Heated Waterer Vs. Heated bowl. Which do you recommend?

So i got chickens this year in the spring while it was still cool, but definitely above freezing. We are now heading into fall and i am thinking about winter. While i am not heating my coop (it is well insulated and i have read many many articles on the pros and cons of heating) this winter, I would like to heat the water so that i do not have to lug water back and forth from the coop every day in the snow and dump buckets full of ice out ever night. I have looked and seen heated water buckets with the trough at the bottom that are just a heated variety of the ones i use now. I have also found open bowls that are heated. Both are electric. Both have received mixed reviews on Amazon. I am wondering if anyone has used either or both and what your thoughts are and which anyone would recommend trying. Thanks all!!!

I wouldn't use either one. This will be the 5th winter I will be pulling out the ol' cookietin waterfount heater. I built it for less than $5, and it still works great. Unlike the fount warmers you can buy at T/S, if the bulb burns out, I can quickly screw in a new one, and be back in business. If the store bought RedChinese engineered one craps out, it goes in the trash, and another $50 has to be shelled out for a new one. Less than $5, lasts practically forever, vs $50 for something that may die in day or a year. Easy choice for me.

Im actually going for the heated water bowl, i hate using extension cords but found one on Amazon thats for COLD COLD weather and better for outdoors (lil bit more expensive!), Cause one thing i HATE, is dumping frozen dishes which ive done for years and hate knowing they dont have fresh water all day. My chickens, and ducks will have heated water dish, my rabbits and goats, well they will be seeing me drag out milk jugs filled with water 2-3 times aday!

The heated watered I have works great until it gets down to below 15F at which point it freezes up. It doesn't use much electricity though, which is good. I think this winter I'm going to get a cheap bird bath heater, which is surely more powerful than the heating element in the waterer, and drop it in a nipple bucket when it gets real cold.

I'm also going to wrap the spicket of my rain barrel in cloth so it doesn't freeze up. Carrying water from the house stinks! I have a 350W trough heater in my 50g rain barrel, but it also freezes when it gets below 15F (hopefully if the spicket doesn't freeze I can still use it though).

JackE said:

I wouldn't use either one. This will be the 5th winter I will be pulling out the ol' cookietin waterfount heater. I built it for less than $5, and it still works great. Unlike the fount warmers you can buy at T/S, if the bulb burns out, I can quickly screw in a new one, and be back in business. If the store bought RedChinese engineered one craps out, it goes in the trash, and another $50 has to be shelled out for a new one. Less than $5, lasts practically forever, vs $50 for something that may die in day or a year. Easy choice for me.

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2X, I also use the cookie containers with a light bulb and the water container on top. If it gets too cold, the plastic container may freeze around the inside but the water on the bottom red section stays liquid.

The last two winters I used a heated dog bowl. I plan to keep using it. It is very easy, just fill every morning with a bucket from house. The only thing I plan on different is getting another bowl as I got more chickens this year. Also I have been thinking of getting a temperature controlled plug. It would turn the bowls on and off depending on temperature.

JackE said:

This will be the 5th winter I will be pulling out the ol' cookietin waterfount heater.  I built it for less than $5, and it still works great.  Unlike the fount warmers you can buy at T/S, if the bulb burns out, I can quickly screw in a new one, and be back in business.  If the store bought RedChinese engineered one craps out, it goes in the trash, and another $50 has to be shelled out for a new one.  Less than $5, lasts practically forever, vs $50 for something that may die in day or a year.  Easy choice for me. 

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I built a 'cookie tin' heater base for a 5 gallon heated bucket that finally shorted out, cut out the outer bucket so it fits over the cookie tin and lock in place... Instead of a single light bulb I use 100 strand x-mas lights about 40 Watts, and if a few bulbs blow no real harm... Works very well for a cheap solution...

For my birds they will have an internally heated 55 gallon drum full of water using horizontal nipples...

Kidhenduckohmy said:

The last two winters I used a heated dog bowl. I plan to keep using it. It is very easy, just fill every morning with a bucket from house. The only thing I plan on different is getting another bowl as I got more chickens this year. Also I have been thinking of getting a temperature controlled plug. It would turn the bowls on and off depending on temperature.

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I have a couple of the Thermocubes or TC3, this is a thermostatically controlled outlet that turns on when it get down to about 35 degrees and goes off at abut 45 degrees. I like them.

Kidhenduckohmy said:

The last two winters I used a heated dog bowl. I plan to keep using it. It is very easy, just fill every morning with a bucket from house. The only thing I plan on different is getting another bowl as I got more chickens this year. Also I have been thinking of getting a temperature controlled plug. It would turn the bowls on and off depending on temperature.

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Do your chickens walk on or in the bowl? Thats my worry with the heated dog bowl. I used to have a water bowl in the run, but the hens would stand in it and poop in it. Had to get rid of it and got another hanging waterer.

Fjb6673 said:

Do your chickens walk on or in the bowl? Thats my worry with the heated dog bowl. I used to have a water bowl in the run, but the hens would stand in it and poop in it. Had to get rid of it and got another hanging waterer. 

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Never had a problem with that. First year I had a problem with the snow being too deep, so for my second year I built a 4" platform that also went up around and covered half the opening. I find it works very well....very easy.