automatic waterers - yay or nay?

[Jemima_P]

We're moving this week - current place is all buckets, nightmare filling up today as everything is frozen solid.

New yard we've bought has automatic drinkers in fields, all pipes lagged so no freezing, I love them!! Still have buckets in stables though.

At work it's all buckets for 6 horses and a long walk to the tap with no hose... It's a killer. Getting water to the fields is another matter..
The stallion has an automatic drinker in his stable but fills it with hay and whatever else so needs to be scrubbed most days..

All a bit of a mess! Can't wait to be in the new yard next week

 

[Mike007]

I hate them. I have seen a good number of colics caused either by poluted drinkers or drinkers that have stopped working and nobody has checked.

 

[wyrdsister]

The yard I'm at has them, but neither of my two will touch them, so I end up hauling trugs in for them anyway.... Oh well, at least I can keep an eye on their water intake.

 

[Fuzznugget]

I've had both in my stables. And to be honest prefer buckets. That way I can monitor water intake and don't have to worry about frozen or burst pipes

Same. I like being able to see how much they are (or aren't) drinking, and that isn't possible with automatic ones.

In the field wouldn't be without automatic again, in stables I think they get a bit yucky and break too easily.

Do love the big ones in the field though! Makes it a lot easier when it's muddy, which around here is pretty often unfortunately. PITA when themps plummet and everything freezes though.

 

[Cortez]

I hate them. I have seen a good number of colics caused either by poluted drinkers or drinkers that have stopped working and nobody has checked.

But this is not the fault of the waterers, surely? I clean mine out weekly at least, or whenever they need it. And if nobody's checking the automatics, why would you trust them to refill buckets?

 

[curio]

took mine out big lad couldnt get a proper drink out of them and whould stand next to the tap in the yard looking for more, theyre a pain to clean, often flooding especially when they rubbed on them, or the float turned turtle, young horse just played and dunked all his hay in it clogging it up so it wouldnt stop running. I now haw a triangle feed manger in a bracket on the wall with a boxed tap above for filling, so much easier holds 3 buckets of water, can get a big drink, easy to fill, and easy to lift out to scrub

 

[spotty_pony]

I do like them, as long as they are maintained and kept clean there is no reason why they aren't a good asset to a stable. They are a pain in this weather when they freeze though!

 

[Delicious_D]

We have automatic waterers on our yard, never had any issues and in very cold/hot weather the yard supplies and extra bucket, just in case!

 

[eggs]

We have large rectangular drinkers (holds two buckets of water) with a plug for easy draining and clearing. Wouldn't be without them. Pipes are insulated and I can turn the water off to them if it looks like we will have a heavy frost.

I don't worry about not being able to monitor their water intake as they are in the fields all day and I can't monitor their water intake when they are out.

In 12 years I have never had a problem with them coming off the wall (and one of my horses virtually sits on his!), horses colicking.

 

[Marydoll]

Theyve good and bad points, ive used both buckets and auto drinkers.
For speed and convenience autos all the way, mine have been great never froze, even in the coldest weather, i use a baby bottle brush you can bend to clean the awkward bits no probs. never had them knocked off, but had them dunged in .... Not a pleasant cleaning job ( boak ) but i can drain and clean in 5-6 mins, i do them every 3-4 days. I hear them drinking when they refill but cant see their intake
Buckets, always freeze in really cold weather, i have had them pulled out of tyres and flooded stables, i hate lugging them around and theyre time consuming, the only positive for me is you see what theyre drinking

 

[MrsNorris]

I loved automatics at first, until my horse decided that it was his own personal loo and started dumping in it!! It was a nightmare to clean and for some reason he crapped in it regularly even though he has never crapped in his water bucket!

So i ended up with the worst of both, a filthy, smelly "toilet" to clean almost every day, plus water buckets to hump around to boot!!

I now have just buckets, thank goodness.