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Cattle farming is the most economical and largest demanding industry nowadays. Cattle have top value among livestock animals due to their leading benefits in the form of meat and milk. But raising cattle demands a lot of effort to optimize their diet plans for better body weight gaining and milk production.
The best cattle waterers are designed in such a way to keep the water clean and clear most of the time. They have a wide opening to let the cows ease during drinking. The automation of water makes them fill automatically and clean the dirty water in an advanced manner.
In this guide, I have added the best automatic waterers for cattle in terms of quality and working and I hope that they will work as promised.
In short, you would love the cattle waterers or water tubs. You will notice a great change in the health of cattle after installing the clean and readily available water source.
Let’s get started.
Best Cattle Waterer Reviews
- Best Overall – Ritchie Omni Fount 1
- Best Automatic waterer – Hi Cam Automatic Cow Drinking Water Bowl
- Best for Money – Behlen Country EF-4C 4-Hole
- Best stainless quality – Automatic Farm Grade Stainless Stock
- Best Automatic Heated Waterer – Ritchie Omni Fount 2 Automatic Heated Cattle
1. Ritchie Omni Fount 1 Automatic Heated Cattle Horse Waterer
Ritchie Omni Fount 1 Automatic waterer is a premium quality, automatic livestock waterer. It is a golden choice for a cattle farm having 20 heads of animals.
Ritchie is a well-known brand for manufacturing livestock management kits and waterers. The fame of this brand totally depends on the premium quality and durability of products.
Ritchie OmniFount 1 is the best cattle waterer, especially for the person searching for heated waterers. It is designed such that the inner trough is made of stainless steel to make it heated and outer poly units of a body kit to provide a premier livestock fountain.
The perfect thing about this waterer that makes it superior to others is the safety features like round edges and fully insulated casing for efficient transfer of energy.
It is featured with thermostatically controlled heat elements underside of the stainless steel trough to prevent the water from freezing.
You may say that it is the most valuable, compromising, durable, automatic, heated, and best cattle waterer for a small cattle farm.
2. HiCamer Automatic Cow Drinking Water Bowl Dispenser 304 Stainless Steel
HiCamer Automatic stainless steel Cow drinking bowl dispenser 304 models are made especially for the small farm having 1-5 animals. This waterer has 30% more water-saving and reduces the sewage of the farm.
It is made of top quality 304 stainless steel and 2.5L water holding capacity. The bowl has two holes to fix the flow controlling system.
To keep the water clean and clear for cattle and horses, all you need to do is place more filters at the entrance of the water fountain. When the water snout pushes the stem, that pulls the steel ball and ultimately the balls and gaps between the fountain.
The great benefit of this waterer is that you can put the liquid medicine in the bowl along with drinking water to make all the animals drink that medicine.
The edges of the steel bowl are designed so much wisely in a downward direction to prevent the dirt collection that can be bacterial onset. It does also protect the ears from getting caught and damaged with sharp edges.
Such safety features of this waterer make it money-saving and demanding among small farming persons.
3. Behlen Country EF-4C 4-Hole Energy-Free Waterer
Behlen Country EF-4C energy free waterer is the heavy foam insulated cattle waterer. It is the best cattle waterer to keep the water at perfect room temperature even in colder months.
It is designed in such a way that the insulating material keeps the groundwater stable to the temperature at which it enters until it is opened by an animal.
The body is designed in such an advanced manner to give a perfect view by installing at the farm along with all the advanced energy-free features. The energy free-floating balls are present on the opening that can be easily pushed down by any animal.
The premium feature of this water is the removable drain plugs and accessible covers for easy cleaning of waterer to keep the animals safe from any disease.
The water is refilled instantly and used with pressure lines from 25-55 p.s.i. You will need to but the pressure regulator separately.
The great thing is that it does not require any siphoning. It can be installed with any poly earth tube. The best practice is to install them in shaded areas in hot climates.
The durability and quality insurance can be assessed by a the5-year warranty of the body and a 1-year warranty of the valves and controls by the company. It shows the confidence of the manufacturer in its product.
4. Automatic Farm Grade Stainless Stock Waterer Horse Cattle
This is an automatic farm grade stainless steel stock waterer by rabbit nipple. Rabbitnipple waterers are famous waterers among farming persons due to their outstanding products.
It is an all-purpose, automated waterer, suitable for Horses, Cattle, Sheep, and Dogs. This automated stock waterer works safely between 1-50 psi.
The great thing about this product is its easy installation as it comes with two-bolt inlays and can be installed at any height using lag bolts or U bolts.
Its compatibility with a garden hose or flex pipes makes it the most versatile waterer on the list and more demanding among the person finding the budget-friendly waterer.
The premium thing is the use of 201 stainless steel in making it rust free and more durable. The whole body of this waterer is made of this 20-grade steel to make it durable in the cattle farms.
The only downside of this low budget waterer is the absence of an automatic farm grade waterer with water dispensation. You have to control the water dispensation manually.
5. Ritchie Omni Fount 2 Automatic Heated Cattle, Horse Waterer
Ritchie OmniFount 2 is the perfect choice for cattle waterers for large-sized farms. This automatic heated waterer is featured with technology to get both benefits of steel body trough as well as the premier look of the product.
It is designed in such a way that the inside has stainless steel made through with the outer covering of insulated casing to get more efficiency. The stainless steel trough is featured with thermostatically controlled heated plates beneath the trough for keeping water frost-free.
The body shape is designed in such a way to protect the animals from any injury from the sharp edges.
The premium benefit of this cattle waterer is the location of heated plates beneath the steel trough for exceptional performance. The cable heater provides more protection and safety to animals by insulating the supply line with high efficient polyurethane foam.
The large-sized trough and 2 wide openings of the waterer make it suitable for 1-40 cattle heads.
The great thing is that it comes in ready to install form and you just need stainless steel anchor bolts to anchor it to the concrete pad.
It also has a 10-year warranty.
Types of Automatic Livestock Waterers for Cattle
Some common type of cattle waterers are:
- Electrically heated waterers
- Low energy waterers
- Alternate energy waterers
Electrical heated Waterer
The most common automatic livestock waterers are electrically heated waterers. These waterers are installed in a much caring manner as a little mistake may get the animal shocked with electricity.
This waterer needs to be installed on a solid base to avoid its movement and any damage to the wiring or product itself.
Electric heat tapes are an important part of the automatic heated waterer. The tape is installed around the rinse pipe to prevent the freezing of water.
These electric-powered waterers have typically 600-1000 watts of electric elements. These waterers include the power supply to run the pump and heat tapes on the water supply pipe. These power supplies add additional costs to the watering system.
Low Energy Waterer
Low energy stock waterers totally rely on the super-insulated body material and insulated covers. These waterers have a huge space to keep the load of water and prevent it from freezing.
The most caring step to get the optimal benefits from these waterers is the proper installation and management. These waterers work only if they are well designed and installed.
The only thing to keep an eye on is the regulation of plenty of water daily through such waterers. These waterers keep the clean and freshwater regulated if at least 10 heads of cows or other livestock drink through them.
If you are using such insulted layered low-energy waterers, make sure to check the waterer twice a day.
Alternate Energy Waterers
Alternate energy waterers are originally designed for “off-grid” use and widely adopted around the farmstead. These waterers conserve energy by super-insulating the drinking tank or through draining the water into the underground tank below the frost line.
Whenever an animal comes to drink water, water is pumped up to the drinking bowl as per the required amount.
The pumping system is powered by solar-powered pumps that activate through motion sensors. The other type of pumping-up system utilizes the nose pump where the animals pump up their water itself.
The underground water reservoir is tied to the pressurized water system and the water level in these reservoirs is controlled by a float valve.
How to Choose the Best Cattle Waterers?
Cattle waterers are around for many decades and little advancements have come a long way every decade. A lot of breakthroughs have been made to make it more useful and effective.
New models are coming day by day with the latest advancement in controlling the freezing of water and water flow controlling systems. But getting the best waterer for cattle farms is not as easy as it seems.
These are some common factors to consider in a waterer if you really want to pick a perfect one.
Bowl Size
Cows are large livestock animals having a huge body size and weight. It means they need a lot of water for regulating the homeostasis and enzyme working.
To fill the large belly of a cow, a large-sized water bowl is needed. Sometimes a single cow could empty a bowl and in the case of small bowls, the cows will remain thirsty. This act will dehydrate the cattle with time and adversely affect their health.
Never compromise for bowl size over money.
Easy cleaning
The purpose of automatic waterers is to save the time of lodging the buckets of water individually to all cows every 2 hours. It also includes saving time for cleaning the water.
If a bowl is difficult to clean, you will end up wasting the time and lose the purpose of their installation. Perfect automatic livestock water takes around 1 min to clean completely. Any waterer consuming more than this time is inconvenient and a waste of time.
Always take a look at the body structure and fitting to ensure easy cleaning.
Rounded Edges
Check the edges of the waterers as the sharp edges can be dangerous and cause an injury. Most of the waterers have rounded edges but it is necessary to make sure the rounded edges no matter whether plastic or metal waterer it is.
Material
The material of the waterer has much impact on the durability and life of a product. Cattle waterers tend to be plastic or metal made. Plastic waterers tend to be more affordable than metal ones. But the plastic waterers have less durability than metallic made.
Metal waterers have more durability and a much better water delivery system and last longer.
Heated or Not Heated Waterers
Automatic waterers have two options i.e. heated or non-heated varieties. It depends on the climate of the farm area if you need a heated waterer.
During the winter months in cold regions, the surface of the water in troughs gets frozen and deprives the cattle to drink water. A heated or insulated automatic waterer prevents the freezing of water and keeps the water constantly heated at the required temperature.
Tips to install cattle waterer
These are some useful tips to get the benefit of cattle waterers in a useful manner. The tips areas:
- Make sure to install the waterer near the animal’s for easy access and in wide space
- Installing in the shades will prevent the water from freezing and reduces the energy costs
- The ground surface under the waterer should be graded so that the water gets drain away from the waterer
- A concrete pad surrounded with gravels or stones will assist drainage
- The concrete pad with gravels prevents the formation of a mudhole
- Installing the waterer on the fence line will be more assisting for more than one pen
Final Words
Water is the basic necessity of any living no matter human or any animal or a plant. Farming or livestock animals are kept in an organized manner but managing their food and water can be overwhelming by doing all stuff manually.
It is a difficult task to drink the water from cows by lodging buckets for each cow individually. The automatic waterers are the ultimate and most advanced solution to this problem.
