RentACoop 2-Liter(67oz) Heated Poultry Waterer for Chickens/Pigeon/Quail/etc

I apologize to RentAcoop I thought my heated waterer did not heat and it was on list to be returned.yesterday I heard from a different company that theirs does not heat until it gets very cold. So with the weather still warm the RentACoop heat did not kick on. On my way out the door to return product something in the back of my mind urged me to try one more time but with ice water. So I did, and the RentACoop started heating so mine is not broken. There is nothing in description nor instructions explaining this So there was no way for me to know this until winter... or an ice-water test. Mine does leak but there are ways I can fix this with silicone tape and/or silicone caulk. So I will be keeping this it fits in the HT plastic quail cage I keep in the shed If it fits the W metal cage I will get another one but so far it doesn't seem to unless I take apart the cage.

During the latest cold snap when it was below zero Fahrenheit, my water froze. I reached out to the company, and they helped solve my problem and really exceeded my expectations. This is a great company to work with. If you are in a very cold climate, I would recommend you get the new version.

I first installed this on the outside of my hardware cloth fence in the run. You have to attach it first, then screw the nipple on from the inside of the run. But the box remains outside, makes it easy to refill. Luckily my chickens figured it out instantly, so that was not a problem.But I decided to install it inside the coop, so if I didn't get out to let them out first thing in the morning they would have access to water. That wasn't quite as easy. They do provide a bracket to screw into the wood wall of the coop. But the cord for the heating portion is kind of in the way, and now the flip up top which was very easy from the outside, flips up facing the wall. I was still able to fill it with a 1 liter plastic water bottle and pour it in, but it takes a little manuevering to get around the lid.All in all, I am happy with this space saving little waterer. I haven't heated it yet, so no opinion on that.

We were looking for a chicken waterer that you could mount on the outside of the chicken pen to make filling easier, and this was the only one we found. It words great - we simply reverse the container on the mounting bracket, so the container is on the outside but the nozzle is towards the inside of the cage - the chickens can reach it just fine and we can fill with out going into the pen. The heater function works well also, no issues all winter.

Let me start by saying I love rentacoop products normally. I have lots of their other products and they work great. But I bought several of these heated waterers last year for my chicken tractors thinking I could just line them up for winter, plug them into an extension cord and be good until spring. Unfortunately they didn't make it through the winter. All but 1 waterers froze up and some cracked, making them unusable. The ones that didn't crack, I noticed through the summer, with the more transparent material (more transparent than their other waterers) algae grew pretty quickly. So weren't even really up to just being a regular waterer. So all in all not worth it.

Freezes at night . I put a thermostats plug in to outlet so it would only turn on if got below 35, the watered still freezes at drinking spout . So I took it off & still freezes at drinking spout . It is in bottom of coup with protective wind break barrier & still freezes . Really ticks me off! Temp at 18 & frozen this morning , not inside but the small little spout . So what good is it . We still have to go thaw it out . Guess back to the big round water .

I have had chickens before and rabbits and have used this kind of waterer so I felt comfortable with buying one when I went to quail. However, quail will not drink enough water and want to all drink at the same time not taking turns well. It's just the nature of quails. I bought it ahead of time when I got the fertilized eggs, by the time I realized they won't use it my window for returning the product had passed. That's a lot of money that won't do the job.

It seems to be providing water even as most everything is frozen.