Getting horses used to auto drinkers.

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not_with_it

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YO has recently installed automatic drinkers in the stables. As Gin has always had buckets I asked that she still had a bucket in until she got used to using the drinker. My plan was to reduce the amount of water in her bucket so she had to use the drinker.
She is still drinking the bucket dry and wont use the drinker. Someone accidently turned the drinkers off the other night and while the horses drinkers were empty in the morning, Gins was still full so I know shes not using it.
How do I encourage her to use her drinker? I dont want to take the bucket out until I know she will use the drinker as she will go the night without water. Im not sure if its the noise it makes when it fills up that scares her.

Any suggestions?
 
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Take the bucket away. Instinct is a wonderful thing. She'll drink!!

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Ditto! She'll soon figure it out when theres nothing else to drink, my lot did
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This is an option but I wouldnt put it past Gin to wait until she goes out in the morning to have a drink.
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Once she has drunk her bucket dry she still wont use the drinker.
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My old boy has an auto drinker and will use it if he really really has to but prefers a bucket
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.... his drinker used to get covered in dust so I knew that he used to wait until he went out to the field in the morning
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Why should she try and use while she's still got buckets in there which is what she is used too? When you are around what about taking the buckets out, she may use auto drinker if she's not got a choice?
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Some horses dont like the noise of it filling up, but they should get used to it. Mo knew straight away how to use the nudge version which is great as there is no water sitting in the bowl.
 
When we had water drinkers installed on a yard of 40 ponies not one of them had a problem with them, we just took their buckets away so they had to drink from it. You could try turning it off and using it as a feed manger for a few days so it's not so scary anymore.
 
I had to do as Bossanova said and take Jacks bucket away.

He'd been there 9 weeks and was still refusing to go near it at all.

Took the bucket out and baam.. he was fine.

While ever you leave a bucket in there, the horse wont switch, i can almost guarentee it
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Well in my case when I moved yards all my previous horses knew more or less straight away to drink from them, so I didn't give it a 2nd thought about my new lad.Over the course of a few days I was getting less and less wet bed and he became slightly lethargic so called vet out who said he was slightly dehydrated. I put a large bucket in and whoa he just downed it, and to tis day some 7 months later he doesn't use the automatic drinker.

So I think if a horse doesn't really like them, they will not use them and taking his bucket away might not be the answer either, just be careful
 
Tried the taking bucket away with my lad, and apples in it and ribena in it - nothing doing - waiting until he went out in the morning for 5 days - decided then to stick with buckets.

Even tried holding his fav sweet in my hand under the water but he was petrified of the noise of it filling.

He was good at pooping in to though - I just switched it of and stuck with buckets.

Personally I don't like drinkers unless they have a flow meter so I can see what horse is drinking. Also saw a nasty accident when a horse reared at the horse next door and came down on the pipe into the drinker - horse went ballistic and no one knw where the stop cock was - ended up going through stable wall and damaging itself quite badly - obv anyone with any sense puts stop valeves in before each drinker but when yards are built on the cheap ...
 
Well tonight I tried feeding carrots next to it and she wouldnt go near it. I have left a carrot in the drinker but I can guarantee it will still be there tomorrow. I will keep at it and see what happens.

Thanks guys
 
take the bucket away - horses have a knack of finding water and will drink from the automatic one....Ty had never seen one that I know of and went straight over to it when he moved to another yard last year!
 
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