Interesting that the ballcock is covered.
Calves are teenage hooligans!
French ones maybe 
. Our ballcocks were never covered.
Find a couple of hessian sacks and drape over each end of the trough, this will enable barn owls to escape if they fall in whilst getting a drink.
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And other beastsā¦
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Good suggestion. We endlessly had rooks et al falling into water troughs in our fields back in Essex, who required rescuing. I will do whatever I can to keep an eye on any activity in the troughā¦(Full disclosure: the cattle trough is unfortunately not on our land, but is supplied with water from our nearby house)
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Calves are teenage hooligans
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Given Janeās comment above though, I wonder is there not a risk of any covering simply being vandalised by hooligan calves?
Final update.
The stars of the show have finally made their appearance today, being 6 calves. The farmer has made the decision this month to get out of the milk business, and is focusing on meat, hence the mix of calves. They are Charollais and Grise (being a cross of Holstein and Charollais).
He told me that not eating meat adversely affects human brains. I didnāt have the heart to tell him weāre vegetariansā¦
He also confirmed that unfortunately the calves would completely trash any covering on the cattle trough (to save barn owls etc from drowning).
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Our farmer neighbour puts two small planks of wood in each water trough. I really donāt know why (and canāt ask as we have fallen out). His youngsters are heifers but equally skittish and hooligan like.
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Are you sure he doesnāt know already, and that you have now confirmed him in his belief?
Only joking, but he may have a point, I have had to go back to eating a small amount of meat because the lack of it seems to have had an adverse effect on my own system in some ways. 
Nice cows though, shame somebody is going to eat them. 
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You need to look into the knock on affects of receiving any money from services provided from your property.
I was told about a home owner who received money from a farmer for letting him graze cows on a field he didnāt use. It transpired the farmer then had a claim on the field, even though he didnāt own it.
Iād check with a notair or pose the question on strictly legal france on fb just to clarify your position.
In this case the farmer is on his own land, so this risk doesnāt apply.
But it is an important point as rural land leases are often verbal, not written. And thatās where problems start. It needs to be made clear that allowing someone to use your land for whatever purpose is a loan (which doesnāt generate tenancy rights) not an unwritten lease - which does,
That was the point I was making in the first reply in this thread, not the same thing but I do know that farmers have special rights in such circumstances, whether this is one of them is open to question.
Thank you both Janeās and David. I had a good conversation a day or so ago with the farmers son (himself a farmer, and who really runs the show pending his elderly fatherās recovery from operations).
I explained that I wanted his agreement that what we have is purely an informal arrangement between individuals, not between properties, specifically that there is no intention whatsoever to create any legal right to water, or access to our property, or access to the meter, and above all no intent to create any form of easement. He completely agreed, and said he has no rights whatsoever in this matter, and āis wholly dependent on the kindness of us in letting him fill up the calves water troughā. I also added that in the event of any change of farm ownership outside the family, the informal arrangement would absolutely lapse, or indeed for any other reason, since it is purely informal, and no rights are involved. Again he totally agreed.
Iāve done a full note of the conversation for my own peace of mind. Heās not going to want to formalize matters, since as far as he is concerned, itās not a formal legal matter. Realistically, I donāt think the matter can be taken further.
I suspect Iāve thoroughly exhausted the patience of anybody still following this thread and hope this is a good place to let it gently goā¦
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Pleased you have reached a satisfactory conclusion and I hope that all will be well for both of you. It certainly seems as if the son might have understood. 
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Just a thought, being veggie you may have to think of a plan B.
Most animal farmers slaughter a beast for themselves and immediate family / friends. You may find yourself with a box of beef / veal to say thank you.
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We had a wonderful box of steak when an animal must have had an accident.
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Youād be surprised how many lambs were declared to have been found dead after falling in a dyke on the farm. Couldnāt do the same with bullocks and Iām certain nobody could count porkers.
May have to pluck up the courage to break it to him @George1 . 
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Most SF threads eventually turn to thoughts of foodā¦.
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@George1 - If heās like my neighbours the information will be simply incomprehensibleā¦
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