Best type of winter waterer

[happyhencamper]

Looking for some opinions on the best type of heater for the water in the winter. I am in New England and in the past used these big red, raised sort of hot plates. They took up a lot of room and stopped shutting of in the warmer days. The water was actually hot on occasion. I tossed them. I am going to get Premier Heated Poultry Waterer - 3 Gallon It is a water bucket with nipples. Very pricey but great reviews. I wish I could find something just 1 gallon. I don't like to crowd the coop in winter and I only have 10 hens and I always put 2 waters so all can have a chance. Do you think it is ok to only use nipple waterers? I usually have a regular water on a hot plate type heater. Most hot plates I am seeing are for metal waterers and I only use plastic and don't want something huge. Any suggestions?

 

[21hens-incharge]

Maybe a submersible bird bath heater?

 

[MinnPeeps]

I have used, Heated Doggie bowl. Haven't found one to last consecutive Minnesota winters. Could work for others.

 

[DLA]

I have something like this that I found on amazon that kept a 3 gallon plastic waterer from freezing and it has a temp control so you can adjust it as needed. It worked fine for me all winter with no issues. I just set it up on a piece of concrete on top of a cement block so it wasn't sitting in the bedding.
https://www.amazon.com/MUDUOBAN-Chi...5f7-4d66-9779-7c30c3fd42fa&pd_rd_i=B0BB9VYPF4

 

[HeritageFan]

I would be concerned that the water would freeze in the nipples and
- stop working
- break them

I live in a mild climate (PNW) and I don’t even want to try them here

But I know a lot of people love them.

I prefer the metal founts on the auto heater. I remove the heater when it’s not super cold and store it inside the shop.

I’m sorry that you had trouble with yours - and hope someone else will have more ideas

 

[HeritageFan]

I also found this on another thread:

If you freeze at all, the nipples and watering cups will be rendered useless - even if you use something like a livestock water heater, or one of those galvanized heating stands. Trust me on this one, unless you are constantly and directly heating the nipple or cup from the outside, like a heat gun or hairdryer they will freeze. A few years ago I spent countless hours and who knows how much $$ trying to get those stupid things to work! still irks me

With that said, if you can figure out the freezing, all you need to is drill your Nipples or cups into a 3/4 pvc pipe, run the pipe to where the chickens are and buy a garden hose connection for the pipe. Hook your hose directly to the pipe and leave it on low pressure. by design the nipples seal themselves with pressure, and the watering cups have a small float valve in each one. This was my last attempt, and I ran the pipe underground and stubbed up 6", put an elbow there and ran them straight across at a perfect height. I ran heat tape starting at 12" under ground, wrapping the pipe and the stub out of the cups/nipples. Thought it was a winner - frozen the next day.

Ultimately what I did. Was run a water line with a frost free yard hydrant and manually fill the water each morning. Galvanized watered on a heating stand.

I am sure there is a way to do it in a freeze, and hoping someone chimes in here. I feel like I still have PTSD after that dumb project.

 

[Mountain Roost]

I do things a little different because I have 5 coops to keep water in. I also am a big proponent of using what is laying around.

When water freezes it can break your container, unless it is a round bottom bowl. I take stainless steel bowls and set them down into an old lawn mower tire as a holder. In the morning the bowl gets picked up and dumped of any ice and water and refilled with fresh water (warm water if it is too cold for the hoses, otherwise just cold hose water). Basically instead of keeping the water un-frozen I focus on being able to easily remove the ice and add fresh water as needed; and not breaking my container.

The other item I use as needed to keep things from freezing is a reptile heat mat, they come in a couple different sizes. I like to keep one in the nest box during early spring when they start laying again and now I don't find cracked frozen eggs in the morning.

 

[WingsysRoost]

I don't use heat for water in winter. I have a dog bowl, stainless steel, that gets filled either once or twice daily depending on how cold it gets. In the morning, if the water has frozen overnight, I can easily crack the ice out and bring it inside to fill. This is crucial to me because my outside tap does not work below a certain temperature.

 

[Sammster]

I have these waterers and I love them. Thermal both winter and summer. Unplugged in the summer, of course, I drop a frozen water bottle inside to keep the water cool
https://www.premier1supplies.com/p/heated-poultry-waterer?criteria=Heated+water+bucket+chickens

 

[rosemarythyme]

The waterer you got OP is the one I use. It's not as big as they advertise. Closer to 2 gal if even that. Works fine for me out in the run, though you will want to keep an eye on the nipples to make sure they don't freeze externally in very cold temps. But it's worked fine for me down to 12F.