Drinking Post Waterer
This unique horse waterer is a non-electric, automatic waterer that remains frost free year-round. It’s on-demand feature eliminates freezing in the winter and pooling for insect eggs such as mosquitoes. A very simple design that’s easy to install, this waterer is a perfect fit for every farm and ranch.
Pictures of the paddle and reservoir
All animals, whether livestock, equine or pets, require a constant supply of fresh water year-round to remain healthy and we have a great design that provides automatic fresh water without the risk of freezing or pooling.
Waterer Health Benefits
The unique on-demand feature of the Drinking Post horse waterer fills up a small bowl and that means not standing water and no electricity required in the winter months to keep the water from freezing. If you currently use troughs, buckets or a system with a float, you are creating a breeding area for mosquitoes and other disease carrying insect to breed and later possible infect your animals. The bowl feature of the drinking post eliminates these dangers, prevents freezing and means no more scrubbing of algae in waterers!
The water remains cool and fresh in the summer from the underground supply ambient temperature of approximately 50 degrees, and won’t freeze in the winter. No more electrical heating elements in your water tanks are necessary.
Livestock and especially horses need a fresh supply of water to maintain and control their temperature, flush toxins from their bodies, help digest feed, assist with milk production, lubricate their joints, saliva, maintain a healthy nervous system and create a healthy animal that can enjoy exercise. With all of these health benefits in mind, making sure your equine and livestock have access to clean water all the time is essential for their over-all well-being.
Benefits of Non-electric Waterers for Horses
The drinking post waterer requires no electricity to operate or stay ice free in the coldest of winters. Removing the electrical requirement from your waterer will:
- lower your electric bill
- do away with the risk of an electric shock
- cattle-trough immersion heaters had a recall in 2009 due to electrical shock risk
- constant water temperature year-round
- fire risk eliminated – electric heaters can have faulty wiring or be abused by animals
Fire Dangers of waterer heaters:
“With a floating trough heater “young” or “mouthy” horses will play with them like bath toys, chewing on them or ultimately flipping them our of the trough and onto the ground. Also, because heat rises, this type of heater does not work well on deeper troughs in extremely cold climates. Ice will still form at the lower depths, keeping the overall temperature colder than ideal.
A short in the system could cause the unit to quit working. Worse, it could electrify the water, creating a shocking effect when your horse tries to take a drink….And of course, make sure electrical cords are well out of reach. If a horse chews through an electrical cord, it may be the last thing he ever chews on!” (November 2000 issue of Horse Illustrated)
“Electric water heating coils can pose a problem if they are not attended because once the water has boiled out the coil will continue to heat the bucket, allowing heat to transfer to adjacent materials. In November of 2000, twenty Standardbreds lost their lives in a fire whose cause was believed to be a portable submersible electric water heater… Before you add heat—for whatever reason—please carefully consider if it’s really necessary.” (http://www.firesafetyinbarns.com/20-electricalapps.html)
Health Benefits of no standing or stagnant water
If you’ve ever used a trough or large reservoir for your animal’s water supply then you know all too well about how the quality of that water quickly deteriorates. Birds, bird feces, rodents, insects and all types of critters can ruin the supply almost as quickly as you can fill the tank. This creates obvious health hazards from the horses and livestock drinking from the same water source.
Stagnant water can contribute to:
- Increase illnesses – especially from mosquitoes, such as West Nile Virus
- Leptospriosis
- Moonblindness
If you pull your water from a public utility, it’s generally monitored regularly and can be assumed to be a safe water supply for your horses. If coming from a well, as most rural areas do, it’s usually a good idea to monitor that supply yearly as a precaution. Both water sources are far more preferable to any type of standing water.
Given the number of pesticides, fertilizers and even the use of toxic chemicals in rural farming areas, it is important to monitor your water sources for contamination.
West Nile Virus
Mosquitoes are a very efficient carrier and transmitter of West Nile Virus and the Eastern and Western Equine Encephalitis. The best and easiest way to prevent the infection of your animals is to eliminate the mosquito as a constant presence in your watering area. This is effectively accomplished by removing any standing water where they can breed and spread the disease. Traditional watering methods of tanks, buckets etc., all allow for eggs to be deposited and hatch creating more carriers and compounding the problem, thus increasing the risk of infection. Using the drinking post will remove this breeding ground because there is never any standing water for the insects to multiply in. The bowl is empty when not in use and is not habitable. This also removes the bird feces and other hidden water contamination dangers of standing water troughs.
West Nile Virus Symptoms
Typical symptoms of West Nile in horses and livestock include:
- Muscle twitching
- Muscle weakness
- Fever
- Sleepiness
- Seizures
- Loss of Coordination
There is currently no cure for the West Nile Virus and horses that contract the virus can only be treated to help control the symptoms and it may take several months of a difficult recovery to get back to health. The mortality rate of infect equine is near 30%.
West Nile Areas
The CDC or Center for Disease Control documented current and past reports of WNV on their website. This large area shows there really isn’t a safe area from the disease. Anywhere there are mosquito, WNV is a danger to horses and livestock.
Give your horses and animals the cleanest water supply possible for their over-all health and your peace of mind with the Drinking Post from Barn World and remember that Barn World is your home for all your farm and ranch supplies – from cattle guards to saddle pads we can help with all your livestock supplies.
Barn World (720) 238-2190
