Some stoneware waterers were marked identifying the maker, but many were not. And redware is more fragile and that is at least part of the explanation for why there are not more examples extant today. It was expensive to ship the more desirable stoneware clay from great distances. Redware waterers may have been the earliest available on the American pioneering homestead as the frontier potters may have had no other choice than to dig local clay. The clay used in stoneware was not as widely available to potters as the earthenware used for redware. A few were redware, and perhaps glazed on the inside only. Many were stoneware with a Bristol glaze, as shown in the pushed-in image above. Today, the vast majority of the chicken waterers found are molded, rather than hand-thrown.Įarly pottery waterers were stoneware, with a salt glaze, such as the West Troy Pottery and the A. Later the waterer was molded like jugs, rather than hand-thrown, and then modified again to make it into a chicken waterer. This West Troy Pottery waterer (CW127) has an open top, which is a bit unusual. The top of the jug could have been sealed during making, or left open to be used as a fill-hole and then corked securely to not allow any air to enter after the jug was filled with water. In other cases the top jug and the bottom plate are created as one-piece by the potter, as in this example made by Austin. This created the dish portion as part of the jug, not requiring a second piece to make it functional. Though sometimes the bowl or dish at the base was made by just pushing in part of the jug wall, and then extending the inner jug wall down lower than the base rim, as in the example below. As long as the hole near the bottom of the jug was lower than the top lip of the dish, water would fill the dish but stop flowing out of the jug before overflowing the dish. There would be a small hole at the bottom of the jug and the opening at the top would most likely have been plugged.Īfter being filled with water, the 'jug' would be place in a dish, resembling a pie plate. Waterers of this design could have been two pieces that would have started out as a jug. These were followed by pottery waterers, hand-thrown by the regional or local potter. Or, perhaps more likely farmers used whatever materials were available. Variations on these devices could have been in use well before these dates, but these are the earliest I’ve found so far.īased on these early illustrations coopers were involved in making the container or receptacle used as the water reservoir. The same design principles are employed in many of the chicken waterers available for purchase today in your nearby farm store.īelow are several illustrations of early examples, found in publications dating from 18. The described design made it safer for chicks and kept the water cleaner for all poultry. If the water is for small chicks, they could easily fall into a larger trough or bowl, and drown or get sick from being wet and cold. As the chickens drink from the tray, the water level recedes which allows air to enter the container holding the water reserve, and permits water to flow out and fill the tray again until the water level covers the exit hole.Ī device like this is needed for chickens and other poultry because just putting water in a trough or bowl would quickly be dirtied by the poultry walking in it. If the level of the water in the tray is above the hole in the container, air can not enter the reservoir and no more water can flow out. The concept is to have a reservoir of water with a small outlet at the bottom which allows water from that container to flow into a tray or dish at the base. Sometimes called poultry fountains, but commonly called chicken waterers, these devices of various designs and materials have been in use for a long time.
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