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Chicken Waterer, c.1890s

Chicken
Chicken

Chicken waterers kept a fresh flow of water from the reservoir to the dish at the base, an example of Victorian ideas of hygiene that extended to domestic animals. Chicken waterers are similar to modern day pet waterers, in that they were designed with a water reservoir attached to a dish, which was refilled from the reservoir as the chickens drunk from it. They were preferred over a plain dish or trough, as the chickens were unable to knock over or soil the water in the chicken waterer, meaning that they always had a fresh water. 

In the 1890s poultry keeping was “now so much the fashion”. Chickens were usually kept by ladies for household consumption, “therefore saving butchers’ meat” (Bush Advocate, 1890). There were numerous Poultry, Household and Fancier’s columns in New Zealand newspapers instructing owners of domestic chickens on the best ways to raise these surprisingly finickity birds – as well as recipes to enjoy with the fruits of their labour. In August 1897, the year this waterer is roughly dated to, an advice column recommends that “the best of all ways to guard against the evils of sun-heated water is to arrange drinking fountains for your fowls” (Auckland Star, 1897). 


chicken feeder_edited.jpg

This particular chicken waterer is attributed to Luke Adams Pottery, and an identical chicken feeder can be seen in the front row of this photo of a Luke Adams’ display at a show in 1897. Luke Adams Pottery was established by Luke Adams in 1881 and ran as a family business until the company became a subsidiary of Crown Lynn Potteries Ltd (Henry, 1999, p.86-98). It was found on an archaeological site associated with a working-class family that was renting the property, and may have been a way for the family to save money by raising their own hens and collecting the eggs.   

Sources:

Henry, Gail. New Zealand Pottery: Commercial and Collectable. Auckland: Reed Books, 1999.

'Household Notes.' Bush Advocate, Volume V, Issue 360, 30 August 1890, Page 7. https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/BA18900830.2.50

''Poultry Notes.' Auckland Star, Volume XXVIII, Issue 201, 28 August 1897, Page 3 (Supplement). https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/AS18970828.2.53.2 

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