Cookie Tin water heater

[thatsjustducky]

Rough service bulbs should probably not be used around Chickens because they usually have a rubberized coating that can off gas toxins to the sensitive birds.

 

[Hooligans7]

Rough service bulbs should probably not be used around Chickens because they usually have a rubberized coating that can off gas toxins to the sensitive birds.

Good advice. I didn't know about that. Here's a link that explains the danger — http://www.rootsimple.com/2012/07/teflon-coated-light-bulbs-deadly-to-chickens/

 

[vicki5112]

Hi, we have been using a 50 light strand of Christmas lights in our cookie tins. It has been working very good for us so far, only froze once & not solid so they had the water that was in the little trough. I have one in the coop & one outside & both sit on bricks & the tins don't seem hot to the touch but they are warm.

 

[chickenmomma2]

I just made this poultry water warmer today. Found the instructions on line. Total cost $3.03. I went to a thrift store and purchased a lamp for $1.50, paid $1.00 for the cookie tin and the 40 watt bulb was around 39 cents. If I need to increase the heat I can switch out the light bulb to a 60 watt. I plan to make more. I have 3 more waterers to heat.

I can't see paying $40 or more for something I could make myself. It only took about 30 minutes to disassemble the lamp and construct the warmer.

 

[ChickGeek]

I just need to figure out how to keep the waterer on top of the tin and not have it tip over, drip into the electric of the tin or anything else.

Suggestions anyone??????

I just put mine together upside down. There is a small rim on the bottom that the water dispenser sits in perfectly.

 

[Cooper589]

Is it OK to reply to your own post?

Polar Vortex? Man was that cold. My 24 watt light bulb was not enough to keep the water from freezing. The fix was to switch to a 40 watt light bulb. More heat solved the problem.

Concerns? Yes. I believe too much heat could be bad and might cook some of the sawdust the Chickens keep flinging around. This is why I have surrounded the cookie tin with brick.

The extreme cold also caused concern for chickens getting frost bite and the answer for me is a heat lamp two feet above the ground for the coldest weather. When the chickens get cold they huddle together under the lamp.


Wind chill was a minus 15. Chilly.

 

[vicki5112]

I just put mine together upside down. There is a small rim on the bottom that the water dispenser sits in perfectly.

I couldn't find a tin as big as the waterer and now they have knocked over the water twice in their coop, gotta clean that wet straw out & figure out how to keep the darn thing upright. Never had this problem though until we added 2 more new chickens to the 2 I already had. They are still getting used to each other & the new ones fly all around if the old ones get too close to them even though they don't get pecked anymore...lol But I have 2 of the tins set up & they work pretty good. The one outside freezes sometimes but still nothing like if I wasn't using the cookie tin heaters.

 

[azygous]

I solved the problem of the plastic waterer slipping off the slick surface of the cookie tin lid by coating it with Plastic Dip, all purpose rubber coating for tool handles. I painted it on the lid and tested it before I used it to make sure the heat from the bulb inside wouldn't melt it or cause it to give off toxic fumes.

It creates a safe, non-skid surface and the waterer stays perfectly in place. Lots of colors to match the decor of your run.

I continue to marvel at how well these water heaters work. Today the temperature was a mere two above zero F, and a 40 watt bulb has kept the water from freezing. I used to have to swap out hot water for frozen several times a day on days like today. Now I just waste time indoors where it's warm.

 

[vicki5112]

I put some of that non slip rubber shelf liner on mine & that had worked very nicely until I got the 2 new chickens. I call the one Henny Penny because every time one of the old gals gets near her she gets flighty, literally & figuratively, then she "encourages" the other new one to get in on the act & they are bouncing & flying all over the 4X8 coop....lol I believe they are knocking it off the tin when trying to keep out of the old gals way. I blocked it up with some bricks this evening, hopefully that will suffice till the weekend when we can figure out a better system.

 

[azygous]

Vicki, if you hang something over the waterer so they can't hop onto the top of the water jug, you'd probably solve the problem. I had one hen who is high strung and she was hopping on top the waterer to perch above her "enemies". When the water level got low, she'd end up tipping the whole thing over.

I just took a square of netting, fashioned a sort of cone (like a dunce's cap) out of it, clipped it in that shape, then suspended it over the waterer which is near a fence that I could hang it from. It solved the problem neatly. Anything you could come up with to discourage them from utilizing the top of the waterer would probably keep the thing from ever tipping over again.