Forgot to say that my friend has the heated bases that she bought at the feed store and she uses them outside in the run. Her run has a roof on it though.
I went thru my first winter with chickens last year. I didn't use any heaters for the founts. I just keep an extra set. Every morning I would take the fresh water out to the coop and bring the frozen in to thaw. Every evening after work I did the same thing. But we live in TN and winter is...