Painted desert sheep and water

[huntfamily5]

I own a 40 acre parcel in Eastern Ohio and want to fence part of my area.  I will not be living on my parcel and bring in some painted desert sheep (less than 10).  I need a suggestion for water.... I will not be living on the parcel nor does it have existing water.  A creek exists in the bottom of the small valley but that would men I would need to fence in the valley as well.  I can run county water from the street; however, this would be an expense I would rather not get into.  I thought about building a rain water collection barrel, to collect rain water off of the shelter (yet to be built) roof and some sort of on demand watering point.  Does anyone have any experience with alternative watering points?  Thanks.

[JeffG]

Do you know how far down your water table is?  If it is 10 feet or so, you could consider driving a sand point, or digging a pond.

[Mohawk]

30 gallon water troughs. They are great. Fill them up twice a week and the animals will be healthy and happy.

[huntfamily5]

I found a natural spring on the property that comes to the surface in about a 2 foot diameter circle.  The water is still moving and the temperature has been about 10 for the past month.... so I think my question has changed to spring development.  Do you have any suggestions for spring development to water a few sheep?  I'm thinking some sort of concrete cylinder with a drain pipe flowing down hill.

[huntfamily5]

thanks for the reply... what is a sand point?

[markc]

Sounds like the natural spring is the way to go.  Take a backhoe perhaps and dig it out a bit.  You could have it drain downhill, but then you'll need to dig a pond as was suggested in order to collect the water.  It might not flow enough to fill much of a pond.   Can the sheep reach the spring as is and drink?  If so, I would probably not do anything.

[huntfamily5]

Yes, the spring comes to the surface in a an open area with a very slight downward slope.  The sheep will be able to reach it because when I install the fence I will be sure to fence in the spring area.  I was thinking about excavating the spring a bit and placing a small open concrete cylinder in the hole to capture the water and then a drain pipe to direct the water away from the spring so the area does not become a mud pit when the sheep start visiting.  Do you have any suggestions on excavating depth or things such as that.  Thanks.

[JeffG]

A sand pont is a hardened screened pipe tip that you drive into the ground using a fence post driver, you use couplers and galvanized water pipe, and add successive lengths as you drive them into the gound.
When you hit the water table, you use a shallow water pump to pump up the water.  It's cloudy at first, but it clears after the sand in the table begins to filter the water, and clarify it.  It will only provide weekend water, say for a cabin, or a small  family.

[markc]

I've never done that myself, so I can't offer any advice on excavation depth.  You should have an agricultural extension office or similar parks department in your state to give advice on that. In Texas, a landowner can obtain a good bit of help through the parks and wildlife department.  They will do a study of the property and come up with a wildlife management plan.  Not sure about your home state, but I would start there.