5 gallon Bucket water heaters

[wyofam]

I have my walls insulated but not the ceiling. I installed a ridge vent and soffit vents and just have one small window and the pop door. I think the window will be shut in the winter. Hopefully it will provide enough ventilation while keeping them out of the wind. I will keep my waterer in the coop out of the wind and snow. and trying this first winter to not have supplemental heat and see how the birds do. I have a lot to learn regarding chickens but I guess trial and error is my schoolmaster I have been receiving good advice from some seasoned cold weather chicken folk. Thank you all for the advice !!

 

[ckelley]

I tried keeping mine in the coop and they made a wet mess. I was worried about frostbite so I moved it back outside.

I love this forum- people on here are really great. I second someone else's suggestion anout going to chicken chicks site. She has a lot of really practical advice, and tons of photo guides.

 

[wamtazlady]

Thanks for the info. I looked at that one also. If mine doesn't work this winter I will switch to that one. Do you use a bucket and horizontal nipples? I know we get to -30 usually a few times a winter. In Wyoming the wind really blows though so sometimes we get windchill -40 to-50.

I do not use a bucket. A bucket won't hold the amount of water I needed to last the chickens at least a week between filling. I use a rectangular plastic see through tote with lid I bought at Walmart. It holds somewhere between 10 and 15 gallons of water. I may change to a larger one this winter as I have more chickens. It has to last a week between fillings. I have lung issues and can not do too much physical labor. I will probably hire one of the local teens to come over once a week to water and feed the critters. With that in mind I am designing things so that there will be water and food available that will last at least a week.

Windchill doesn't affect the run where the chickens, food, and water are kept. There are clear shower curtains on all the sides except the one that is blocked from the wind by the house being a few feet away. If this system will stay thawed at -30 I really do not know. It only went down to -10 around here this year. One of the other posters named Blooie (hope that is spelled correctly) uses horizontonal nipples and keeps her water outside and she gets colder than here. She has said that sometimes her nipples freeze up. Her husband goes out and thaws the nipples in the morning. Windchill should not be a factor in how cold your coop is as you shouldn't have any wind blowing in on the birds. The horizontal nipples didn't need thawed here with our fairly mild winter.

A problem with you keeping your water in the coop is the added moisture. To make up for that you will probably need more ventilation to allow all that extra moisture vent out. You do not want the coop to be too humid. If that window you have is glass keep your eye on it. If it fogs up you have way too much moister in your coop.