Learned the hard way about those cheap plastic waterers from Tractor Supply

I picked up one of those $15 plastic waterers for the coop last spring. Thought I was saving a few bucks over the metal ones. By July, the plastic had warped in the sun and the water level thing stopped working right. My girls ended up going without water for a whole day while I was at work because the lid popped off and dumped everything out. I lost about $15 on the waterer itself, but the real cost was the vet visit when two of them got dehydrated and one stopped laying for three weeks. Switched to a galvanized steel one from a local farm supply place for $35 and it's been fine for over a year now. Anyone else have a similar experience with those plastic waterers?

2 comments

2 Comments

nina1801mo ago

I bought one of those Tractor Supply specials and I swear that thing warped before I even got it home from the parking lot. The little float arm broke off on day three, I had to duct tape it back together which worked for about a week. Then the whole thing cracked right down the side when the temp dropped in the fall. My chickens started treating it like a weird plastic swimming pool they couldn't fit in. I call it the $15 lesson in why you don't skimp on something your birds drink out of every single day.

maxm501mo ago

Did your friend try the rubber feed pan trick or nah?