Winter water...

[Magda12]

I live in SW Pennsylvania, it can get pretty cold here. I have a 5 gallon plastic bucket with cup drinkers. What can I do during the winter to keep it from freezing? Would changing it out, or adding a gallon of hot water every day keep it from freezing or should I get a heater. My coop is pretty far from the house and any source of electricity.

If my only option is a heater, are there any that will work with a plastic bucket and what is the safest kind of cord I can get? All suggestions are welcome.

 

[Hedgeland Farms]

Following

 

[SandyRiverChick]

I mostly carry 1 gallon of Hot water in each hand when I go out in the morning. But for super cold temps I have an outdoor extension cord buried underground to my coop. I don't plug in a heater. I plug in a heat bulb buried in a ciderblock with a paver under and over the openings. I place my plastic waterer on top. Works great. I'll see if I can find a pic if that doesn't make sense....

 

[TooCheep]

An electric heater is the best option if you can arrange it. They typically have a thermostat built in to keep the water cool, but unfrozen (~40 degrees). Some are rated to be safe in plastic like this one: https://www.ruralking.com/chicken-bucket-waterer-deicer

You might want to consider replacing cup waterers with horizontal nipples. Cups are easier to drink from, but definitely are more likely to freeze.

 

[Magda12]

I mostly carry 1 gallon of Hot water in each hand when I go out in the morning. But for super cold temps I have an outdoor extension cord buried underground to my coop. I don't plug in a heater. I plug in a heat bulb buried in a ciderblock with a paver under and over the openings. I place my plastic waterer on top. Works great. I'll see if I can find a pic if that doesn't make sense....

Yes! This is great because my waterer is on a cinder block. I also realized I will probably need to get nipples to replace the cups for winter time, because the small amount of water in the cups will definitely freeze when it gets really cold.

 

[SandyRiverChick]

Yes! This is great because my waterer is on a cinder block. I also realized I will probably need to get nipples to replace the cups for winter time, because the small amount of water in the cups will definitely freeze when it gets really cold.

I have cups too. I've never used nipples. My cups are attached to a 55 gallon water collection barrel. Went that freezes I just dump hot water in 2 big open plastic horse feed buckets and when that freezes I put the buckets on the cinder blocks with wood stumps around it for chickens to get to it. Cheap, easy.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I don't use heaters, I use black rubber bowls you should be able to get at your feed store. I have a frost-free hydrant so water is pretty close by. If I set those black plastic bowls in sunlight they keep the water thawed well down in the teens Fahrenheit. That might cover a lot of your winter days in SW PA.

The sun does not shine at night and some winter days can be cloudy and really cold. When the water does freeze I pound the rubber bowl against the ground to break the ice out, and refill. It's not a perfect solution but it works for me.

 

[saysfaa]

I went with insulation rather than a heater. Vacuum is the most efficient insulation so I found 3-quart ice buckets for chilling wine. It works well down into the teens and single digits as long as the water is changed every 12 hours or so. It keeps the water cool in the summer, too.

If I had more chickens and more space, I would try a composting manure system.

How many chickens do you have?

 

[Ridgerunner]

It keeps the water cool in the summer, too.

Good point. In summer I use white bowls in the shade. White bowls can be a lot harder to find than black rubber bowls.

 

[NatJ]

I live in SW Pennsylvania, it can get pretty cold here. I have a 5 gallon plastic bucket with cup drinkers. What can I do during the winter to keep it from freezing? Would changing it out, or adding a gallon of hot water every day keep it from freezing or should I get a heater.

Changing it out can work, and is the only method I have any experience with (various waterer styles, but never that exact one.)

I think the cups will freeze long before the rest of the bucket. If the cups are frozen, the chickens cannot get water, no matter how much is in the bucket. Of course, the more often the chickens drink, the more often the cups refill, so that can help keep them thawed too (sometimes.) But before you get a heater, consider whether it will actually heat the part that needs heating.

If you're going to change it out, I suggest you get a second waterer. That way one can be thawing in the house while the other is freezing in the chicken pen. You may find quite a few days where it is frozen in the morning, but after you get it thawed or replaced it is fine all day long, and freezes again the next night.