It depends on how many chickens are in the pen. For my largest group I put one of those 44 watt flat foil bird bath de-icers ($18.16 with free shipping on eBay) on a cinder block (holes up so the heater doesn't overheat) and placed a 3 gallon waterer on top. It's in their run. The whole coop is wrapped in clear plastic so their "outside" is now "inside" sort of. The sun heats up the run now that it's wrapped so that helps, too.
LOL!!! Oh, what drama! You've given your neighbors something fun to talk about at their Thanksgiving table for sure. I'm happy you got her back. Silly bird.We caught our rogue turkey!! I have some incredibly awesome, understanding people in my neighborhood, and thanks to them, we were able to figure out where the turkey was roosting tonight. I scared a poor little old lady by ringing her doorbell at 9:30 at night, and had it not been for the neighbor next door (whose yard I was combing) I wouldn't have been able to get in the elderly neighbor's yard. We found the turkey roosting 20 feet up in a big old pine tree. The neighbor pulled out a telescoping ladder, I climbed up the tree with a borrowed fishing net in hand (I do NOT like ladders!) and managed to scoop up the bird. Then I got her stuck in a branch fork when she jumpedSpent several minutes trying to extract her while in a very precarious position, got pretty dizzy, and finally got her to the ground. I was afraid for a minute that I'd broken her neck, because she was in the net head-first, but she was okay. We thanked the neighbors and got her home, and that little booger that has made my heart so sick for the past five days is now safely confined in the chicken run, where I KNOW she can't get out. She is going to get her wings clipped, her leg banded, and I'm putting more netting on the turkey run.
What an answer to prayer! I have my baby back.
We caught our rogue turkey!! I have some incredibly awesome, understanding people in my neighborhood, and thanks to them, we were able to figure out where the turkey was roosting tonight. I scared a poor little old lady by ringing her doorbell at 9:30 at night, and had it not been for the neighbor next door (whose yard I was combing) I wouldn't have been able to get in the elderly neighbor's yard. We found the turkey roosting 20 feet up in a big old pine tree. The neighbor pulled out a telescoping ladder, I climbed up the tree with a borrowed fishing net in hand (I do NOT like ladders!) and managed to scoop up the bird. Then I got her stuck in a branch fork when she jumpedSpent several minutes trying to extract her while in a very precarious position, got pretty dizzy, and finally got her to the ground. I was afraid for a minute that I'd broken her neck, because she was in the net head-first, but she was okay. We thanked the neighbors and got her home, and that little booger that has made my heart so sick for the past five days is now safely confined in the chicken run, where I KNOW she can't get out. She is going to get her wings clipped, her leg banded, and I'm putting more netting on the turkey run.
What an answer to prayer! I have my baby back.
If it's out in their run, I don't see how it can be a fire hazard. I'm comfortable with it. It's actually safer than using a light bulb which I've done before. You aren't worrying about a bulb breaking this way and it's cheaper than the heated waterers or bases. I prefer to have their water outside so I'm not adding additional humidity to the inside of the coop. I have a heated dog water bowl in one of my other pens. That one is inside.
The foil bird bath de-icer says you can use an extension cord. It's a grounded plug.I'm not going to use that base, it says it can't be used with an extension cord, so I'm shipping it back, I just wanted to know what other people do.
