I use free ice cream buckets as waterers and the black rubber pans from TSC as waterers for my layers. For the bantams, I use chick waterers. I like to keep it simple (and cheap). For feed, I use the black rubber pans from TSC for the layers and old skillets for the bantams as feed pans. We really don't have all that bad winters compared to some of the northern states that can reach -30 degrees in the winter. I think you will find that chickens do quite well in the cold. They do better in cold than they do in heat for the most part.
Yea they definatey do better in the cold than heat; & yea around here, in Little Rock anyway, last winter wasn't anything special, it was actually kinda disappointing the lack of snow we got...& it really wasn't THAT cold considering how some of our winters can be. We used the nipple thing for the waterer but we found that they love dipping their beaks way down in the water rather than getting drops at a time, (bet u wouldnt' like drinking a drop at a time either lol). We have 2 waterers outside, 1 in the coop and 1 out in the pen. The one inside is a big plastic red & clear one, its huge, somehow it stays pretty clean...last winter daddy just had a heat lamp out there if it got below freezing out.
