Don't buy this waterer.

[JoeInPA]

Just a fair warning so that hopefully none of you make the same mistake I did. Don't buy this waterer. They sell it at Tractor Supply. It is made by Farm Innovators and is model HPF-100.

https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/farm-innovators-heated-poultry-fount

I don't usually write bad product reviews but I absolutely despise this turd.

1. It leaks. All the time. The water slowly goes down and because the reservoir doesn't seal tight to the base.

2. It has a plug to pull from the bottom so you can fill it without removing the reservoir. Nice idea, but it's really difficult to fill it from the bottom because the whole thing is attached to a power cord with limited reach. And when you do flip it over, the reservoir usually pops off and spills any water that was left in it. And even if the reservoir doesn't pop off, you are guaranteed too spill all of the water that is in the base. Even if you do use the plug in the bottom, the hole is so small you would definitely need a funnel to fill it.

3. If you are like me and power your heated waterer by running an extension cord to it, you will likely want to use electrical tape on the connection between the extension cord and the waterer. Which means you can't easily disconnect the red base to take it inside and wash it because the cord doesn't disconnect from the base. So any cleaning you do to the base has to be done outside in the coop unless you want to untape the extension cord, unplug it, take it inside and wash it, then bring it back out, plug it in and refill it every time.

4. When you finally get it filled, it's a pain to reinstall the base with the reservoir upside down because the reservoir is thin plastic and it flexes a ton so it doesn't line up easily.

5. When you finally get the base on, and you go to flip it over, the base usually pops off because it fits so loosely. Then you have a mucky muddy mess in the run, your shoes and pants are soaked and your birds still don't have any water.

All in all this is just a terrible design. Please learn from me and don't frustrate yourself by purchasing it.

 

[pennyJo1960]

I use home depot buckets, horizontal nipples and aquarium heaters
here buy the nipples at Amazon like 20 at time bit of a learning curve teaching one at time to them no crap in the bucket don't put the lid super tight

 

[21hens-incharge]

I use $5 plastic one gallon dog water dishes. In 10+ years of pouring hot water over the frozen dishes I have yet to have one crack from it.

More work?.....maybe not so much if the fancy heated one is such a pain.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Wow that's pretty costly if it doesn't work well. A simple heated dog bowl should work with less hassle, if you prefer an open water bowl. If you're looking for a ready to go option with nipples, I use this one: https://www.backyardchickens.com/reviews/premier-1-heated-poultry-waterer.11903/ It's not perfect (nothing is) but overall works fairly well.

 

[gtaus]

Yep, I saw this model on a Youtube video on Worst Poultry Waterer EVER!!!.

 

[The Moonshiner]

I use $5 plastic one gallon dog water dishes. In 10+ years of pouring hot water over the frozen dishes I have yet to have one crack from it.

More work?.....maybe not so much if the fancy heated one is such a pain.

I like the rubber bowls. Can't crack them with hot water either and you can flip them and stomp on them to remove most of the ice.

 

[The Moonshiner]

Wow that's pretty costly if it doesn't work well. A simple heated dog bowl should work with less hassle, if you prefer an open water bowl. If you're looking for a ready to go option with nipples, I use this one: https://www.backyardchickens.com/reviews/premier-1-heated-poultry-waterer.11903/ It's not perfect (nothing is) but overall works fairly well.

Pretty costly even if they did work.

 

[JoeInPA]

It is very expensive for something that didn't work well at all. It did keep the water from freezing so I'll give it that but not much else.

I thought about going to a nipple type waterer. For stuff like this I'd prefer to just buy something that is ready to plug in.

I guess I would probably have to teach/show them how to use the nipple type waterer. For now I just have my original Harris Farms 5 quart waterer set up on a cinder block.

https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/harris-farms-poultry-drinker-5-qt

I don't really like the open water bowls, the chickens make a mess out of it pretty quickly.

I just want something I can grab easily without spilling, take inside, clean and fill it, and take it back outside without spilling. It'd be really great if I can quickly and easily top it off without taking it inside.

 

[aart]

Hate any flip over waterer....got my bird on HN's by the second year.

I just carry out a half gallon to refill this every morning:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/aarts-heated-waterer-with-horizontal-nipples.67256/

 

[rosemarythyme]

I thought about going to a nipple type waterer. For stuff like this I'd prefer to just buy something that is ready to plug in.

I guess I would probably have to teach/show them how to use the nipple type waterer.

I just want something I can grab easily without spilling, take inside, clean and fill it, and take it back outside without spilling. It'd be really great if I can quickly and easily top it off without taking it inside.

Not ideal to have to train birds to a nipple waterer in winter (I had to do it late fall last year, as that's when the waterer I wanted became available) but since you have another waterer to use right now, you can probably let them access both options while you switch over. Make sure that you aim for a horizontal nipple set up, as they're less prone to freezing than vertical nipples.

For winter I just grab a gallon jug (milk jug, water jug, whatever you have) and fill the waterer on the spot that way. Not going to unplug and lug a waterer around if I don't have to.