Good idea! I like the swap out idea. I think you do need mounting brackets, though. Wall ones if you use a bucket and pipe ones for pvc (which would freeze, defeating the purpose). Anybody else use this method? Do we need mounting brackets?
So $20 for the cups and $15 for the mounting brackets. I have a five gallon bucket already. I still need a birdbath heater, which is about $15 if I remember correctly. $50 is kind of alot for an experiment...
Are you putting them on a bucket or pvc? Which mounting brackets are you getting? They have the drink cups I want but it's a pack of five...I guess that's okay. I was only going to get 3. The mounting brackets are sold separately so it might get pricier than I thought...
Minnesota here hit -20 a few times last winter. I'm changing up my system, too. I plan to copy what my friend successfully does, which is to keep one of those rubber bowls with a birdbath heater in it. I'll rotate two. I plan to keep it in the run rather than the coop. Last winter during those...
I have no idea...I learned it on BYC and tried it. Stability sounds good....and they enjoy a bit of sand once in awhile so it doesn't hurt. The bottom of the waterer is ridgey so maybe it helps distribute heat but I don't think it retains well--that's why I had to cut back on the amount.
We are in MN and just had another cold snap of fifteen below Farenheit actual (not windchill--that was much colder but doesn't count in the coop) All winter I have used a heated doggie dish for my chickens' water, but not just with open water. I have a traditional plastic chicken waterer (white...
Thanks, Triplell. Looks like we're practically neighbors! LOL Princeton here. If your dishes stay open down to -25* then maybe I could try them outside for awhile and see if that helps. I'm sure windchill will also be a factor, but yours are holding out pretty cold, so it's worth a try. I'll let...
I'm SO tempted, but I hate to expose that much surface area of water in the coop--trying to keep the humidity down. Do you keep yours outside in the run?
I have plastic red/white chicken waterers. Can I use that
with my plastic waterers somehow? Right now they're on heated doggie dishes filled with sand and they work great until single digits. We get down to -20*F here so I'd like to find a better way to keep their water liquid. This winter we've...
Thank you, CG. We've eaten eggs that had been frozen, but with the crack I was concerned with food poisoning. Glad to know I can trust the membrane to keep out the bad stuff. The dog will be disappointed, though.
Maybe mine aren't very strong. This morning it was -9*F and their water was barely iced over--fine for the girls to peck through. Some days it's single digits above zero and frozen solid.
How do you guys deal with frozen eggs? We still use them for home use unless they're cracked--then they...
I've been using heated doggie dishes filled with sand and with a traditional poultry waterer set on top. It does fine until about 5 degrees and then it freezes. I like the limited humidity and it's easy to change out the waterers for fresh, but I might have to break down and just use the doggie...
Well, it's 11 below zero F here (4:50 AM) and I just got back from feeding the chickens. There is no heat out there, just about 4" of bedding. Very little frost on the windows (4) none on walls/doors. I have heated doggie dishes with sand in them and the traditional plastic waterers on that...