Stoneware Chicken Waterer

Q:When I bought my house 13 years ago, I found a stoneware “chicken waterer” in an old chicken coop on the property. It’s 8 inches long and 7 inches in diameter. There are marks on the bottom, but the only thing I can read says “Patd April 7, 1885.” In doing some research on chicken waterers, I have found references to glass or tin waterers, but not to stoneware. Have you ever come across one like mine?

A:Yes. We own a similar chicken waterer made in Akron, Ohio. Yours, made in Red Wing, Minn., was marketed as the “Eureka drinking fountain for chickens.” It was made by either the Red Wing Stoneware Co. between 1885 and 1906 or the Red Wing Union Stoneware Co. between 1906 and the mid 1930s. Chicken waterers are drinking fountains designed for young chicks, who can drown if they stick their heads into a large bowl of water. The waterers have a small trough at one end that prevents chicks from falling in. Eureka waterers sell today for about $100.