Freezing temps - should I keep chickens in coop?

[Chicken Newbies]

We open the coop door and let them go into their runs, but don't let the go free pastured when the weather is below freezing or snowy which is rare in Greenville, SC. Our big problem is what to do about the water freezing. We bring it in from the runs at nights, but those rare times when it is below freezing all day long too have us stymied. We are thinking about putting an incandescent light bulb in each coop along with a bowl of water. We are supposed to have a 24 hour period when it doesn't get out of the low teens and we are worried. Any suggestions?

 

[WthrLady]

We use a rubber water bowl from the feed store. It holds 1 gallon. We fill it with warm water in the morning. And again after lunch. The rubber holds the warmth. I don't give water over night.

 

[ChicagoClucker]

We open the coop door and let them go into their runs, but don't let the go free pastured when the weather is below freezing or snowy which is rare in Greenville, SC. Our big problem is what to do about the water freezing. We bring it in from the runs at nights, but those rare times when it is below freezing all day long too have us stymied. We are thinking about putting an incandescent light bulb in each coop along with a bowl of water. We are supposed to have a 24 hour period when it doesn't get out of the low teens and we are worried. Any suggestions?

If you have electric out there, I purchased a heated large dog dish. I have found them at Menards(home improvement store here in Illinois) and at the feed store.
They turn on when the temp goes below 32 degrees and has worked out wonderfully for me here in Chicago!

 

[Heme]

So far in Tennessee with the frigid temps, my girls are doing OK. I let them roam during the day and in the evenings they go to the coop all by themselves. My 250W Infrared heat lamp in a safety fixture goes on from dusk to daylight. It is partially over the water fount and the water is not freezing up. So far so good.

 

[JackE]

We open the coop door and let them go into their runs, but don't let the go free pastured when the weather is below freezing or snowy which is rare in Greenville, SC. Our big problem is what to do about the water freezing. We bring it in from the runs at nights, but those rare times when it is below freezing all day long too have us stymied. We are thinking about putting an incandescent light bulb in each coop along with a bowl of water. We are supposed to have a 24 hour period when it doesn't get out of the low teens and we are worried. Any suggestions?

I've been using a water fount heater, like the one in the link below, for 5yrs. I made it for less than $5, using stuff I had laying around the house, and a quick trip to Lowes. I use a 40W bulb in mine, except when the temp gets down into the single digits. Then I have to throw a 60W in there to get the job down.



https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/107951/cookie-tin-water-heater

 

[RonP]

I've been using a water fount heater, like the one in the link below, for 5yrs. I made it for less than $5, using stuff I had laying around the house, and a quick trip to Lowes. I use a 40W bulb in mine, except when the temp gets down into the single digits. Then I have to throw a 60W in there to get the job down.



https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/107951/cookie-tin-water-heater

Same here, plugged into a thermo cube, then a GFCI outlet.

 

[Chicken Newbies]

Thanks for the two great answers as to what to do about our freezing water dilemma.

 

[Zoom Zoom]

I also use a heated dog water bowl and it has worked well here in Missouri too. Our temp got down to 2 last week and our chicks had warm water throughout the cold spell. I did wrap the cord in black electrical tape because it runs through a bright, shining silver coil and I was afraid the chicks would peck at it. They don't seem to notice it at all.

 

[ageewax]

I have also used a heated dog bowl for frozen water. We actually have a nearly enclosed portion of the run that houses a heat lamp over a sand box and right under the actual coop. This also has the benefit of the coop getting the rising heat. The heat lamp is bolted in so it cannot fall and break unless the entire coop comes down. But it only keeps the water in that area thawed down to about 22 degrees (ambient air temperature). After that, we use the dog bowl. We fill it with sand so that when the waterer sits on top of the sand, the lip of the waterer is even with the lip of the dog bowl. It has worked down to 8 degrees - that's the lowest it has been this year.

We had our first light snow (maybe 1 or 2 inches) this year last week, but it was accompanied by massive wind gusts of 30 to 50 mph. When their timed light normally goes off at 7pm, they go inside... But with the wind and cold the way it was, they stayed outside in the dark in the portion of the run closed in and protected from the wind. Only one went into the coop when I came out and called for her to come in. I tried to herd the rest out but they just went right back into the enclosed portion of the run. So I had to pick each of them up and bring them into the coop. They normally flail and flap when I catch them (I don't do it often), but this time they just wanted to get inside without getting blown around, so they were really calm.

Right before the second snow storm, it got down to single digits. I opened the coop up and the girls just wouldn't come out. Too cold and breezy. So I kept their food and water inside the coop. They might not be the brightest of animals (they'll eat anything, even if it kills them), but they know when being outside would be bad for them. As long as they have a place to go - be it the coop or an enclosed portion of the run - they will go where they feel safe.

To fix the problem, I put plastic on the open portions of the run to make it fully enclosed except for the gate. It has done a great job so far! (You can see the enclosed portion of the run below the coop in the picture below.

 

[Cluckies]

We open the coop door and let them go into their runs, but don't let the go free pastured when the weather is below freezing or snowy which is rare in Greenville, SC. Our big problem is what to do about the water freezing. We bring it in from the runs at nights, but those rare times when it is below freezing all day long too have us stymied. We are thinking about putting an incandescent light bulb in each coop along with a bowl of water. We are supposed to have a 24 hour period when it doesn't get out of the low teens and we are worried. Any suggestions?

I do two things, a heated dog dish with a rubber dish inside of it for easy change out (I bring the rubber dish in over night) the second one is a 2 gallon bucket with horizontal nipples, a bird bath deicer and a pond pump inside
.


bottle filled with sand in the middle so that they don't walk through it and get frost bit. I also have since lifted it up onto a stand so it is higher off of the ground.