Ideas for homemade heated waterers

[JackE]

I built one of those cookie tin heaters, 3 yrs ago. Probably the best $5 (Less than that actually) I ever spent on the birds. I use a 40W bulb in mine. Check the link.
Jack

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/cookie-tin-heater-for-water

 

[canesisters]

I just put this together 2 days ago. It's not really 'home made'... but it's working great.
bird bath de-icer

dropped into a great big rubber feed pan

It was down around 10 degrees last night and the water was fine this morning.
The de-icer is supposed to cut off if the water gets above freezing, and then back on when it gets cold again..

 

[DeepFriedBacon]

I've always been wary of wiring something myself, that will be inside an extremely flammable enclosure, and underneath a bunch of water!

Especially with determined chickens. I can't say enough about the heat tape, cheaper than heated waters to buy, can form to whatever size/shape you need, low energy consumption(tape doesn't get "hot", just warm enough to melt ice. Most commonly used inside your gutters of your house to melt the ice so it's built to be submerged with no problems.)

I'm willing to bet the cookie tins would be a cool project though, it's just electricity is where my line of knowledge stops...lol

 

[Kirklandchick]

We use a heated water dish that is for dogs. We don't have water inside the coop, as they pretty much only go in there to lay their eggs and to sleep at night, so the water stays outside in the run. We snipped one little piece of the hardware cloth to run the cord through so that it can sit right up against the side and they can't mess with the cord. Has been working out great so far. If the water looks pretty clean in the morning, I just top it off with more. If it looks pretty dirty, I dump it and refill. We had below zero temps for the past couple of nights, and many nights this month in the single digits and low teens, haven't had a problem with it. The best part is, I got it on clearance at Walmart for $10. (regular price is $20 I think).

 

[Emmapee]

thats my concern too... i mean, theres a bunch of wood shavings in the coop, so i worry about the safety of the tins as well. I think the heat tape sounds perfect

 

[Emmapee]

dog dish is a good idea too, and apparently walmart sells some pretty cheap ones

 

[JackE]

Well, I guess it's like Dirty Harry, (Clint Eastwood) once said, "A man gotta know his limitations". I look at building a cookie tin heater as one of THE most simple projects to do, and it's cheap. The store bought, T/S, RedChinese engineered water fount warmer cost $50. I'll bet that piece of junk will be in the landfill, while I'm just putting another bulb in my fount warmer. Unless you put the tin UNDER water, you have nothing to worry about. The bulb is inside, protected from the elements. It does not get hot enough to set anything on fire in a hundred years. It's funny, I'll bet that some people who are afraid of the cookie tin, wouldn't give a second thought to hanging an exposed bulb 250W heatlamp in their coop. Must "Keep them warm" HA
Jack

 

[canesisters]

I just put this together 2 days ago. It's not really 'home made'... but it's working great.
bird bath de-icer

dropped into a great big rubber feed pan

It was down around 10 degrees last night and the water was fine this morning.
The de-icer is supposed to cut off if the water gets above freezing, and then back on when it gets cold again..

Forgot to mention that my water stays outside. There's just not enough floor space inside for it. I'm hoping to do a small renovation this summer ... but will probably keep it outside anyway.

 

[DeepFriedBacon]

Haha, no I don't need to heat the coop! The birds are fine, it's been 5-20F the last week here and they are just fine!
I'm a residential exterior waterproofing technician(ok, a roofer) pretty sufficient in area's of carpentry, plumbing, etc. Electricity is one area I don't even try. At least not yet. I've had my eye on a few books to read up as I have oddles of projects to do that requires that skill set. But for now, it's store bought!

Right now I'm just changing their water a few times a day, as I'm not working @ the moment, and the water will be frozen, but just a thin layer. As soon as I poke my finger through, the easter eggers come running and they pick out ice chunks and eat them, like a popsicle treat... it's not that they're thirsty, as they don't drink the actual water just eat the ice chips...anyone else's chickens do this?

 

[NanaArizona]

http://www.kotulas.com/deals/outdoo...ousefile-_-WinterLiving_130125-_-130125-_-p08
Here's a 1 1/2 gallon capacity heated dog dish. It's on sale right now for $29.99 & free shipping