Now that we have both the Avian Aqua Miser and EZ Miser available (plus kit forms of each), I often get asked --- which chicken waterer is the best for my situation?  This is the time of year when even folks who don't have chickens...yet...are interested in the answer, so I figured I'd post the answer here rather than on our chicken blog.

Our Avian Aqua Miser Original is my go-to waterer for chicks during their first week of life, for chickens in a tractor, for broody hens, and for small numbers of birds in the winter.  If you've got a flock of five or fewer hens in your backyard, you'll love the utility of this little waterer, which stays perfectly clean due to its hanging nature and is simple to carry inside on cold nights.  Mark's first waterer invention barely takes up any space, so is perfect for tight spaces, and the Original holds enough water for up to 25 chicks per day when they're a month or less old.

On the other hand, we prefer EZ Misers for broilers as they get larger and for farm-size flocks of layers.  With these larger numbers of birds, you're going to have to allot more space anyway, so having a waterer that sits on a cinderblock isn't usually a problem.  In fact, it's handy to be able to set EZ Misers out in pastures where no infrastructure exists to hang a waterer.  Plus, the larger capacity of the EZ Miser means you don't have to fill the waterer as frequently, which is a boon during busy summer days when you're catering to two flocks of broilers and a dozen laying hens.  Being able to set the EZ Miser down while filling saves yet more energy.

The kit version of each is a way to save money, and also allows you to make a waterer that fits your farm to a T.  For example, this video shows how to turn our Avian Aqua Miser Original kits into a heated waterer that's good down to at least 14 degrees Fahrenheit --- that's what we used in our main coop this winter.  And our EZ Miser kits allow you to install watering spouts into the side of just about any plastic container --- imagine a 55 gallon barrel set in your pasture with six spouts around the edges for watering over a hundred birds for days on end.  To tempt you to try out one of these scenarios, we've marked our most popular EZ Miser kit down to $36 this week --- enjoy!

I hope this rundown helps you figure out the perfect waterer for your farm this year.  We'll be starting eggs in our incubator soon and are looking forward to fluffy spring chicks, so we'll be suiting words to action shortly.