Automatic water drinkers

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spacefaer

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Got a new horse who has come from a big yard where they had automatical drinkers.

He won't drink out of a bucket. Any bright ideas?

I can't give him a drinker, I've tried different sizes buckets and he'll drink from the trough in the field.
 
I'm possibly a bit harsh, but with some of the very spoilt rescue animals I've dealt with with similar issues, my attitude is that they'll soon learn!! (One puppy would only drink from a mug. Took her two weeks to get over it, with hydration level monitoring and wet food - but not mugs of water!)

He's drinking from a field trough, so you know he is getting water. Just leave him with a water bucket - if he's thirsty he'll soon learn to drink from it.

The only time this is a really bad idea is if you notice any odd behaviours with the bucket. Eg a horse that will eat out of a shallow feed skip but not a high sided bucket, behaviours like repeatedly approaching and retreating, dipping nose in and out of bucket without actually eating from it. This can be a sign of either some kind of remembered trauma or a real phobia.

However if he's just being fussy then stick with it, that's what I would do anyway.
 
We occasionally have the opposite. I have auto drinkers in all my fields and stables and sometimes we get horses in here who have only ever drank out of buckets. I just leave them to it. Horses aren't that stupid and they will drink when they need to in the end. Is the bucket you are using new? Some horses do not like the new smell of plastic buckets. I'd feed him out of the bucket a few times to get his smell on it and then switch it over to being his water bucket.
 
Thanks for the input. I have been inclined to let him work it out for himself!

It's an old bucket, clean tho. He's had fresh water and yesterday's water and not touched it. I'm reluctant to give him his feed in it, given that it's a trug bucket and he's already destroyed 2 eating his feed out of them :/
 
I worked on a yard that used these. They were never working - if they did, they were full of "sludge" which I tried to scoop out, but with different horses sharing the stables, it all seemed pretty rank. I always put buckets in anyway.
 
We installed some Paxton 45 Plastic corner Stable Water Drinkers. They are larger than the conventional metal ones each have a drain hole. We plumbed each one in with a plastic stop cock so the water supply can be switched off while they have their weekly clean out.

Our water is metered so has saved us a small fiortune.

They are very easy to install.
 
SpringFeather - yes, it's mains but so is the trough?

Theocat - good idea - I'll try it. :-)

OrangePepper - sadly I'm on a livery yard so can't install a drinker
 
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