water warmer -not so good... TAKE TWO

[canesisters]

I was reluctant to purchase a heated waterer since I had a bucket that used to be in my horse's stall.. but wasn't comfortable sitting a 5 gallon bucket out there. It just seemed like a great place for a chicken to drown.

So I took this:
(mine is a good bit older but very similar)



and put this upside down over it




It covers the water-er tank about 3/4 of the way down.
We've had some nights down in the low 20's and so far it's kept not only the tank but also the dish below liquid.

Just tossing out another idea for the battle of frozen chicken water.

 

[canesisters]

FYI - update.

22degrees a couple of nights ago - ice film on the water.
Not going to chance it with single digits on the way.
Bought a bird bath de-icer and a rubber feed tub a couple of days ago. Working GREAT - even down to 12degrees last night.

 

[Kirklandchick]

I bought this heated dog dish on clearance at Walmart. We've had temps down into the single digits and even a -4F night a couple nights ago, no problems with water freezing. We ran the cord through the hardware cloth so that the dish sits up against the side of the run and they can't mess with the cord. We also put a waterproof cord "sleeve" over the plug where the dish plugs into the extension cord so no worries when it rains/snows (which it is doing today yuck). Chickens have been doing fine with it, actually working out better than I thought it would.

 

[canesisters]

Yeah, that's exactly what I was looking for at the feed store. With COLD on the way, I just picked up what I thought I could get the most out of. The dish is probably 3 gals. That should suffice for really cold spells, even when the flock grows.

 

[Egghead_Jr]

We use this 3 gallon heated water dispenser from Farm Innovators. It works well, I did have to clear some ice earlier today as last night was -15F and high today barely hit -2F at 3PM. Not that it iced over but did clear it out in case it did ice completely before I put the chickens up for the night. Probably unplug it and take in tonight as it's getting near empty and no need to heat water overnight when it's going down to -12F. I like these as 3 gallons last 7 chickens a good 4 days so not the hassle of refilling in freezing weather. The down side of all plastic containers is they break down in direct sunlight so unless you've a covered run these wont last if used in direct summer sun.