REVIEW: HydroPet Watering Bowl -and a little surprise ending for my Chicken Peeps

It's been a while since I've done a product review, but it's also been a while since I was offered a product that I felt I could actually use.  I was asked by HydroPet if I would give their product a try and share my honest opinions of their product with my readers.  I'm so glad I did because I really like this product.

The product is called HydroPet, its an automatic pet water bowl that refills with fresh clean water.  In addition to being a chicken keeper I run a dog boarding facility -I know you are probably thinking that the two go together like oil and water.  Actually, most of the dog guests find the chickens to be quite entertaining and will spend as much time as they can watching every movement of my hens through the fence.  We keep our dogs and chickens each physically separated behind a sequence of sturdy fences.

In our dog areas I keep several buckets and large bowls of water for the dogs to always have access to fresh water while they play...or study chicken behavior.  This requires that I hook up the hose several times a day to empty, rinse and refill the buckets and bowls.  It's amazing how much 'stuff' manages to get in the water dishes from the dogs drinking out of them.  For this reason, when HydroPet contacted me about testing their product I jumped at the chance.

The HydroPet bowl holds as much water as my buckets, but it does the rinsing and refilling job for me, leaving me more time to play with the dogs.  Unlike auto fill floats that sit in a bucket and keep the water at a certain level (I have used them before) with the HydroPet the water level goes down because the dogs drink the water, and the automatic timer (set to how ever often I may need the bowl refilled) will come on, spray water from three points inside the bowl that rinses out the inside and flushes the debris as it refills the bowl with fresh cool water.

There is no complicated installation.  I was able to have it up and running in less then 30 minutes, even with 4 curious dogs trying to help me.  There are three methods of installation depending on your particular application.  They are the 'hose bib connection', the 'sprinkler system connection' or the 'drip system connection' methods. Here is a short video from HydroPet that goes over the three installation methods.

I used the 'hose bib connection' method, it was super easy, but I do have a few tips no matter which method you use. First, have someone else occupy your helpful pets, my four dogs were so curious about what I was working on that it made it a bit of a challenge to do the installation, especially when one of them carried off the little bag of parts.  I spent about 10 minutes looking for the parts before I realized that my big girl had stashed them under the patio chair.  Another tip is to flush your hose out with water before you install the bowl.  My hose apparently had some debris in it, which quickly blocked the tiny wire mesh filter in the adapter and caused the water flow to slow to a trickle.

At first I thought, "Wow, this thing really sucks, there is no way its going to flush out floating debris in the bowl if it only trickles out."  I disconnected the hose adapter and cleaned off the filter screen (see pic above), ran water through my hose a moment then hooked it back up and Bang! Nice spraying flow of water that definitely had enough force (even with our low pressure water lines) to thoroughly clean out the junk my dogs deposited into the bowl.

Below is a video I made showing how quickly it refills.  Note that our water pressure is not real high but there is still plenty of spraying power to clean out the bowl.  Also note that I did not have the bowl sitting on level ground so as the water level filled, two of the jets were underwater.  They were still spraying, you just cannot see it.  The bowl has an overflow area where water is suppose to flow out when the bowl fills up.  This helps to wash out debris and if the bowl is placed in the flower bed the overflowing water will water your plants.  The amount of water that flows out will depend on how long you set the timer to run.  I sat mine for 3 minutes.  As you can see in this video, the bowl was full at about 2-1/2 minutes so the remaining 30 seconds cleans out the bowl and would water the flower bed, but not so much that it creates a soggy mess around the bowl.

You can purchase the HydroPet bowl by visiting their website HERE.  As you will see there are a few different package bundles.  Mine was the HydroPet Deluxe Bundle w/Timer.  It sells for $67.50. You can get it without the automatic timer for just $34.95 and fill it yourself manually, or if installing it with an existing drip or sprinkler system. This is what came in my package:

Now, my fellow chicken-peeps are probably thinking, "Anna, why are you doing a review for a dog product?"  Well I will let you in on a little secret...HydroPet has a new addition to this product coming out this summer and it is specifically for us Chicken People!

It's the Chicken Hood...

I hope to be able to bring you an updated review this summer, I know I really want one for my chicks!  HydroPet said the Chicken Hood will be priced at about $24-26 each and of course will be available in a bundle with the HydroPet Bowl as well.  Here is a video about this exciting addition to the HydroPet bowl.

As if you needed any additional reason to love the HydroPet, here are a couple more...the bowl is BPA Free and Made In America!


Disclosure:  First, I want to thank HydroPet for allowing me to try your awesome product, my dogs love it, and I hope to try your Chicken Hood later this summer.  If you read through my previous reviews you will see that I give honest reviews -even at the detriment of the company that sends me a product that is not good.  I received a product for free for testing but I was not paid for my opinion, nor was I told what I should say to my readers.  The opinions expressed here are 100% mine.

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Are Miniature Donkeys In My Future?

Terry is about to get the acre of property next to the house cleared of scub oaks and manzanita's.  We bought that property specifically for me to raise backyard farm livestock...I just haven't decided what that livestock will be.  I've thought about goats, (I haven't ruled them out) but I am expanding on the idea to maybe include a bigger run for my chickens as well.  This would have a double benefit because it would give me more room for more chickens and it would also move the chickens away from my bedroom window.  Then I might get another rooster so I could fertilize and hatch my own babies to keep my flock growing.

The benefit of not hearing them making noise so close to my bedroom is also one of the drawbacks...I wont hear them if they are frightened by a predator.  That got me to thinking about living predator protection.  We talked about a Great Pyrenees dog, but Terry is such a softy with dogs I cannot see him letting the dog stay out in the barn with the goats.  And from what I've read, you can't make them your pets, you have to let them bond with the goats that they will be protecting.  So a dog wont work.  My next thought was a Llama but one of our friends has one and he is over protective and wont let anyone in the pasture but my friend.  He spits too...yuck!.

Another living predator protector is a donkey.  I have always loved donkeys, but didn't like horses.  I was raised around horses, my father broke them for other people, my uncle was a farrier until the day he couldn't drag his oxygen tank out to the corral, my cousin did barrel racing an showed her horses, but I just didn't care for them.  I liked the donkeys.  They were like the misfits of the horse world and I could relate to them.  There is just something about the 'HeeHaaaaaawww!' sound from a donkey that makes me smile every time I hear it.  The only drawback to owning a donkey is that they cost so much to feed.  Terry says electric fencing would cost less.

Thinking about donkeys got me started down a road that my husband may soon regret, hee hee. I started checking out miniature donkeys, not for predator protection, they are too small for that, but just as pets.  They are so adorable, they look and sound just like full-sized donkeys, but smaller so they are less likely to knock me on my butt.  They eat a lot less too.  Being a research nut, I started studying about miniature donkeys.  There isn't a whole lot available out there but fortunately I discovered a mini donkey breeder not too far from me.  I contacted her and asked if I could visit her farm.  She said 'YES!'

Yesterday I took my 'little' sister (as in Big Brother Big Sister) with me to the 'Pamarosa Pond Minuature Donkey's' in Chino Valley, AZ.  The owner Pam took us on a personal tour of her farm, first taking us to see her huge pond that was filled with the biggest Koi I have ever seen and half of it was covered with beautiful lush green lily pads, surrounded by  a strip of cat-tails. 

This is only one view of the beautiful pond. The other picture I took of the 'lush green lily pads' didn't turn out :-(

Next, we visited her 24 chickens with a mix of Silkies and several other breeds of mostly bantam sized birds.  And then she took us out to introduced us to her 20 miniature donkeys.

I tell you, if I was on the fence about getting donkeys before arriving, I fell squarely on the other side of that fence by the time we left.  They were so gentle and friendly.  They all started Hee'ing and Haw'ing when we approached the pasture, their excitement about our visit was so obvious.  They ran up and greeted us at the entrance by the barn.  My 'little' had never seen donkeys up close and personal.  She was a little bit intimidated at first, thinking they might bite her or push her over, but they were wonderful, kind of like big cuddly dogs. Although they did try to pull the shinny snaps off her back pockets a few times, and one kept trying to steal my keys handing on my belt loop...donkeys do love bling.  They loved us petting them and scratching the insides of their ears.  And even the most skiddish one stood right next to me as long as I scratched her hip/butt area.

It's fly season here in AZ so most of the donkeys were wearing their fly masks. They can see through them like sunglasses.

She had a two new babies just three months old.  One stayed with her mommy the whole time while the other one wouldn't take her eyes off my 'little' sister.

My 'littles' face has been blurred to protect her privacy.

Mother and baby (nursing). At just 3 months old baby is almost as tall as mommy.

Pam told me so much about raising mini donkeys that I didn't know from all my research, and she answered some of my questions about their personalities and strange personal habits.  She said she started with three jennets, then added a jack, then grew from there with only a couple of her current herd coming to her from outside sources.  As it turns out Pam grew up around horses and didn't care for them either...but she is in heaven with her mini donkeys.  She said I could contact her any time if I had questions about donkeys and she would tell me what I need to look for, and watch out for, if I decided to buy donkeys in the future.  She was so sweet, I really enjoyed our tour (and visit) that was well over an hour.

Pam also said that several of her donkeys are Therapy Certified so they can visit with ill, elderly, or handicapped people as therapy treatment.  She gives tours to local schools every year as well.  What started as a few pets has certainly bloomed in to something wonderful for her and our community. 

Yep, I definitely see mini donkeys (and maybe a full-size donkey for protection) in my future.
 

Enjoy these other pictures I took at the Pamarosa Pond Miniature Donkey farm.

My 'little' and one of the more skiddish donkeys loving the attention. She must have sensed that we were animal people.

One of the original three jenny's she started with.

Pam petting one of her newest babies.

Pam being followed by her 'kids'.

Keeper of 1 husband, 2 grandkids, 3 dogs,
3 cats, and 17 Chickens!

 

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Dogs Take Over Dating Site ~ Creative Marketing at its Best

I just read an article on TechCrunch, written by Sarah Buhr, that I just have to share with you.  The article is about a dating app called Tinder.com that has 'gone to the dogs' so to speak.  Recently, Social Tees, an animal rescue organization hooked up with an ad agency, the Barn at BBH, and started posting abandoned dogs on the dating site as if they were humans looking for love.  Suddenly many of the 10 million users started receiving match notices that hooked them up with these abandoned dogs available at local rescues.  What a great idea!  After adding dating profiles for just 10 dogs, 1 of them has already been adopted after only the first few days.

The profiles written for each of the dogs were so fun, here are a couple examples.

"Your doghouse or mine?"

"11 month old. Pit mix. Fetch fanatic. Adores snuggling up and falling asleep on the couch. Ready to go home with the luckiest animal lover in town"

They even utilized the type of hook up options they were open to, such as 'looking for a short-term commitment' for an option to foster a dog for two weeks, or 'long-term love' you can adopt a dog permanently and for those just wanting a 'one-time hook up', you can volunteer to walk the dog.

I love the idea, but think it would be better if they created an actual 'dog dating site' specifically for abandoned dogs looking for homes and lonely humans looking for dog companions.  Then you could use true ages, breeds, etc, instead of the arbitrary ages and personal info created for these 10 rescue dogs.  On Tinder.com they listed the dogs ages as human ages, so for example a 9 week old puppy was listed as 26 years old in hopes of matching her with a 26 year old range human.

I know that if a real dog dating site were available near me I would have used it when I was looking for the newest addition to our fur-babies, Miss Hollywood.  And imagine if you could use the app to volunteer for those 'one-time hook ups' in your own neighborhood, what a help you could be for an elderly person who isn't able to walk their dogs as far as they use to.  I found my husband through online dating (and we just celebrated our 11th anniversary) so I would definitely use an online dog dating site! What do you think about this idea?

Keeper of 1 husband, 2 grandkids, 3 dogs,
3 cats, and 17 Chickens!

 

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Did this post stir something inside of you? If so, Please leave me a comment, I would love to know what you're thinking!!!

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Pets experience the trauma from fire evacuation similar to us humans

Being evacuated from your home with no more than 20-30 minutes to leave can effect us in surprising ways.  For my husband it made him feel more in control instead of less.  He took the lead and is my hero for doing that because I felt suddenly lost and out of control over my own life.  I felt a huge responsibility to protect my grandchildren and my pets, and was overwhelmed by that responsibility.

When we saw the fire growing out of control we knew evacuation was imminent.  That is when I started grabbing the cats and placing them in the crate.  Harry and Molly were both inside the house so they went in the crate first, but I had to go looking for Marvin.  I ran around outside the house calling him but he didn't come, that is not typical for him.  The cats all know their name and they all come to me right away when I call them.  I went back inside the house and did another search of the house, specifically the guest room that they think is their own.  My granddaughter crawled under the bed and found him up in the box frame hiding.  All of this commotion and smell of smoke in the air must have scared him.  We got him out and placed him in the crate along with his two litter mates.  They were obviously shaken up.  Harry was spinning in circles and his eyes were huge as he tried to take it all in.

We drove for three hours to my daughters home.  The last half hour the cats were crying so loudly that my husband could barely hear me on the cell phone (we were in separate vehicles, they were with him and the dogs).  We happen to have our 5th wheel parked in an RV park in the city where our daughter lives because we have been working on a couple of house remodels there.  So the plan was to take the chickens to her house and set up the kennel in the back yard, then the cats and dogs would stay with us in the RV.  But with the cats so upset we decided to take the cats straight to the RV to get them out of the crate where they could calm down, then we would go to our daughters house and set up the chicken housing.

When we released the cats in the RV they were so scared.  They hadn't been in the RV since they were tiny babies so after being put in  a crate, driven around for hours, then dumped in an unfamiliar place, they were nearly in shock.  Their cat litter box was still in the trailer from when they were kittens, so I just filled it with litter and gave them a bowl of fresh water.  I did happen to find a small package of their cat food that was also left from when they were kittens, so I offered it to them.  They were not interested in eating just yet.  We gave them some loving petting, and talked to them calmly for a few moments, then we had to leave to get to our daughters to get the chickens set up for the night.

Once at my daughters house it was dark so we assembled the 6' x 6' chainlink dog kennel in the light of a porch light, while holding a flashlight.  This was much less room then they are use to having at home, but at least they were all safe.  After nearly not being able to catch Big Red we were so relived that we did finally get her because this would have been a very sad time if we had to leave any of them behind.  We put plywood on top of the kennel to keep the chickens in (they do not have clipped wings) and other critters out.   Then it was time to release them in their temporary shelter.  I placed each of the crates inside the dog kennel and locked myself inside.  Then I opened each of the crate doors.  Big Red came out first because she wanted out of that crate so bad.  She didn't have much room to walk around in the small kennel, especially with me and 5 crates inside.  A few of the other chickens came out of the crate but some of them refused to come out.  There were all very upset.  I reached in to one crate to pet Barbara, but she was so scared she pecked at me.  I continued to talk to them calmly, trying to coax them out.  Eventually they all came out but they were not happy.  They pecked at each other, flew around like they were insane, and pecked at me if they bumped in to me.

I felt so bad for them.  I worried that they might hurt each other or themselves being all cooped up in the small space without a coop to bed down in, especially after driving in the back of the truck in a crate for 3 hours.  I know I would have been freaked out myself.  I did have the forethought to grab my single water bottle waterer so I wired it up to the wall of the kennel.  I stayed with them a little while longer trying to calm them with my presence but it seemed that they were all so traumatized that my presence seemed to be making them even more upset so I closed them in the kennel and turned off the lights.  I was hopeful that with darkness they would just go to sleep and feel better in the morning.

The next morning I got up early and went to my daughters house to check on the chickens.  They were hungry and letting me know it too.  In our haste to leave our home I only grabbed a  gallon ziploc bag of dry chicken feed that was in my can from when they were babies.  I poured some of it into a cake pan my daughter had but the chickens were upset that it was not their usual food...I have been feeding them fermented feed with seeds and goodies mixed in. (that post is coming soon)  This dry dish of crumbles was NOT what they expected and they were voicing their distaste for it too.  Barry got in the dish and was kicking it out of the dish...searching for his delicious wet food!  Big Red was squawking loudly over this awful dry, plane food.   I grabbed my bottle of water and poured it into the dish and used a stick to stir up the food.  Then they calmed down a bit and ate their food.  This was at least closer to what they were use to.

The next task at hand was to make their temporary home more homey.  My hubby rustled up two more kennel panels so we were able to extend the kennel our another 5 feet (increasing another 30 sq ft).  We put tarps over the top of the new section and around the back side where the sun tends to shine the most, giving them the feeling of being enclosed.  The hubby cut the ends of a few 2x4's to make them two roosts.  As we did all these things to make the new run more homey you could almost feel the tension dissipating among the chickens.  They stopped being so aggressive with each other and with me as well.  Barbara, Goldie, and even Alice and Lucy let me pick them up and talk to them while petting them.  This helped me feel calmer as well as helping them calm down.  I think we are going to be okay.  At least until the day we pack them back up in the crates and head home.  Fortunately, last time we left the RV I left my van here, so for the ride home the chickens can ride in the van without all the wind they had to endure on the ride here in the back of the pickup.  It should be a much easier ride home.

The chickens temporary home.

Chowing down on their wet food.

Checking out the 2x4 roost hubby installed.

The first night in evacuation the cats were still stressed, jumping at every new noise or movement we made.  But now after two days everyone is settling in.  We are giving everyone lots of extra love and attention and I think it is helping us all get through this time of uncertainty.  Now that my babies are doing better, I have been calming down as well.  The first two days I could not eat.  The thought of putting food in my mouth made me feel like vomiting.  My heart ached for how this was effecting my pets, and the feeling of having no control over my own life, and the tremendous sadness I feel for the 19 firefighters who died in this fire.  But as I relax knowing that my pets are going to be okay and I deal with the emotions I am feeling for the lose of young lives, I have been able to finally eat some food and keep it down.

Harry, Marvin, and Molly eating on the bunk bed

Barbara resting calmly.

I wish we knew what was happening with the fire.  The news is either not getting reports from the fire crews or they are just not sharing that with us.  When we left the fire was encircling our community and the news says it is still very much out of control, so we have no idea what has been burned in our neighborhood.  I assume that if our house burns down someone will contact us.  We hope the evacuation will be lifted soon so we can go home and start to put our lives back together.  I continue to feel heart ache in my soul for the firefighters who have lost their lives, and to be so thankful for the ones that are continuing to fight this fire.  I am so sad for those in Yarnell who have lost their homes.  We are ready to join forces with others in our community to begin to rebuild their homes and our community.

Keeper of 1 husband, 2 grandkids, 3 dogs,
3 cats, and 17 Chickens!

 

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Did this post stir something inside of you? If so, Please leave me a comment, I would love to know what you're thinking!!!

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