Cold Weather Water

[chicken8]

I am in Anchorage, Alaska and it sometimes gets a bit cold here. I have seven chickens, all acquired in the spring, who will be wintering over with us. They have a solid coop, I'm about to build a nice, big covered run, but I haven't decided how to handle their water.

If you are living in a cold climate, how do you make sure your chickens have access to water all winter?

 

[LoneOak]

There are many heated chicken waterers available from any of the online poultry supply stores. Do a google search of "heated chicken waterers" and you will find 7 or 8 on the first page alone. The first ones I see range in price from $32 to $49 dollars. You could also search here in this forum and see what other people have been using that they like or dislike. You will have to have electricity available in your coop.

 

[jimmywalt]

People talk about the "cookie tin water heater" on this website. I made one this spring, but like you have not yet experienced a winter here in Michigan with chickens.

I too am looking for something inexpensive and easy to us this winter.

Here are some pics of my cookie tin heater. You can get all the parts at Goodwill for a couple bucks. The light parts are torn out of the cheapest lamp they have for sale (or if you have an old lamp at home like I did).

 

[Alaskan]

I have tried lots of things...

But, I keep being stuck with using one of those thick flexible black rubber horse feeding pans (about 1.5 feet in diameter and not too deep, maybe 6 inches at the most).

I loose electricity a LOT, and I have lots of wind, so stuff is perpetually freezing into a solid block.

Those black plastic pans can be kicked free of the ground that they are frozen to with as much force as you are capable of exerting, and they still don't break. YEAH!

Seriously. I have broken all other choices (metal waterer, plastic waterer, heated dog water bowl).

Nope, I have to keep going back to that black plastic pan.

I heat it with a stock tank deicer (get one that won't bust if the pan is empty of water, as well as one that won't burn the chickens and can sit right on the rubber and not melt it.) Those stock tank deicers can become frozen in the middle of a giant ice cube (if the power is out for a few hours) and still manage to thaw out the entire block when the power if back on. NONE of the many other heaters I have tried have the power to do that.

Yes, it is messier....get a part of your run covered so that you can keep the water outside, and set it up so that you can gently pick up the pan without splashing out any water, dump it in a place where a mountain of ice is OK, then replace in run.


With all of that said.....look through the Alaska thread, one lady put an engine block heater between some cinder blocks, and then her metal waterer on top of that. It looked like a great idea. But again, since I loose power so often....I don't think It would work for me, since I don't think it would be powerful enough to thaw out an ice block.

I have my water set up in a snow free not-in-the-coop spot.

The last few winters I have had it in a shed. This year I want to try it in my new predator proof run under a little roof overhang. In the run area I will have more space to chuck all of the icebergs that I make all winter long.

 

[chicken8]

I only have 7 chickens so the black stock pan might be overkill, but it sounds pretty full proof.

Thanks for the replies everybody. Luckily I still have a little bit of time to figure things out.

 

[bothpawsoff]

I have 8 chickens at 12 ducks so I need something that will heat a lot of water. It gets cold in upper IL

 

[jimmywalt]

I have 8 chickens at 12 ducks so I need something that will heat a lot of water. It gets cold in upper IL

How much water do they go through in a day?

Check under my signature and I have a link for a heated waterer for about $20 bucks that you can make yourself with a 5 gallon bucket, submersible aquarium heater and submersible fountain pump. It's really easy to make and will keep your water from freezing. I'm using it and I'm in Michigan.

Very easy to make heated waterer for winter:
http://goo.gl/j50hYW

 

[Bear Foot Farm]

I have 8 chickens at 12 ducks so I need something that will heat a lot of water. It gets cold in upper IL

What kind of waterer do you use?

 

[bothpawsoff]

It won't let me see the link ;/. However, we are using 2 heated pet bowls, 2 horse feeder rubber Bowles, and 2 large pools lol! The per bowels only hold a gallon each.

 

[jimmywalt]

It won't let me see the link ;/. However, we are using 2 heated pet bowls, 2 horse feeder rubber Bowles, and 2 large pools lol! The per bowels only hold a gallon each.

Here you are... Directly to the BYC thread.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...ated-waterer-for-under-20-bucks#post_12211685