Coop power

[Dirtautoguy]

Hello, I am trying to think ahead on what will work best as we get into our first winter with our chickens.

We have a coop that is elevated with a fenced in run area under it. That area is connected to a chain link fenced in area. A section of the chain link area has a chain link panel overhead to offer a little more shade and cover.

I have a automatic gravity fed water system with pvc pipe and nipples fed by 2 5 gallon buckets.

Iv got some feeders but I haven’t gotten the feeder set up yet.


So here’s what I’m speculating on doing for winter.

We live in western Wyoming and it gets very cold. The coldest Iv seen it get here is -45f. But it does t usually get that cold. It’s not abnormal to see -20f.

I want to put a water deicer in the water and an aquarium pump running in loop to circulate the water.

Our coop doors are solar.

I want to basically make a insulation skirt around the bottom of the coop area

I want to run some leds in the coop to give them a little extra light. (On a side note would light in our duck coop help encourage them to go in at night?)

I’ll probably build some sort of covered area over the water nipples to help keep them from getting barried in the snow.

So these are all plans I have before winter some are more complete than others but it has me thinking. What would be the best way to power this? Obviously I think a ext cord would be best for the water and pump. But where my coop doors are already Solar. Instead of haveing a bunch of solar panels maybe I could set up a small battery with a large solar panel to run the LEDs and coop doors?

I’m trying to kind of get these things figured out so that by the time winter gets here I’m ready.

Thanks

 

[StinkyAcres]

How much snow do you get? I know here in Vermont solar would not work well with all the snow and cloudy days.

 

[StinkyAcres]

I run an extension cord to my duck coop. I keep it raised up on fence posts to prevent it from being buried in the snow.

 

[FarmallNut]

 

[Dirtautoguy]

I already have a watering system set up I’d rather not get another one but I’ll keep that in mind if that’s the way it works out.

I also forgot to add I’m going to set up a blink camera so that when we are out of town we can check on them via the camera. ( we always have someone check on them still)

We get lots and lots of snow and I wondered about that as well…. I think I can make the solar doors work as they are very small panels and require very little power, and have some reserve power. but I’m not sure a big one would produce enough with the snow to run everything…..

 

[aart]

I want to put a water deicer in the water and an aquarium pump running in loop to circulate the water.

Heater in both 5g buckets?
The system you propose is rather complex, intriguing because of it...but in the long run better to go with a simpler solution.

 

[Dirtautoguy]

I was thinking one heater. And then have all of it looped together. It wouldn’t take much more. And the aquarium pump would keep it all circulating

 

[aart]

I was thinking one heater. And then have all of it looped together. It wouldn’t take much more. And the aquarium pump would keep it all circulating

I understand the concept, investigated it myself when I first started with chickens. As a long time industrial designer I also found that with the amount of complications and the subsequent failure risks...it just wasn't worth it. Instead using a single container jug with horizontal nipples installed, went thru a couple heating iterations that did not work out and ended up with this which has worked well for 10 years now.

 

[HalosHaven]

I run an extension cord to my duck coop. I keep it raised up on fence posts to prevent it from being buried in the snow.

I realize this is a post from a while back, but I'm hoping I might get a reply. Can I ask how cold it gets where you are and how much snow you get? I live in an area where we get 200 to 300 inches of snow per winter and -25 to -40F is not uncommon. What gauge of extension cord do you use? Also, could you give me any more tips on that process? I'm really scared of extension cords, but I'm finding out really quick that my solar is failing and my lithium power sources are not tolerating the below freezing temperatures already. Any help would be much-appreciated. Thank you so much.

 

[StinkyAcres]

I realize this is a post from a while back, but I'm hoping I might get a reply. Can I ask how cold it gets where you are and how much snow you get? I live in an area where we get 200 to 300 inches of snow per winter and -25 to -40F is not uncommon. What gauge of extension cord do you use? Also, could you give me any more tips on that process? I'm really scared of extension cords, but I'm finding out really quick that my solar is failing and my lithium power sources are not tolerating the below freezing temperatures already. Any help would be much-appreciated. Thank you so much.

Sure! It doesn't get as cold here -- we normally have a week or two with nights that get down to around -8F. The coldest it gets is -20F but that's rare. My extension cord is 14-gauge and 50 feet long, I believe. I use removable plant ties to tie the extension cord to the fence posts. The outlet I plug it into is inside my greenhouse and I run it out through a gap in the door at the top so it never touches the ground.

Here is how I run it into the coop. It goes underneath the nesting box, up the side, and through a small recess I drilled at the top. I can get more photos later if you'd like.