REVIEW: HydroPet Watering Bowl -and a little surprise ending for my Chicken Peeps

It's been a while since I've done a product review, but it's also been a while since I was offered a product that I felt I could actually use.  I was asked by HydroPet if I would give their product a try and share my honest opinions of their product with my readers.  I'm so glad I did because I really like this product.

The product is called HydroPet, its an automatic pet water bowl that refills with fresh clean water.  In addition to being a chicken keeper I run a dog boarding facility -I know you are probably thinking that the two go together like oil and water.  Actually, most of the dog guests find the chickens to be quite entertaining and will spend as much time as they can watching every movement of my hens through the fence.  We keep our dogs and chickens each physically separated behind a sequence of sturdy fences.

In our dog areas I keep several buckets and large bowls of water for the dogs to always have access to fresh water while they play...or study chicken behavior.  This requires that I hook up the hose several times a day to empty, rinse and refill the buckets and bowls.  It's amazing how much 'stuff' manages to get in the water dishes from the dogs drinking out of them.  For this reason, when HydroPet contacted me about testing their product I jumped at the chance.

The HydroPet bowl holds as much water as my buckets, but it does the rinsing and refilling job for me, leaving me more time to play with the dogs.  Unlike auto fill floats that sit in a bucket and keep the water at a certain level (I have used them before) with the HydroPet the water level goes down because the dogs drink the water, and the automatic timer (set to how ever often I may need the bowl refilled) will come on, spray water from three points inside the bowl that rinses out the inside and flushes the debris as it refills the bowl with fresh cool water.

There is no complicated installation.  I was able to have it up and running in less then 30 minutes, even with 4 curious dogs trying to help me.  There are three methods of installation depending on your particular application.  They are the 'hose bib connection', the 'sprinkler system connection' or the 'drip system connection' methods. Here is a short video from HydroPet that goes over the three installation methods.

I used the 'hose bib connection' method, it was super easy, but I do have a few tips no matter which method you use. First, have someone else occupy your helpful pets, my four dogs were so curious about what I was working on that it made it a bit of a challenge to do the installation, especially when one of them carried off the little bag of parts.  I spent about 10 minutes looking for the parts before I realized that my big girl had stashed them under the patio chair.  Another tip is to flush your hose out with water before you install the bowl.  My hose apparently had some debris in it, which quickly blocked the tiny wire mesh filter in the adapter and caused the water flow to slow to a trickle.

At first I thought, "Wow, this thing really sucks, there is no way its going to flush out floating debris in the bowl if it only trickles out."  I disconnected the hose adapter and cleaned off the filter screen (see pic above), ran water through my hose a moment then hooked it back up and Bang! Nice spraying flow of water that definitely had enough force (even with our low pressure water lines) to thoroughly clean out the junk my dogs deposited into the bowl.

Below is a video I made showing how quickly it refills.  Note that our water pressure is not real high but there is still plenty of spraying power to clean out the bowl.  Also note that I did not have the bowl sitting on level ground so as the water level filled, two of the jets were underwater.  They were still spraying, you just cannot see it.  The bowl has an overflow area where water is suppose to flow out when the bowl fills up.  This helps to wash out debris and if the bowl is placed in the flower bed the overflowing water will water your plants.  The amount of water that flows out will depend on how long you set the timer to run.  I sat mine for 3 minutes.  As you can see in this video, the bowl was full at about 2-1/2 minutes so the remaining 30 seconds cleans out the bowl and would water the flower bed, but not so much that it creates a soggy mess around the bowl.

You can purchase the HydroPet bowl by visiting their website HERE.  As you will see there are a few different package bundles.  Mine was the HydroPet Deluxe Bundle w/Timer.  It sells for $67.50. You can get it without the automatic timer for just $34.95 and fill it yourself manually, or if installing it with an existing drip or sprinkler system. This is what came in my package:

Now, my fellow chicken-peeps are probably thinking, "Anna, why are you doing a review for a dog product?"  Well I will let you in on a little secret...HydroPet has a new addition to this product coming out this summer and it is specifically for us Chicken People!

It's the Chicken Hood...

I hope to be able to bring you an updated review this summer, I know I really want one for my chicks!  HydroPet said the Chicken Hood will be priced at about $24-26 each and of course will be available in a bundle with the HydroPet Bowl as well.  Here is a video about this exciting addition to the HydroPet bowl.

As if you needed any additional reason to love the HydroPet, here are a couple more...the bowl is BPA Free and Made In America!


Disclosure:  First, I want to thank HydroPet for allowing me to try your awesome product, my dogs love it, and I hope to try your Chicken Hood later this summer.  If you read through my previous reviews you will see that I give honest reviews -even at the detriment of the company that sends me a product that is not good.  I received a product for free for testing but I was not paid for my opinion, nor was I told what I should say to my readers.  The opinions expressed here are 100% mine.

Almost Wordless Wednesday: Waterlogue

For people like me with no painting talents to speak of, I've found a very cool app that turns my ordinary pictures into beautiful watercolor paintings.  It's called Waterlogue Photography, distilled by TinRocket, LLC. 

Just look at these beautiful watercolor paintings.  They look nice enough to print and hang on the wall...which I just might do.

 

 

 

It doesn't do so well (just like real watercolor paintings) with detailed pictures, but I love the results of these. I wasted away over an hour running many of my favorite pictures through the app.  It is really fun watching the process as it happens. 

You can purchase this at for $2.99 either through the iTunes website or visit the Waterlogue website. I wish is was available for android products too, but I love using it on my iPad.  Maybe if you don't have an apple product you could visit their facebook page and ask them about creating an android version.

Well I just wanted to share this fun app...now I'm off to play with more pictures!

Keeper of 1 husband, 3 dogs, 
3 cats, and 17 Chickens!

*This was an unpaid, unsolicited post about the products shown above that I have purchased myself.  Neither the owner of this app nor iTunes have asked me to include links to their products in this post.  There are NO Affiliate links in this post, please see my Full Disclosure here. 

Do You Like My New Header?

I have wanted to include a cool header to my blog for a very long time, but just didn't know what I wanted.  I searched far and wide for just the right image for the background.  I wanted something that kind of defines who I am when you see it, but it also needed to match the general colors and theme of my blog too.  I went through over 9,000 photos on my devices. (Wow, I can't believe I had that many pictures!) I couldn't find one that fit the criteria needed and was of high enough resolution that it would still look good once I made it the appropriate size.

I ultimately found this image at FreeDigitalPhotos.net after searching for a couple of hours.

It took so long because they have so many images, and I wasn't sure exactly what I was looking for.  I had a ball searching through all the images.  And I can tell you this, they are going to be my go-to place for free images to use on my blog in the future.  All of their images are free...Yes, I said ALL and FREE!  You can use any image you find, in the small size, without a watermark, as long as you give credit to the particular artist who submitted it and to FreeDigitalPhotos.net.  How awesome is that? 

Now if you want to use an image where giving visible credit isn't feasible, or if you need a larger or high resolution image, then you can purchase the rights to an image at really reasonable prices.  Go check them out next time you need an image for use online.  Tip: be sure to register before you purchase any images (or even use the free ones) because you will then be able to see your image use/purchase history, and that makes it so easy to appropriately give image credit where needed now and in the future.  You can even download your image again and again from the history page as well, without the need to search for that particular image again.

Just so you know, this is not an affiliate based post, I have no connection to FreeDigitalPhotos.net and they have not asked me to post a review of their product or service, I just loved them so much that I wanted to share it with you.

So, what do you think about my new header?

Keeper of 1 husband, 2 grandkids, 3 dogs,
3 cats, and 17 Chickens!

 

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Product Review: BriteTap Chicken Waterer ~ Traveling with Chickens

BriteTap Chicken Waterer

BriteTap installed on 2 Gallon Rubbermaid Cooler Jug

*Note, the link above takes you to Amazon to purchase the cooler alone.

When I bought mine they were only $9.97 each, shipped Prime.

If that price is higher now it may be peak season, so shop around.

  
Those of you who know me personally know that I spoil my chickens rotten.  They are not just livestock or egg producers, they are my pets.  Every one of my 17 'girls' has a name, not that she responds to that name, but she has one.  Like my pets that live inside the house, the 'girls' go with us when we go on vacation.  Yes, we take all 17 chickens with us.

How do we do that without looking like the Beverly Hillbillies?  Easy, my husband and I converted an old tool trailer into a mobile chicken coop trailer.  It has 6 nest boxes, 24 feet of roosting area, 72 sq ft of deep litter floor, and a pop door, just like at home.  We installed a roof vent that is covered so it lets warm are out and if it rains the girls don't get wet.  We also installed special vents on opposing sides of the trailer to create airflow without turning the insides into a dust bowl.  I personally tested this by riding inside the trailer while my husband drove down the highway (Don't try this at home its not safe and probably not legal either). I just wanted to know what the ride would be like for my girls.

The evening before we are heading out on our trip we close up the home coop and let the girls free-range by the trailer.  I open the pop door and toss in some treats and they voluntarily go to bed in the trailer.  I close the door and open the vents.  The next morning we hook up the trailer and head out.  The girls spend the day inside while we are on the road.  If its very warm outside I also place about 5 frozen water jugs on the floor.  They huddle in the front of the trailer on the floor while we are moving.  Sitting near the jugs combined with the air vents keeps them from overheating.  When we make stops I open the pop door and give them some special treats while they stretch their legs a bit.  I usually collect eggs at each stop too because they will periodically go sit in a nest box as the urge hits them while en-route.

When we reach our destination, (our cabin in Colorado) I pull the trailer up to our pre-constructed run area, pull the two chain-link fence end panels up against the front and back corners of the trailer. These panels have a piece of fencing attached at the bottom which blocks access to the area under the trailer to make a secure run.  Then I open the pop door and put their ramp up to the door.  They come out in the new location and are as good as home.  We have made this trip several times this year.  I think we have perfected the system by now.  The girls don't seem to be stressed too much because the trailer is just like home.  They do get a little cranky from sitting in the trailer all day (it's an 8 hour drive) but they get over that pretty quickly when I let them out to catch all the new bugs that moved into their run since their last visit.

My baby Miss Hollywood is the unofficial chicken guard.

One thing that I use to make traveling with my chickens so much better is the BriteTap Chicken Waterer installed on a Rubbermaid Cooler Jug.  The girls have a Chicken Fountain at home so they are accustom to getting fresh, clean, cool water from chicken nipples.  Since I don't want to transport my Chicken Fountain, I purchased the BriteTap Chicken Waterer (actually two of them) along with a 2 gallon cooler jug for each.  This way I can strap one jug inside the trailer while we are driving, and have two of them set up in the run once we are at our destination.  Each morning I just refill the jugs with water, add an ice block on warm days to keep the water cool all day long, and put them in the run on a couple of cinder-blocks.  I can also easily add electrolytes or other liquid supplements during the trip and the day before heading home to help the girls deal with any stress from the trip.

I love the BriteTap Chicken Waterer because it was designed to fit on the cooler jug, (it can be installed on other containers too, see the pics below).  You just remove the spout at the bottom of the cooler and replace it with the BriteTap Waterer, all the hardware you need is included.  The cooler jug insulates the water so it helps keep it from getting too hot or too cold, depending on the outside temperatures.  They are easy to clean when needed and the girls always have access to cool clean water.  The handle on the jugs also makes it very easy for me to carry in and out for refilling or cleaning.  You could just open the top and use a hose to refill them but I take them inside and clean & refill them in my kitchen each morning.

Other methods ways of installing BriteTap, but they do require some drilling.

You could probably make something similar yourself using the bulk chicken nipples.  I have tried, but when I install the nipples on the bottom of a 5 gallon bucket (which is an additional system I have at home too) you had to find a way of securely hanging the bucket so the chickens can get underneath to drink from the nipples without fear of it falling on them.  The BriteTap Waterer allows me to just set the cooler on a cinder-block with the BriteTap hanging over the edge.  I just found this to be a much better mouse trap for our needs.  It isn't cheap, but I feel it was well worth the price paid.  I will get years of use out of this product not just when we travel, but here at home if I need to quarantine chickens and therefore need additional waterers or if I have babies that need their waterer height adjusted as they grow. 

To Sum it up:

• Would I recommend this product to a friend?  Oh Yes
• Did it do what it was advertised to do?  Absolutely!
• Was it worth the cost? Yes - pricey, but worth it.

*This was an unpaid, unsolicited review of a product that I purchased myself and the opinions expressed here are solely my own. The owner of this product has no advanced knowledge about this review and will only see what I have written after this post goes live.   I have included Affiliate links in this post, please see my Full Disclosure here.

Keeper of 1 husband, 2 grandkids, 3 dogs,
3 cats, and 17 Chickens!

 

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Did this post stir something inside of you? If so, Please leave me a comment, I would love to know what you're thinking!!!

Kindle Book Review: "Wake Up Successful" by S.J. Scott

Wake Up Successful ~ How to Increase Your Energy and Achieve Any Goal with a Morning Routine

By S.J. Scott

Affiliate link

I just finished reading a Kindle book titled "Wake Up Successful" by S. J. Scott that I wanted to share with you.  I learned about this book while I was reading Mr Scott's blog, "Develop Good Habits: A Better Life One Habit At A Time."  The reason that I took the next step of going to Amazon and buying the book was because at this very moment I was still wearing my PJ's at 9:30am and feeling overwhelmed and very unproductive.  I didn't sleep well the night before and I was dragging this particular morning (and many mornings honestly).  It seemed that I had no energy for the distractions that were keeping me from my morning chores and therefore none of the things I normally did in the morning were getting done.  So the title certainly caught my attention.

I purchased the book but didn't have time to start reading it just yet...and never found the time that whole day. But the next morning I opened the book before opening my emails. The book was a pretty quick read, I did it in a single day, taking breaks to tend to tasks at hand while absorbing the information he shared.  There is a lot of great advice in this book, as well as on his website.  It is obvious that Mr Scott lives the methods he teaches in the book and therefore he 'Wakes Up Successful', just look at his 11 books available on Amazon.  Click here to learn more about the author and see his list of books available in both print and kindle versions.

I wont go into detail about Mr Scott's methods, you will need to read the book yourself...which I do recommend.  The book was well written, and well laid out so you not only learned what his methods where, but why each step is important to the overall goal of being more productive by implementing a particular morning routine into your life.  Which in turn will make you more successful.  I don't think that I am going to be as rigid in my morning routine as Mr Scott is, because my lifestyle does not include waking up to an alarm clock and I don't work a 9-5 job.  But I do see the need for a lot more structure in my mornings to help me be more productive in my day.

If you don't seem to have enough energy to get your day started in a positive, productive way, and you feel that you never get anything done during the day despite feeling like you are constantly working, then you should really read this book.  Maybe pick it up on a Saturday morning when you have some time to relax and read.

It has inspired me to work out a new morning routine that I think is going to help me be more productive all day.  I know I need to break the bad habits that I currently do, and begin to do new things until they become my 'good' habits.  I'm serious about making this change because I believe Mr Scott when he says, "you can learn how to build a better life - one habit at a time."

To Sum it up:

• Would I recommend this book to a friend?  Yes
• Did it do what it was advertised to do?  Yes
• Was it worth the cost? Yes

*This was an unpaid, unsolicited review of a book that I purchased myself and the opinions expressed here are solely my own. The author of this book has no advanced knowledge about this review and will only see what I have written after this post goes live. I have included Affiliate links in this post, please see my Full Disclosure here.

Keeper of 1 husband, 2 grandkids, 3 dogs,
3 cats, and 17 Chickens!

 

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Did this post stir something inside of you? If so, Please leave me a comment, I would love to know what you're thinking!!!

Victorio 4-Tray SEED SPROUTER ~ Product Review

If you like sprouting seeds then you've got to get a Victorio 4-Tray Seed Sprouter!

I bought one on Amazon for only $15.12 (with free shipping) and it was delivered the next day!  I already had a 1/4 cup of wheat seeds that I soaked the night before, so I placed 1/2 of the wheat seeds (1/8 cup) into each of two trays.  I then put one tablespoon of alfalfa seeds in a cup to soak.  Later that evening I put the soaked alfalfa in the Seed Sprouter in the third tray.  I left one of the trays empty so I could stagger my sprouts.  I did this on Tuesday.

On Thursday (2 days later) here is what I have!  I have never seen growth like this before.

Look at these wheat sprouts.

Wheat Sprouts Day 2 (1/8 cup) Tray 1

Wheat Sprouts Day 2 (1/8 cup) Tray2

I could go feed them to my chickens right now, but I will wait until tomorrow.  I wont be able to leave them in the Sprouter any longer though because they are so tall already.  This thing is Amazing!

Here is my alfalfa after less than 2 full days.

Alfalfa Sprouts Day 2

This Seed Sprouter is by far the best method I have found for sprouting seed super fast and super easy!  You just put your soaked seeds in each tray, stack them up with the reservoir tray on the bottom, then pour in 2 cups of fresh water 2-3 times a day.   The water slowly drains from the top tray down to the one below, until it all ends up in the bottom tray.  Before you add water the next time, you simply empty the bottom tray, then rotate the bottom tray to the top position, and pour your water into the top tray.  Once the water has run all the way to the bottom reservoir tray you just lay the lid on top (this keeps the top tray from drying out), but don't seal the lid.  (You only seal the top lid if you are going to store the trays.)  When they have grown to your desired size you can store them in the refrigerator to stop the growing process.

I didn't pre-soak in bleach water and I didn't get any mold either.  You don't sit the Seed Sprouter in direct sunlight...these seeds sprouted sitting on my kitchen counter with only regular room lighting and the A/C kept the room about 72-75 degrees the whole time (according to the manufacturer 70 degrees is the ideal growing temperature).  I am totally impressed with this product.  I'm ordering a second set of trays right now!

The Trays are BPA free, made in the USA, and comes with a packet of Organic Alfalfa Seeds.  I'm adding this item to my "Things My Chicks L-O-V-E" page.  If you want to buy one (or several) of these, please do me a favor and use one of my links which are affiliate links through Amazon.

*Disclaimer: I purchased this item myself, I was not given any compensation for this review.  The opinions stated in this review are my own personal feelings about this product (that I love).  I do ask that you please use my affiliate link to purchase this item from Amazon, but the teeny tiny commission I would receive, in no way influenced my review.

Keeper of 1 husband, 2 grandkids, 3 dogs,
3 cats, and 17 Chickens!

 

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Did this post stir something inside of you? If so, Please leave me a comment, I would love to know what you're thinking!!!

 

This post was shared on the "HomeAcre Hop!"

ADOR Automatic Coop Door for Peace of Mind ~ Product Review

*UPDATE:  I currently own two ADOR pop doors, one for my main coop and one for my small temp coop.  Right about 1 year after installing the first door it suddenly stopped working properly.  It wouldn't open more than 2-3" on several mornings in a row, but it would close at night.  I figured it was probably the battery so I replaced it with a new one.  It worked fine for the first night, then would not open the second day.  I replaced the battery again, just in case I got a bad battery.  The door still (two months later) does not open fully on most days, but will close at night.  I have to manually open the big coop door each morning.  Also, the button to manually open the door has broken.  I don't feel the bump under the cover and it will not open or close the door manually using the button.  Because of this malfunction I have removed it from my "Stuff My Chicks Love" page and all links to their website in this post have been disabled.  I never support a product that does not perform well for me.

Note...The second door, that I purchased just a few months after the first one, is still functioning perfectly, and on the original battery.

************************************************

*Original Post Below*

I previously shared about taking our chicks on a vacation with us.  But I don't think we will be doing that again.  At that time the babies had just learned to put themselves to bed at night but we still didn't have a way of closing them up securely each night and letting them out early each morning unless we are home to do it ourselves.  Having a friend check in on our chickens once a day is good, but asking them to devote early mornings AND just after dark visits to open and close the coop is just too much to ask of a friend.

That's the reason we wanted to invest in an automatic coop door.  I used the word 'invest' because they are not cheap!  I have friends who say that spending $179 for a chicken door is just too much money.  But when you factor in the value of never having to worry about your chickens safety after dark if you are not able to make it home on time, or the benefit of actually sleeping in on occasion, or the ability to go away a few days and not needing to have a chicken sitter, then I think it is worth every single penny!

I looked at what appeared to be the top rated brand of automatic coop doors, the 'Pullet-Shut', but I didn't like the way the door opened, leaving the actual door 'waving in the wind', quite literally here.  We have 5 seasons each year: winter, spring, Wind, summer, and fall.  I guarantee that door would have been ripped off before Independence Day!  Then I learned about the ADOR, an industrial grade Automatic Coop Door.  It doesn't require electricity in the coop or an expensive solar panel to operate.  It runs on a long-life 6V battery that has been shown to last way more than a year with normal use.  I can handle changing the battery every year when we change the smoke detector batteries, even though I wouldn't have to worry about doing it at that time because it has a low-battery warning to let you know long before the battery dies that it needs to be replaced soon. 

The ADOR is a rugged galvanized steel door  that goes up and down instead of out, and it has a daylight sensor on the front so it automatically detects daylight and opens in the early morning and closes itself just after dusk.  If you tend to have late stragglers you can also reprogram it to either delay closing, or do a 'Last Call' where it will reopen briefly, shortly after closing, to let in any slowpokes who were late to the coop.  With the direct sprocket drive you don't have to worry about strings or cables getting messed up either.  Since this door had all the features that I hoped for, and the price was comparable to other quality automatic coop doors, I chose this one.

The only drawback was that the company had only been making this door for a short time.  Long enough to work out the bugs, but not so long that they had hundreds of orders to ship each day.  Until spring of 2013 that is.  I placed my order on April 20th, right about the time many other chicken keepers were also discovering them.  The large influx of orders was a bit of a surprise for Rod, the owner of the company, so they actually ran out of motors about the time I placed my order.  Rod immediately ordered more motors but they had to wait for them to be delivered, then install them in the units.  By that time they had so many more orders backed up that they used up all the new motors quickly and had to place two more orders for more motors right away so they could fill the new orders coming in.

As it turned out, my ADOR was shipped the day we left on vacation with our chicks and arrived about May 23rd.  I picked it up at the FedEx Kinko's on my way home with the chicks, with hopes of installing it the next day.  The night we got home I opened the box and read through the installation instructions.  It was almost bedtime for me so I couldn't do anything until the following morning, but I was anxious to give this thing a try.  I installed the battery and pushed the manual open/close button.  The door churned open.

I then reset it to automatic mode and took it to my bedroom.  I laid it on a shelf near my bedroom window, then turned off the lights and went to bed.  Within about 8 minutes the door closed because it sensed the room was suddenly dark.  At 5:34 am there was just enough light coming through my window that the sensor picked it up and the door opened. The excitement of this new chicken accessory motivated me to get out of bed and go install it on the coop right then.

First I had to remove the current pop door.  My opening was about 1/2" narrower and 2" taller than the suggested opening size for the ADOR but the door frame would cover any opening so I didn't bother cutting a new opening.  I just mounted it right over the existing hole.  Installation was Easy-Peasy too!  I used the manual override button to close the door so I had access to the three mounting holes just above the door.  I held the door roughly where I wanted it to be and screwed in the center screw.  This held the ADOR in place while I placed a level on the top of the frame.  My 6 year old granddaughter held the level up for me while I screwed in the other top screws to attach the door.  Then I pushed the button to set the door back in automatic mode and within seconds the door opened (because it was daylight).  This exposed the screw holes at the bottom of the frame.  I had to remove the little bar covering the holes, then screwed in the last three mounting screws and put the little bar back in place and I was done.  It doesn't get any easier than this!

ADOR Installed on the Coop over existing pop door hole.

My little Barred Rock (who we think is a Roo) was of course the first to come and inspect the new door.  After getting his blessings I gave the door a test. See the video of it in action.

Later that night I sat in the coop until the sun had completely gone down, waiting for the door to close.  The chicks had put themselves to bed at 7:42pm, while the moon was just beginning to rise in the sky. (the picture below looks lighter than it was outside, my camera adjusted the light automatically).  At 8:11pm the door was still open.  I was glad it did not close too early and lock a chick or two outside but I was a little concerned that it was still open when it was now dark.  I went inside for 2 minutes, returning outside at 8:13pm to find the door had closed while I was inside...darn, I wanted to watch it close!

Chicks heading to bed through the new ADOR Automatic Coop Door

 The next morning I was still asleep when I heard the chicks drinking out of the Chicken Fountain just outside my window...it was 6:05 am and they were already out and about in the run.  I went back to bed until 7:00am :-)  That night the chicks had put themselves to bed again some time before 8:00pm (when I checked on them), then at approximately 8:10pm the door closed.  

Disclaimer: I was not compensated in any way for this review.  I did not receive a free product for reviewing purposes.  I simply bought a fantastic product that will make my life much easier, and my chickens lives much safer, and I wanted to share it with you!  

Keeper of 1 husband, 2 grandkids, 3 dogs,
3 cats, and 17 Chickens!

 

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Did this post stir something inside of you? If so, Please leave me a comment, I would love to know what you're thinking!!!

I Now Have the Perfect Watering System, thanks to The Chicken Fountain! ~Product Review

I wanted our chicks to never have to drink old stale, hot, poopy water.  I also never wanted to worry that I (or a chicken sitter) might forget to check their water container and let them run out, especially in the hot summer months.  So before I even brought home my first chicken I did some research on the internet (what did we do before the internet?).  I talked to other chicken keepers about what watering system they used, I've read every blog post I could find about chicken waterers, and I've studied the products they suggested.  Somewhere during my search I read a review on The Chicken Fountain.  I wish I could remember which blog I first read this on to give them credit, but I read several and now can't remember which was that first to tell me about the Chicken Fountain.

When I first read about it I said to myself, "Now that would resolve all of my concerns right there!" So I googled "Chicken Fountain" and not only found the company but other reviews for this product.  After reading as much as I could about the Chicken Fountain I decided it was the product for me and my chickens.  I ordered one, even before I had the chicken run built or owned a single chicken. I ordered the Standard Size that is designed for use by 4-16 birds, but they also have a mini and a mega size as well.

It arrived a few days before we got our first chickens.  I read through the instructions and thought my husband would have no problem installing this for me.  But as it turned out, he was stuck on a job the first day the new chicks were home so he wasn't going to be able to install the Chicken Fountain for me.  So either they were going to have to wait or I was going to have to build and install this thing myself. Now keep in mind that my husband is a retired mechanic and a general contractor...and I am not!  But the instructions made it look so simple that I thought I had to at least give it a try.  The manufacturer had very detailed instructions and everything I would need was included with the fountain, including the PVC glue! All I needed was a hammer, tape measure, level, and maybe a screw driver.  What I lack in mechanical skills, I make up for in over-confidence with a new challenge...maybe not always a good thing.

I was able to assemble the (mostly pre-assembled) Chicken Fountain in a matter of minutes. The installation took a little longer because the hubby asked me to not mount anything on the cement siding board on the side of the house (which serves as one wall of the chicken run). But that was the only location that would have sun for about an hour in the morning then shade the entire rest of the day.  It was the perfect location for the Chicken Fountain!  'Creative" is practically my middle name, so I decided to mount the Chicken Fountain to a piece of plywood, then stand the plywood up against the side of the house. I found some old closet rod supports that made great "L" brackets for the bottom to hold the plywood upright so it could be freestanding and therefore portable if I ever wanted to move the fountain to a new location.

I had some trouble getting the nails provided with the fountain to penetrate the old, dried piece of plywood.  One wouldn't go in and the next one bent on me, Grr!  I do happen to own my own power drill so I grabbed it and a few screws the same size as the nails and screwed the "J" brackets (that hold the Chicken Fountain) to the plywood.  Then I attached the hose and turned on the water.  In my excitement to test the fountain I forgot the instruction that said to turn the water on 'Very Slowly" when first filling the fountain, so the cap went flying up in the air.  It was quite funny actually, even though me and the chicks were the only ones around to see it. I went and put it back in place and then turned the water back on -slowly this time.  I had to make a minor adjustment to the internal water level screw (instructions were included about how to make this easy adjustment) and moments later I had a fully functioning Chicken Fountain!  

My only problem now was that I mounted the fountain at a height to accommodate adult chickens.  Mine were only 3-1/2 weeks old so they were not even close to the nipples.  I needed to either lower the fountain temporarily or raise the ground.  So I placed some large rocks under the fountain ends, topped those with scraps of plywood, then piled on some gravel until the 'mountain' was just the right height for the baby chicks to walk up on and reach the nipples.  I figure that as they get a little older I will just gradually knock some of the gravel down then remove the plywood and big rocks underneath by the time they are adults.  In the future if I have babies I can make a new 'gravel mountain' at one end just for them.

My Gravel Mountain to get the chicks up to the fountain nipples.

Now it was time to get the baby chicks to use the fountain.  Since I did not have adult chickens to show them how to drink, I had to do it myself.  At first I used the supplied rubber-band to hold one nipple open to run a little stream of water to get their attention.  It seemed to only scare them.  I worried about them getting too thirsty so I placed a bowl under the stream to give them water to drink until they learned to use the nipples. Mistake!  They would look at the water dripping, but drink from the bowl instead.  So I took away the bowl and placed each chick at the water fountain one-by-one so they could see it and walk away if they chose to.  But at least now they would know where the water was if they got thirsty.

Very shortly one of the Barred Rocks (who I think might be a Roo by the way) walked to the fountain, pecked at the red nipple, got some water on her/his beak and began pecking and drinking more.  Within moments the others were so curious that they each came up my gravel mountains and pecked at the nipples as well.  That was all the training they needed.  They've been using the Chicken Fountain exclusively ever since.  I'm happy, and they seem to be happy as well.

Here are the baby chicks using the fountain.  This was taken on day one!  (In this video you will see my PVC feeder [see the DIY instructions here] mounted on the front of the Chicken Fountain...I thought it best to keep food and water close together.  That may change as they get older.)

If you don't like the idea of your chickens drinking poopy water, or you're tired of the chore of cleaning and refilling your water containers all too often, then you should seriously consider the Chicken Fountain.  It works exactly like it's suppose to and even has a special port at the top to add ACV (apple cider vinegar) or other medications.  The size that I got holds 1-1/2 gallons of water so you add the medication or ACV for that quantity of water, shut off the water so as they drink it, it will not be further diluted.  Then just monitor the water level until the medication has all been consumed.  Then turn the water back on (slowly) and they get fresh water again.

The company has Awesome customer support (replies to your emails really fast), and they include everything you need in the box.  I even sent them feedback about their product with some issues that I ran into (because of my own lack of mechanical skills) and they not only took the feedback in a positive way, they used it to improve their already great instructions for future customers, who like me, might need a little extra explanation.  I highly recommend the Chicken Fountain!

Disclaimer: I was not compensated in any way for this product review.  I was not given a product to test and review.  I simply bought a great product that I wanted to share with other chicken keepers.

Keeper of 1 husband, 2 grandkids, 3 dogs,
3 cats, and 17 Chickens!

 

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