Reviews of the chicken fountain product?

[lynnehd]

The water under the fountain doesn't bother me as much as worrying that they get enough water. Since the fountain is attached to the fence there's no room under it for a tray or pan. They would step on it every time they got a drink. That water would get dirty real quick.

Well, in that case, it doesn't really matter if the water spills out as they use the nipples.
The dampness underneath proves they are drinking it, and by moving water through it more rapidly, they are keeping the water fresher.

 

[mrosspitt]

I have a large piece of patio slate under my fountain to keep the ground from getting wet. They still kick some bedding into the water drops but not much. You would need to bury the supply hose to keep it cooler. Hoses above the ground are how some places heat their swimming pools around here(circulating the water through a network of hoses laying on the ground in the sun).

 

[lynnehd]

I have a large piece of patio slate under my fountain to keep the ground from getting wet. They still kick some bedding into the water drops but not much. You would need to bury the supply hose to keep it cooler. Hoses above the ground are how some places heat their swimming pools around here(circulating the water through a network of hoses laying on the ground in the sun).

Yes, I have a paver under mine, so the sand in the run doesn't get wet, and did bury my hose from the faucet as well.

 

[pfields]

The chicken fountain works fine but...if you live where it's really hot and have no place to put it in the shade or inside your run/coop it's probably not for you. We've double insulated our water hose with $40 worth of tube insulation and the garden hose is still hot inside the tubes. I've got an umbrella over the fountain and I've been putting frozen water bottles in the top but the water is so hot they melt quickly. My husband plans on burying the water hose which will be a huge job due to the heat and hard clay soil here in Texas and the distance from the house and then the fountain will still be in the sun and need shade. I didn't realize the white PVC would still absorb so much heat, even the water grade hose we used inside the insulation tubes is white.

None of this is the fault of the fountain itself, it works, but if you live where it's hot and have no shade for it, you might not want to try it.

I've been putting a frozen milk gallon jug of water inside my 5 gallon side nipple bucket water container several times a day just to provide them with cool water. They literally run to it after I put the lid back on.

My plan was for the fountain to be their only source of water but we can see that's not going to work until it gets cold and where we live here on the coast of Texas that won't be until November. We even have the AC on sometimes at Christmas.

 

[lynnehd]

The chicken fountain works fine but...if you live where it's really hot and have no place to put it in the shade or inside your run/coop it's probably not for you. We've double insulated our water hose with $40 worth of tube insulation and the garden hose is still hot inside the tubes. I've got an umbrella over the fountain and I've been putting frozen water bottles in the top but the water is so hot they melt quickly. My husband plans on burying the water hose which will be a huge job due to the heat and hard clay soil here in Texas and the distance from the house and then the fountain will still be in the sun and need shade. I didn't realize the white PVC would still absorb so much heat, even the water grade hose we used inside the insulation tubes is white.

Is there any way you could move the fountain to the shade? Extend the hose? How about shade cloth against the wire where the fountain is, then the umbrella over it?
It seems like any water container would get hot in the sun in those temps?

 

[pfields]

It's been hotter than normal here and it hasn't been that windy, when the wind gets back to normal that umbrella will be history. It's attached to the fence with zip ties right now.

The only shade in our yard is way in the back where I have their mister set up. My water hose for water use only won't go that far back and it would be that much more hose to bury in the ground, we're talking burying a line across half an acre. I like the fact that it's up against the fence close to the patio so I can keep an eye on it and change out the frozen water bottles without walking across half acre of poop multiple times a day, lol.

Hopefully we'll come up with a solution to the heat problem and then I can enjoy the fountain.

 

[JayJo]

What did you use to insulate your garden hose? I'm wondering if it would work to make a long slit in some of those pool noodles you can get at the dollar store and insulate it that way?

We're just installing our Chicken Fountain and it's been unusually hot here so I'm sure we'll have the same issue. Eventually we'll bury the supply hose but it's been drought here for so long that the ground is rock solid so I'd like to wait until it rains to dig that trench.

 

[pfields]

We did use some noodles that were really thick and then some that we bought at the hardware store for pipes. I'm not sure how long the noodles will last so we bought enough of the gray pipe insulators to use if they break down. We do plan on burying the hose but the ground is hard and dry right now and the fountain itself will still be in the sun under the umbrella.

 

[lynnehd]

...

It's been hotter than normal here and it hasn't been that windy, when the wind gets back to normal that umbrella will be history. It's attached to the fence with zip ties right now.

My, that sounds very difficult!
What about zip tying a piece of wood to the wire (holes drilled), in front of the Chicken Fountain, , once the umbrella is toast? Just to block the sun?

 

[pfields]

That's the next step, building some kind of cover. The dollars just seem to add up trying to fix the fountain to be in the shade. One purchase leads to another and another.

The fountain works but considering all the problems with the heat, burying the water hose, buying insulation for the water hose, I wouldn't purchase it again. I could just keep using my white bucket with horizontal nipples with frozen jugs of water, in fact I'm going to make another one so I can be sure they have cold water.