Sponsored Post Looking for a way to get fresh water to your chickens?

[JenniO11]

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This content is sponsored by The Chicken Fountain

Need fresh water? Check out these BYC member reviews of The Chicken Fountain!

Here at BYC, we always love the opportunity to get to know our sponsors and their awesome products. They are the reason we get to keep our site free for everyone, and not only that, they’re ALL so fun to work with and care so much about chickens, just like we do! One of our newest sponsors, The Chicken Fountain, offered two of our members the opportunity to try out their product!

Here’s a message from Frank, the inventor of the Chicken Fountain:

“I love having backyard chickens but hated the task of cleaning the water bowls and refilling them. Vacations were hard to plan because finding people that were available to keep the chickens watered was not easy. Summers were the worst because the chickens needed more water and the water in the dish would evaporated more quickly due to the heat. Not to mention how unhealthy it was for our dogs, goats and other farm animals to drink the water that was full of bird droppings! I set my mind to build a system that was easy to install, provided a constant flow of clean water, and was completely maintenance free. I spent many nights in the barn working on this concept and, quite frankly, failed a number of times. Then it hit me! Why not just make a passive flow unit that could be hooked up to the garden hose?? There wouldn’t be pressure regulators to fail, no start up high pressure, no manually refilling buckets…Just cool, clean water every time the chickens went to drink. I finally perfected the unit and felt so strongly about it that I wanted to make it available to every flock owner that hates cleaning the mess of dirty, unhealthy water dishes. We provide an abundance of clean fresh water to the flock and we save the flock owner a great deal of time by no longer cleaning out dirty water dishes. The Chicken Waterer can be hooked up to a hose and automatically refill itself, or it can be used in a manual mode so it can be refilled manually. Our system even lets you add wormers, supplements or apple cider vinegar directly into the system. Please visit our website at www.chickenfountain.com.”

We sent Kevin (Kevin565) and Kelly (HappyChooks) The Chicken Fountain and asked them to install it, try it out with their birds, and let us know what they thought. Here’s what they had to say!

From Kevin, aka Kevin565:

I've definitely enjoyed the experience even more than I expected.

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Overall the Chicken Fountain was an excellent product. It was extremely easy to assemble. It took approximately 5 minutes to put the structure together. Unlike most poultry related instructions these directions were very straightforward and easy to understand. The thing that separates this waterer from the competition would have to be the easily removable lid. This made worming the birds a breeze compared to traditional waterers. Since the water could not be splashed out by playing in it the wormer remained much less diluted and less of the mixture was wasted.

This cap also allows for an easy fix to warm water. While this waterer does replenish itself, it still gets rather warm in the Texas heat. Thanks to the lid, ice cubes can easily be added to water to keep it cold. Cold water is crucial during the summer down South.

Also, on the website this product was marketed towards a variety of fowl. While it can be used for several species besides chickens I honestly do not believe geese should be included… However, the waterer worked perfectly for my Turkey. He doesn't latch on to the entire nipple like the geese and took to it much quicker. I think this product would be perfect for all other types of fowl.




Easy Access Lid:





From Kelly, aka HappyChooks:

When it arrived in the mail, I will admit that I was a little surprised by the [short] length of the installation instructions. I began putting it together. The assembly was easy and the pipe glue necessary was included with the fountain. The only modification I had to make was to elongate the marks on the smaller pipes, so when I put them together with the main housing unit, I could still see the marks to line them up.

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So then I went on to installation at my coop. I decided on a nice shady spot that would work well for my birds and went to work. The instructions state to place the unit 12-18 inches off the ground. The location I chose was perfect for the this, as we are on a hill, so the top nipple is at 12 inches and the bottom one is at 18 inches. I misread the instructions on how to place the hooks, but I was able to easily correct it. The installation went smoothly and much easier than I anticipated. I did install it backwards on purpose as my hens hang out under the coop during the day, so I faced it so the waterer nipples were towards them.



I connected the hose and had a minor drip coming from the main housing unit at the base of the pipe where the threads come out. I tightened the plastic bolt that attaches there and the drip issue was fixed.

I was concerned that getting my chickens to use the fountain might be difficult, as chickens don't take to new things well. I was prepared to work with them the day after installation and went up with the training rubber bands included to start getting them to use it. It turned out to be unnecessary because within a day they had trained themselves to use it. Even the 7 week old chicks are using it.

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The turkeys are enjoying it as well. Though they play in it more than they drink.

Overall, this fountain was easy to install and use. We have had days in the mid 90's during our use of the fountain, and even in the hottest part of the day, the water has stayed cool. I am very pleased with this product and I am planning to add one for my other coop.






You can learn more about the Chicken Fountain or get one of your own by visiting their website here!

Or “Like” them and visit their Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/TheChickenFountain!

 

[Nifty-Chicken]

How fantastic! I've really wanted to install something like this for our chickens, and seeing the kit makes me want to try it even more.

Thanks to Kevin565 and HappyChooks for testing out these products and to www.chickenfountain.com for their support of our community!

 

[meowmmy65]

What about winter? I have visions of a frozen hose and exploding pipes in the house!

 

[Kevin565]

The PVC Pipe used is excellent quality. I don't think people with mild winters would have to worry about it freezing.

 

[chickensman98]

What about winter? I have visions of a frozen hose and exploding pipes in the house!

ya, i wonder what you would have to do then??

 

[Tigertrea]

What about winter? I have visions of a frozen hose and exploding pipes in the house!

My very first thought. I do not usually have mild winters.

 

[ADozenGirlz]

The PVC Pipe used is excellent quality. I don't think people with mild winters would have to worry about it freezing.

The water and nipples would freeze in cold climates if the optional heater accessory were not used, the high quality of the PVC pipe notwithstanding.

 

[TheChickenFount]

Hey guys, my name is Frank Cardaropoli and I would like to address your issues about the winters and operation in cold months.
We will soon be releasing a "heater kit" for our system that will allow you to operate the system in the cold months of winter. It consist of a 200 watt heater that is placed into the vertical unit of the system. A new cap comes with the system to allow the electrical cord to be channeled out of the unit but still seal out the elements. Additionally something new and showing great results is a easy modification to the dripper itself. We have a way to transmit the warmth of the water all the way down into the dripper preventing the drippers from freeze ups. This is a new approach and we have been testing for a while now. Temperatures down to -2F have not frozen our drippers. We had a smaller heater for sale earlier but have pulled the item because of some issues we experienced under certain circumstances. I will not release the new system until I am certain that this kit will solve the issues of freeze ups on the dripper. Its easy to keep the water in the system from freezing it's a different story to keep the drippers from freezing and we think we have the solution!
In the meantime some customers have chosen to purchase a heat tape such as the Wrap On PVC coated 120 watt tape. This heat tape is fully coated in heavy duty PVC and can withstand water and cold temperatures. They wrap the heat tape around the system keeping it close to the drippers as they spiral the tape. They then cover the unit in Frost King Foil and Foam tape. It sounds complicated but it really is not and it works well.
To prevent the hose and spigot from freezing our customers have used the same heat tape on their garden hose while other have chosen to purchase heated garden hoses such as the K and H heated hose.
If you do not want to try and prevent the garden hose from freezing up you can always operate our system in the manual mode which would require you to manually refill the system through the top of the unit. Care has to be taken to ensure you are filling it daily..
I hope this answers some of your questions on our system and I appreciate the fact that you are interested in our design. If you should have any questions please feel free to email me at [email protected]

Have a wonderful evening.
Frank

 

[Marty1876]

Great reviews, gals! Very helpful and infromative.

 

[Melabella]

Hey guys, my name is Frank Cardaropoli and I would like to address your issues about the winters and operation in cold months.
We will soon be releasing a "heater kit" for our system that will allow you to operate the system in the cold months of winter. It consist of a 200 watt heater that is placed into the vertical unit of the system. A new cap comes with the system to allow the electrical cord to be channeled out of the unit but still seal out the elements. Additionally something new and showing great results is a easy modification to the dripper itself. We have a way to transmit the warmth of the water all the way down into the dripper preventing the drippers from freeze ups. This is a new approach and we have been testing for a while now. Temperatures down to -2F have not frozen our drippers. We had a smaller heater for sale earlier but have pulled the item because of some issues we experienced under certain circumstances. I will not release the new system until I am certain that this kit will solve the issues of freeze ups on the dripper. Its easy to keep the water in the system from freezing it's a different story to keep the drippers from freezing and we think we have the solution!
In the meantime some customers have chosen to purchase a heat tape such as the Wrap On PVC coated 120 watt tape. This heat tape is fully coated in heavy duty PVC and can withstand water and cold temperatures. They wrap the heat tape around the system keeping it close to the drippers as they spiral the tape. They then cover the unit in Frost King Foil and Foam tape. It sounds complicated but it really is not and it works well.
To prevent the hose and spigot from freezing our customers have used the same heat tape on their garden hose while other have chosen to purchase heated garden hoses such as the K and H heated hose.
If you do not want to try and prevent the garden hose from freezing up you can always operate our system in the manual mode which would require you to manually refill the system through the top of the unit. Care has to be taken to ensure you are filling it daily..
I hope this answers some of your questions on our system and I appreciate the fact that you are interested in our design. If you should have any questions please feel free to email me at [email protected]

Have a wonderful evening.
Frank

Hi Frank, and WELCOME TO BYC!!!!

This has me very interested as I head into my first winter with my small flock. Looks great, and I love the idea of the drippers. Keep the water clean. How much electricity does the new warmer use?

Thank you,

MB