SHEEP WATERER

We reinvented watering for Sheep.

Drinking Post Sheep Waterer is specially designed with sheep in mind!

This sheep waterer has a specialized paddle to help sheep learn the Drinking Post quickly and use it with ease. The sheep paddle rises vertically out of the bowl, allowing sheep to activate on demand water by ‘butting’ the paddle with their head.

Drinking Post Waterer provides the freshest, cleanest water with absolutely no effort on your part! Just set it and forget it (and rest assured that you’re providing your sheep with the best care possible)!

sheep waterer with black sheep

sheep drinking from automatic sheep waterer

sheep waterer

sheep waterer in pasture

Drinking Post Sheep Waterer

Fresh, clean, and cool water

Water stays at a constant temp of 50 F/10 C (consistent water temp is a HUGE motivator for your sheep to drink more water).
The bowl fills with fresh water every time your sheep pushes the paddle.
After they’re done, all the water drains away, so there’s never any standing water.
No standing water means no freezing or algae growth!

No Electricity Required!

Drinking Post sheep waterer functions and installs like a frost-free hydrant.
There is a stop-and-drain valve at the base of the Post, which allows the unit to fill and drain with each use.
When the sheep is done drinking, they release the paddle and all the water in the unit drains completely.
All the water fills and drains below the frostline, leaving the unit completely empty (there’s no water in there to freeze!).
This unique sheep waterer design doesn’t require any heaters, insulation, or concrete pads.

Versatile Design

Each Drinking Post can handle up to 25 sheep. More than 25 sheep in a lot? Just install additional Posts.
There is no minimum head count, Drinking Post sheep waterer will stay frost-free even with no sheep using it. This is great for fluctuating herd sizes and rotational grazing!
Since all the water drains below the frostline after each use, the Post can sit unused for long periods of time. You don’t have to do anything to prepare your Post to sit unused, just simply stop using it.

Specialized Paddle for Sheep!

Sheep will use our Livestock Riser Block Attachment. If you order the Drinking Post for Sheep, the correct paddle attachment will be included.
The sheep paddle attachment is a weighted block that attaches to the standard flat paddle.
This attachment allows the sheep to butt the paddle forward with their head, which plays on their natural head-butting tendencies.
With this specialized attachment, sheep waterer training is quick and easy! Check out our Training Guide for more info.

Watch this video to learn all about using the Drinking Post for sheep! The Drinking Post is the perfect auto waterer and was specially designed with sheep in mind! If you want happy, healthy sheep, the Drinking Post is right for you!

How Much Water Do Sheep Actually Need?

Sheep are more water-dependent than most keepers realize. A typical adult sheep needs between half a gallon and 4 gallons of water per day depending on size, diet, and season. Ewes in late pregnancy or early lactation sit at the higher end of that range — water intake has a direct effect on milk production and lamb health in those critical weeks.

In summer, demand increases significantly. Sheep in hot weather or on dry pasture can need two to three times their normal intake. If water is dirty, warm, or stagnant, sheep will reduce how much they drink rather than tolerate water they don’t trust — and you’ll see that in their condition before you identify the cause.

The Drinking Post delivers fresh water at a constant 50°F/10°C every single time a sheep pushes the paddle. There’s no bowl sitting in the sun, no algae building overnight, and no risk of the supply running low mid-afternoon. For ewes in production especially, that consistency matters directly to your output.

Why Sheep Are Particular About Their Water

Sheep have strong instincts about water quality. Like goats, they will refuse to drink from a trough that has debris, algae, or stagnant odor — even when they’re thirsty. This isn’t a quirk, it’s a survival behavior. In the wild, standing water carries disease risk, and sheep are wired to be cautious about it.

The practical problem with troughs and buckets is that they always have standing water. By the end of a warm day, that water has been sitting in the sun, collecting wool fibers, hay, and dirt, and beginning to grow bacteria. Your sheep know it before you notice it.

The Drinking Post removes standing water from the equation entirely. The bowl fills fresh when a sheep presses the paddle and drains completely when they step away. Every drink comes up from deep in the ground at the same clean temperature — nothing left sitting between uses, nothing for algae or bacteria to grow in. For an animal that will go thirsty rather than drink water it doesn’t trust, that design is a direct match for how sheep actually behave.

The Sheep Paddle, Designed for How Sheep Naturally Move

Most automatic waterers are designed with horses or cattle in mind and adapted for smaller animals as an afterthought. The Drinking Post sheep waterer is different — it includes a specialized paddle attachment built specifically around sheep behavior.

The Livestock Riser Block attaches to the standard flat paddle and rises vertically out of the bowl. Rather than pressing down with a nose or muzzle like a horse would, sheep activate the waterer by butting the block forward with their head. That butting motion is completely natural for sheep — it’s how they interact with objects in their environment — which is why training is typically quick and easy. Most sheep figure it out within a day or two of introduction.

The bowl height can also be adjusted to suit smaller animals or lambs, so the same unit works across different sizes within your flock.

How Many Sheep Can One Unit Serve?

A single Drinking Post sheep waterer can serve up to 25 sheep. For most small and mid-sized flocks, one unit covers the whole group.

For larger operations, the practical approach is to add units rather than crowd animals around one post. Dominant sheep will control access to a single water source in a large flock, meaning lower-ranked animals — often the ones that need water most, like ewes with lambs — get pushed out at peak drinking times. Two units placed at different points in the pen solves this without any management effort on your part.

The Drinking Post also handles fluctuating herd sizes and rotational grazing without any adjustment needed. Because all the water drains below the frostline after each use, the unit can sit completely unused for extended periods — whether that’s an empty pen between seasons or a pasture rotation — and needs no preparation or winterization to resume normal use when sheep return.

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Clean Fresh Horse Waterer by Drinking

Health Benefits

Nothing has greater influence on the well being of livestock than water intake. To maximize water intake is to ensure uninhibited access to clean fresh water.

Health Benefits

Matt Jobe installation fence-line split square

Installation Info

No electricity, no cement pad, no problem! All you need is a pressurized waterline. Click the button below to learn more about the Drinking Post installation!

Installation info

Summer Benefits

Warm Climate

Water intake can double during the summer months. When a horse is working hard and sweating it can lose 5-10% of its body weight that needs to be replenished.

Summer Benefits

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Cold Climate

Providing livestock quality water during the winter can be challenging in most climates. As in any other season, animals need adequate water intake to maintain health.