I bought this for my brooder and it worked great. Put it up on a piece of wood to keep the bedding out. First place they rooted on so got pooped on quickly. Definitely more for chicks or as an extra water source for hens. My he s enjoy knocking it over and making a mess with it if it's in the coop. I now use it out of the coop for free ranging water source and inside the coop house if we have bad weather.