Coop without electric

[RollinWithTheStones]

So this morning I went out to let the girls out and they were royally ticked at me, apparently the water froze. I poked my finger through the ice and broke it up. Is there a non electrical way to keep water from freezing.

 

[Egghead_Jr]

Keeping water from freezing in Ohio winter? No.

Save the headache and hassle of carrying fresh water several times a day by running an exterior extension cord to your run or coop. People use a myriad of heating devices from pie tin sandwich over christmas light to winter dog bowls to the 3 gallon heated poultry waterer. I use the later and doubles as extra waterer in summer. Less fill ups, less hassle and no worries the girls have constant non frozen water access.

 

[simplynewt]

If there is no electric present or near by, you may want to consider investing in a solar panel. They can be found relatively cheap (under $200.00) at Harbor Frieght.

 

[StevenW.]

We just run extension cords out to all of the coops.

 

[Hawkeye95]

My coop is wired, but I do run extension cords out to my stock tank because it takes TWO heaters to keep the water open. (it's large) I would run an extension cord out to your coop. You can buy a $40 water heater that your water sits on top of. OR you could make your own heater! You need a cookie tin-- 10 inches across and 3.5 inches deep. Put x-mas lights in it, or put in a ceramic socket for a 40 watt chandelier light bulb. (long and skinny bulb that will fit in the cookie tin well. I bought cheap indoor extension cords, cut off the ends and wire them up to the socket. Do a search for Cookie Tin Water Heater here on the board and there are many people who have showed how they did it. Here is one: https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=107951 You can put in x-mas lights too- but they will really need to heat up. If they are LED, they won't produce enough heat. They need to be the big outdoor kind. Good luck!

 

[RollinWithTheStones]

Thanks everyone