Horse pooping in water drinker - any ideas on how to stop?

[fabulousbeccaa]

Our warmblood has taken to pooping in his automatic water drinker every day - does anyone have any fantastic ideas on how we might be able to dissuade him from this? Drinker is on the back wall in the centre, so far we've put a huge bucket of water underneath (he just knocks it over), and stacked several bales of shavings under (he completely destroyed them over night!)

Injury from illness means lifting will always be difficult and painful for me from now on so wanting to avoid using buckets at all costs!

Our drinkers look like this: http://www.molevalleyfarmers.com/mv...20046~nw:u~rnd:18335984338658980829~dvc:c~adp:

 

[eggs]

Can't really help you but one of my horses used to do this very regularly (his drinker was on the side wall near the front of his stable) so I was forever having to empty it and clean it out (ours hold two buckets of water). Fortunately he just grew out of this habit and hasn't done it for years.

 

[ycbm]

Raise the height of it.

 

[Sussexbythesea]

Both of mine used to poo in the waterer regularly in one particular stable but now in different stables they’re in a position where they don’t do it. One still regularly poos in his manger though. Both waterer and now manger are in the corner furthest diagonally from the door. Now the waterers are in the corner directly opposite the door they don’t. So if you can reposition that may help.

 

[twiggy2]

Centre of the back wall is not the bestplace to have something you don't want the horse to poop in, I would have it moved to a front wall but not next to hay net or manager.

 

[Blazingsaddles]

Dirty article. I always place my waters near the door corner.

 

[JillA]

Centre of the back wall is not the bestplace to have something you don't want the horse to poop in, I would have it moved to a front wall but not next to hay net or manager.

I would have put it in a corner he can't get his bum into. But interestingly one of the horses on my yard used to always poo down her door. Now she has a free access stable she uses either of the side walls, she seems to need it to be right close to a wall or door. Maybe that's why, maybe he's another who needs a solid surface next to him?

 

[Fran'sMum]

Maybe he thinks it's a toilet!

 

[awelshandawarmblood]

I was on a yard once with large low set water drinkers & it was something I was faced with a few times a week, involved turning the supply off & then scooping it all out as there was no plug to drain it No option as raising it slightly as not allowed, but what I did find was that a little goldfish net you'd used to scoop a fish out from a bowl works brilliantly!! lol!!

 

[dogatemysalad]

Moving his hay to a different wall and making the bed to come from a side wall may help as it will change where he stands most. My horse used to do this every night in his water bucket. Although buckets are moveable, in practice the options for placing his bucket somewhere different were limited.

 

[w1bbler]

Horse at our yard did this when he had back end lameness, was using the waterer to perch on.

Try giving him a more comfortable perch & see if he uses that?

 

[Broodle]

Could you try putting a tyre or similar underneath, so that he can still reach to drink but can't get his back feet close enough to poo in the bowl?

 

[fabulousbeccaa]

Thanks everyone! Unfortunately moving is not an option as the barn is covered with asbestos sheeting on the outside and we can't risk disturbing it i.e. by extending existing water pipe or installing new one. We've stacked up bales of shavings under it, to see if he wants to perch on those, but he's been seen picking them up with his teeth and throwing them out the way to then just poop in the trough!! Then he has the bales kicked to pieces by morning....!
We've noted he first likes to scratch his bum before the pooping, so have bound the outer of the drinker bowl in a shavings bag - the russling musn't make the scratching quite as enjoyable, so he has stopped for now, but has had a good go at removing the plastic and will probably get it eventually...
He's got plenty of other places to scratch - there is a large vertical beam running up the back wall and small but thick metal edges running round the edges of the other walls at bum height, but they musn't be as good as that damn drinker. Maybe he was a hippo in a former life!