Winterize

[bear0806]

We purchased a plastic heated watering fount for our 9 chickens. Quick questions:
1) As this will be resting on the ground, how do you cover the electrical cord so as not to be pecked on?
2) I hear about people hanging their water/feed troughs...if you hang them by the handle don't they spill water on the floor of the run every time they peck for water or bump into it?
3) Do full grown chickens really need a heat lamp for winter? We have black astolopps, Buff Orpingtons and Salmon Faberelle. Our temps in NY get down to the teens sometimes with the occasional dip below 0.
thank you

 

[thecatumbrella]

1. There's something called cord wrap, or cord protector. It's a thick plastic spiral that goes around the cord. I would absolutely use that if your chickens are able to get at the electrical.
2. I have the same thought, so I personally wouldn't hang it.
3. No heat. You have fantastic winter-hardy breeds! Make sure the coop is ventilated, but the birds themselves are protected from wind. They'll do great!

 

[K0k0shka]

My heated waterer is in a corner of the run next to the fencing, so I zip tie the cord up along the fence inside the corner, and out of the way of the chickens. They don't seem to care about or bother the cord that's running up the fence, and it's hard for them to reach anyway because it's in the corner, behind the waterer.

 

[K0k0shka]

How many chickens do you have? I use a large heated dog bowl and love it! It's so much easier to fill and clean than any of the closed waterers, and it has no little pieces that could malfunction, leak, freeze, etc. like the little cups, nipples and whatnot. The first zip tie holding the cord to the fence is about 2 feet above the waterer, which gives me enough free cord at the bottom to be able to tip the bowl over to pour old/dirty water out. I bring water to it in a separate bucket and just dump the bucket into the water bowl. Very quick and easy. I have the bowl elevated on a short stump so that the chickens don't kick bedding into it. This setup has been working out great for me.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Okay, good suggestions that'll I'll look into.
I just realized that my "easy fill" heated fount is still bottom filled which is really a pain once I have the cording situation taken care of.
I want to get a top filling heated water fount but the only kind I see have these nipple thingys...will my chickens adjust to this new method instead of the easy trough they have been raised up with?

https://www.amazon.com/Premier-Heated-Poultry-Waterer-Gallon/dp/B07KRLX1MJ/ref=sr_1_6?crid=3A9KK4NIE7HVV&keywords=heated+top+fill+chicken+waterer&qid=1701283478&s=lawn-garden&sprefix=heated+top+fill+chick,lawngarden,89&sr=1-6

That's the waterer I have (and I wrote a detailed review for the version I own: https://www.backyardchickens.com/reviews/premier-1-heated-poultry-waterer.11903/) but you will likely need to teach them to use the nipples. It will need to be their sole source of water during training, and you can either pick up a few birds and use their beaks to toggle the nipple, allow them to drink, repeat, and let them go - and the rest of the flock should learn by watching, OR "peck" at the nipple with your finger while the birds are watching, to get their interest.

Here's a chick learning from watching adults use the nipples.

As far as the cord I have a chain link fence just behind the waterer and I just wind it through the fencing to have it up and out of the way. The birds have never ever shown interest in the cord.

 

[K0k0shka]

Can you show me a pic? Sounds like a great idea.

Here’s a picture:

The leaves make it hard to see, but the bowl is up on a short log like the one the pullet is standing on. There’s another log lying sideways in front of it, which in addition to being a step, also stands in the way so they can’t dig and scratch too close to the bowl and kick crap into the water. That, plus the elevation, keep the water clean.

I wouldn’t put water inside the coop, especially an open waterer like this. The evaporation will raise the humidity in the coop, raising the risk of frostbite when that humidity condenses and freezes on the chickens’ fleshy bits. I also wouldn’t want anybody stepping or falling into the water and getting themselves and the bedding wet. Outside, there’s more room, and they go into that corner only to drink, so they don’t step into the water at all. But the coop is smaller than the run, and even with ample space, they still manage to step in and on everything, in their shuffle on/off the roosts, the nesting boxes, etc. So my waterer stays outside year round, there’s no water inside the coop.

 

[Folly's place]

I use metal waterers on heat bases, with the electric cords up along the wall to the outlet. We tried one of those miserable bottom filling plastic heated waterers, and hated it. It's now in our tack room as a last ditch backup, if it's ever needed.
And the heated dog bowls work, as long as you don't have roosters with big combs and wattles, or have a bird who wants to stand in it, or on it's edge.
We used one in our barn when we had a barn cat, and the chickens who visited the barn used it too.
And our waterers are in separate coop areas, all fine.
Mary

 

[bear0806]

Okay, good suggestions that'll I'll look into.
I just realized that my "easy fill" heated fount is still bottom filled which is really a pain once I have the cording situation taken care of.
I want to get a top filling heated water fount but the only kind I see have these nipple thingys...will my chickens adjust to this new method instead of the easy trough they have been raised up with?

https://www.amazon.com/Premier-Heat...ix=heated+top+fill+chick,lawngarden,89&sr=1-6

 

[bear0806]

How many chickens do you have? I use a large heated dog bowl and love it! It's so much easier to fill and clean than any of the closed waterers, and it has no little pieces that could malfunction, leak, freeze, etc. like the little cups, nipples and whatnot. The first zip tie holding the cord to the fence is about 2 feet above the waterer, which gives me enough free cord at the bottom to be able to tip the bowl over to pour old/dirty water out. I bring water to it in a separate bucket and just dump the bucket into the water bowl. Very quick and easy. I have the bowl elevated on a short stump so that the chickens don't kick bedding into it. This setup has been working out great for me.

Can you show me a pic? Sounds like a great idea.

 

[bear0806]

Can you show me a pic? Sounds like a great idea.

10 chickens