Heated Waterer Review / comments

[banks]

Quote:
Put the Cookies in a Baggie!

I love the Cookie Tin Heater I just made. It works like a charm

 

[mnhomeschoolmom]

Quote:
Hi! I'm wondering why it's necessary to flip the bucket. Could you drill the hole in the bottom of the bucket and just take the lid off to refill?


Just thinking this through after asking my question...is it to keep it airtight? If it were upright the lid wouldn't necessarily be airtight and then the water would continue to drain.

 

[clport]

Quote:
Just make sure to have a 40 watt and 60 watt bulb available, too. The 25 watt bulb I used first was good on top of a 3 gallon metal waterer while the temps hovered around freezing. Once we got into the twenties and teens, I needed a higher wattage bulb. I'm really happy with the cheap homemade alternative to the manufactured type of heater.

I agree...put the cookies in a zip lock and make your heater before you really need it!

 

[Whispering Winds]

I have to get some tubs for my Alpacas, and Rural King has them for $21.99 so getting two Sat., when they have the NO SALE TAX week-end. I think when I get chickens next year, I am going to do the cookie tin route first. My DH thought that was a great idea, and he is an electrician, so he can tweak them to make them a little safer or whatever.

 

[chickcritty]

I just bought a heated dog bowl last night and it works great. I think it holds 1.5 gallons? Anyway, it's plenty big enough for my small flock.

 

[gwennym]

question about those metal heating bases (store-bought, not the homemade ones...) ----

Last year I bought one that could be used with either a metal or plastic waterer, but THIS year when I went to buy one, the instructions said it was only for a metal waterer ????!!! It couldn't really get hot enough to melt the plastic waterer, could it ??
I bought one anyway and thought I'd use something underneath my plastic waterer, just in case the heating element was too hot.

Any thoughts ??

Gwen

 

[gwennym]

Whispering Winds ..... I BELIEVE Rural King's no tax weekend is either THIS weekend or NEXT -- can't remember exactly (senior moment at age 47 .... ugh)

Gwen

 

[cockadoodle]

Gwennym,

Is it possible to compare the specs (wattage) of each unit? If they are the same my guess is that it's a lawyer getting involved this year for product liability purposes. If a metal fount runs dry, it can sit on that heater all day long without ill effect. However, if a plastic one empties, it's easy to imagine how it could just start melting it, not sure how long that would take or what the temps would have to be to even allow it, but just me personally, I'd use the metal one with a plastic fount if I had one. At these winter temps, it would take a welding torch to melt plastic. These guys have more heating options than I've seen from other sites, perhaps some great alternatives for anyone shying away from these all in one, flimsy plastic ones that some of us are stuggling with

http://www.strombergschickens.com/products/fount_heaters.php


~Mark

Edited to add - I think 60 dollars for the 'universal' heater is pretty expensive, but some of their other products are more price friendly and it appears that most of them are plastic and metal friendly.

 

[redstars]

Quote:
Put the Cookies in a Baggie!

I love the Cookie Tin Heater I just made. It works like a charm

OK I gave up trying to eat all the cookies and took your advice and put them in a baggie.
Just got done making the famous cookie tin heater, I didn't like the way my 5 gal waterer sat on top of the
tin so I made a 12x12 box cut a hole in the top and sunk the tin so its flush with the top of the box
Insulated around the tin and

Thank you everyone for great Ideas and input on everything chickens and beyond.

 

[kennedyscochins]

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search for the message thread titled: cookie tin waterer- I made one today for under $5.00 and my water is nice and thawed right now. It only took about 10 minutes to make!