviously 

[YoungRasher]

all the sheep on the farm where I work have rain water that is collected in concrete ponds and then piped in to troughs. its been like that for the last 85 years.

[langfauld easycare]

  there was a post on here about keeping fish in the water butt to eat all the bugs . never did it but seemed to work . would guess you would need to filter it or have the outflow higher than the bottom to catch any fish dung . i couldnt guess why they would not drink from your stream unless its contaminated by septic tanks etc unless they just dont like the look of it  . 

[Rosemary]

Except at lambing, I rarely see my sheep drink 

[nimbusllama]

I use rainwater for my sheep, llamas and chickens 95% of the time.  I collect it off the roof of the field shelter, it runs into a covered water butt and then overflows into a black plastic tank/trough and they either drink direct from that or I bucket into their troughs.  I use the water in the butt  during a dry time. I have never filtered it, but periodically tip the tank over and scrub it (wood pigeons are not fussy where they defecate!).  So I would say go for it.
Brian

[Fleecewife]

We also use rainwater for all our livestock (and for the veggie garden).  We collect it from all the buildings on the steading into 1000l black barrels (no algae) which have a lid on, and a tap at the bottom.  The highest is kept full, by pumping water up from other barrels, then it moves by gravity to a number of ball-cock-controlled drinkers around the place.  It's not filtered and we've never had a problem with anything in it.  If it's not covered though it becomes a breeding ground for mozzies.  The field drinkers are scrubbed out every now and then.
It all works fine in the summer, but in the winter the whole system freezes solid.  One year the taps were burst off the barrels when the water inside froze and expanded, so when it eventually thawed we lost all the water.  So when the systems frozen we have to carry buckets out, and of course that's in the winter when the sheep are eating hay and coarse mix so drink a fair bit.  We do also carry buckets across the road to where our tups live.  There was a collecting system set up on their field shelter, but being tups they destroyed it.  One day we'll organise a system from the hay shed roof in there.
The problem with the running water could simply be that they're not to used to drinking from a moving source, or they're used to chlorine in their water (ours won't drink chlorinated water so we have to take containers of our water to shows for them 

[ladyK]

I also collect rainwater off a field shelter roof but I do have a recurring problem of water smelling terribly gunky - really unpleasant, can't imagine any animal would want to drink that. I can't work out why that is - I keep scrubbing it out and the smell keeps coming back. The water butt is covered - some leaves & debris do come in through the pipe, but it's never much that collects on the bottom.
We also have some open troughs that will over time collect some leaves and debris at the bottom as well, but if not agitated the water stays clear and nice and doesn't smell.
Any ideas? Would fish help?

[ZaktheLad]

Except at lambing, I rarely see my sheep drink 

Interesting - mine seem to drink loads more at lambing than at any other time and I am always re-filling water buckets for them then. 

[Rosemary]

Except at lambing, I rarely see my sheep drink 

Interesting - mine seem to drink loads more at lambing than at any other time and I am always re-filling water buckets for them then.

That's what I mean - ewes just lambed like a good drink, but other than that I rarely see them at the water troughs.

[Louise Gaunt]

Presumably like lactating humans they need extra water to help maintain an adequate supply of milk for their lambs.

[ZaktheLad]

We kept some fish in our water trough in the field to try and keep the algae from growing too much.  It worked well for a time until the cows we had then swallowed them all whilst drinking! 

[Slimjim]

Brilliant! Thanks for all those positive replies. I shall do it.

[Hellybee]

Baz has set up a system right at the top of the farm, from a pond(fenced off) then it runs into a tank and it feeds down the farm, when that runs low, the mains is then in operation. 

[smee2012]

I read in several livestock books, whilst researching what animals to have, that you shouldn't give any animals water that's been collected from rooftops (ie, through the guttering). This is because of the risk of contamination from birds perching on whatever structure the water is running off, be that field shelter or house, and pooping all over it. I guess if you can put spikes up on the roof to stop birds perching on it, the rainwater runoff will be absolutely fine.

I can't remember the actual disease that the birds can spread through their faeces, possibly listeriosis? I'm just stabbing in the dark here, so maybe someone else can tell me what it is!