Winter is Coming! Checklists, tips, advice for a newbie

[aart]

Quote: 50 watts is plenty...but don't buy a cheap one......and use horizontal nipples, the seal is actually in the warm water and much less likely to freeze.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/aarts-heated-waterer-with-horizontal-nipples

 

[MeepBeep]

I am planning on adding an aquarium heater to mine.  I looked on amazon, and they are really inexpensive.  I have a 5 gallon water bucket with 3 nipples, I am hoping a 100 W aquarium heater will be warm enough.  Has anyone used this system?

You run a risk of breaking if you choose a glass aquarium heater, so best to get a stainless one... Also aquarium heaters are designed to hold water in the 70s and 80s, that is really hot in the winter and will promote rapid evaporation... If you choose to use an aquarium heater you need to make sure the bucket never runs dry and address the extra humidity issues...

The best way to use an aquarium heater is to turn it up to full heat and then use a separate thermostatically controlled regulator that allows you to maintain the water about 40° or 50°... This will work for horizontal nipples in most cases, but still won't work well for vertical ones that will freeze up...

As for heat, you need about 3-5 Watts per gallon to keep it liquid in most areas, over wattage is not a bad thing as it simply means it will have shorter on cycles...

 

[jducour]

You run a risk of breaking if you choose a glass aquarium heater, so best to get a stainless one... Also aquarium heaters are designed to hold water in the 70s and 80s, that is really hot in the winter and will promote rapid evaporation... If you choose to use an aquarium heater you need to make sure the bucket never runs dry and address the extra humidity issues...

The best way to use an aquarium heater is to turn it up to full heat and then use a separate thermostatically controlled regulator that allows you to maintain the water about 40° or 50°... This will work for horizontal nipples in most cases, but still won't work well for vertical ones that will freeze up...

As for heat, you need about 3-5 Watts per gallon to keep it liquid in most areas, over wattage is not a bad thing as it simply means it will have shorter on cycles...

I have a lid on my bucket that has just a small hole on top, will that keep the water in well enough? I would hate for it to evaporate. I am looking at a stainless heater, and am deciding between 50W and 100 W. Most days here in the winter are around 20-30 degrees F, and at night, a little colder than that. It does get below zero for a few weeks or a month as well. Oh - and I don't have chickens, this is a duck coop

 

[MeepBeep]

With the vertical nipples I doubt you will be able to keep them thawed out, you should consider switching to horizontal ones...

If the bucket is sealed with a little hole you can tuck a hose into the hole and vent it to the outside...

 

[jducour]

With the vertical nipples I doubt you will be able to keep them thawed out, you should consider switching to horizontal ones...

If the bucket is sealed with a little hole you can tuck a hose into the hole and vent it to the outside...

I have seen the horizontal ones, and I don't think my ducks can maneuver those. The vertical ones were easy for them to figure out, but their bills are too big for the horizontal. I was hoping that if the heater was laying across the bottom of the bucket the nipples would be warm enough not to freeze, or maybe after they tried to use it, there would be just a thin layer of ice that would break off.

 

[Alaskan]

With the vertical nipples I doubt you will be able to keep them thawed out, you should consider switching to horizontal ones...


If the bucket is sealed with a little hole you can tuck a hose into the hole and vent it to the outside...

I have seen the horizontal ones, and I don't think my ducks can maneuver those.  The vertical ones were easy for them to figure out, but their bills are too big for the horizontal.  I was hoping that if the heater was laying across the bottom of the bucket the nipples would be warm enough not to freeze, or maybe after they tried to use it, there would be just a thin layer of ice that would break off. 

Ducks need to be able to dunk their entire head to clean their nose and eyes.

I give mine a bucket to drink from (small enough at the top so they are not tempted to climb in and bathe).

I have Muscovy, and they are strong enough to bust a hole through one inch or even little thicker ice. Because of that, they do fine with getting water twice a day, in the morning and again in the afternoon.

For the chickens they get a black pan of water, kept thawed with a stock tank deicer that is safe to run dry and safe to run on plastic.

Stock tank deicers are great. They have enough oompf to thaw themselves out of a solid block of ice in less than an hour, they can keep water thawed even in horridly cold temps, but they only run when they are needed, so you do not waste electric keeping your water hot.

And yes... I keep my waterers outside of the coop for the chickens, but protected from wind... My ducks have a super windy, airy coop, so their waterer is kept in their coop.

 

[bigmrg74]

Some of the trees are starting to turn in Northern IL...

And I'm about to dig the snow blowers out of the barn and move them into the garage for an oil change, reload of fresh gas and possible belt changes as it's a whole lot easier to do that now vs dealing with it in the cold...

My girlfriends father just bought himself a big beefy new snowblower this week, so hopefully it will be a mild winter here in SE Michigan.

You run a risk of breaking if you choose a glass aquarium heater, so best to get a stainless one... Also aquarium heaters are designed to hold water in the 70s and 80s, that is really hot in the winter and will promote rapid evaporation... If you choose to use an aquarium heater you need to make sure the bucket never runs dry and address the extra humidity issues...

The best way to use an aquarium heater is to turn it up to full heat and then use a separate thermostatically controlled regulator that allows you to maintain the water about 40° or 50°... This will work for horizontal nipples in most cases, but still won't work well for vertical ones that will freeze up...

As for heat, you need about 3-5 Watts per gallon to keep it liquid in most areas, over wattage is not a bad thing as it simply means it will have shorter on cycles...

Would something as simple as a thermal cube on the electrical cord running to the aquarium heater be enough or are you talking about something else that would actually be placed into the water???

 

[Akrnaf2]

Winter? We have 37C 70% humidity, and 3 days of dust storm!

 

[aart]

You run a risk of breaking if you choose a glass aquarium heater, so best to get a stainless one... Also aquarium heaters are designed to hold water in the 70s and 80s, that is really hot in the winter and will promote rapid evaporation... If you choose to use an aquarium heater you need to make sure the bucket never runs dry and address the extra humidity issues...

The best way to use an aquarium heater is to turn it up to full heat and then use a separate thermostatically controlled regulator that allows you to maintain the water about 40° or 50°... This will work for horizontal nipples in most cases, but still won't work well for vertical ones that will freeze up...

As for heat, you need about 3-5 Watts per gallon to keep it liquid in most areas, over wattage is not a bad thing as it simply means it will have shorter on cycles...

I used a glass aq heater last year with great success...once I bought a better heater, the first $10 model just quit after a few days.
Has a low temp of 68, plugged into a 35-45F thermocube powered via GFCI.
2 gallon jug with rubber stopper with one hole for power cord and one for vacuum release.
Evaporation was not an issue and kept it topped off daily with warm water for heater coverage.
We had very cold temps(days on end below zero F) all winter and it never failed.

 

[SouthPoleLu]

thanks Aart..... all this has gotten me thinking about how to make some changes in the coop.