DIY Winter-Proof Chicken Waterer?

[aart]

Is there a reason in your winter waterer design you opted for an aquarium heater over a de-icer?

It fit in the jug I wanted to use and I had read about someone using one successfully.

 

[maihem]

I have been using two 5 gallon buckets with horizontal watering nipples, 2- 50w aquarium heaters per bucket, and a thermocube per bucket for years now. I have never had a heater fail to the point of breaking or shocking the water. I have had heaters start to show condensation inside the glass, which is when I just replace them. My thought in using 2 heaters per bucket is in the event one fails, the other will keep water from freezing. I typically get 2 to 4 winters of service out of the cheap $5 heaters but I am a little spooked by other's negative experiences with the cheap glass heaters and I am actively replacing my back up stock of glass heaters, as I go through them, with Aqueon Pro heaters for their quality. Also planning to add a grounding probe to the chicken water for additional safety.

 

[jthornton]

I tried horizontal nipples with a floating stock tank heater in a plastic 5 gallon bucket exposed to the wind but they kept freezing up. So I went back to the vertical nipples and a submersible heater and just added some insulation foam around the nipples then cut the bottom 3" off another bucket and placed that over the insulation to protect the insulation from chicken pecking. So the only thing that sticks out is the metal pin. Works for me in the open air down to 0°F so far. I have a thread here...






JT

 

[aart]

Should have used the submersible heater with the HN's.

Ever used/built a device to record(graph output) multiple heat probes?
Would be interesting to see the temps at various heights inside bucket with either heater.

 

[jthornton]

Should have used the submersible heater with the HN's.

Ever used/built a device to record(graph output) multiple heat probes?
Would be interesting to see the temps at various heights inside bucket with either heater.

Yea in hind sight the submersible would have been a better choice because the water is at the bottom with a floating heater will be much colder than the top. Not sure how much the direct wind had to do with it but at the time I needed a water system that "just worked".

I do have waterproof I2C temperature probes and I need to add one to the water bucket as soon as I get time to make a bus for the I2C. Right now I'm in the middle of testing the port of the touch screen chicken automation to the LCD screen as soon as my program has been proven out I'll see about adding a temperature probe. I have an I2C temperature, humidity, and pressure sensor now in the coop and it's a different address from the probe so no problems with that.

For multiple devices on the I2C bus they all must have a different "address", so I don't know how to have several probes connected at once.

JT

 

[aart]

The device I'm thinking of were ones we used where I worked.
Had multiple sensor wires, like a dozen or more, temps were recorded on a graph paper cylinder...kinda like an EKG machine. Have no idea how it worked, I only handled documenting the resulting data. They were used for testing/validating sterilization ovens and huge freeze dryer shelves. Just dreaming.

 

[maihem]

I tried horizontal nipples with a floating stock tank heater in a plastic 5 gallon bucket exposed to the wind but they kept freezing up. So I went back to the vertical nipples and a submersible heater and just added some insulation foam around the nipples then cut the bottom 3" off another bucket and placed that over the insulation to protect the insulation from chicken pecking. So the only thing that sticks out is the metal pin. Works for me in the open air down to 0°F so far. I have a thread here...

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JT

So, most stock tank heaters that I know of have their own thermostat that is set to 33-35° F. In my experience, they don't heat the water enough to radiate heat out to keep either style of nipple from freezing. I completely respect that others don't care for aquarium heaters, but they just work for me.

 

[jthornton]

So, most stock tank heaters that I know of have their own thermostat that is set to 33-35° F. In my experience, they don't heat the water enough to radiate heat out to keep either style of nipple from freezing. I completely respect that others don't care for aquarium heaters, but they just work for me.

Yea a stock tank heater is designed to keep the surface of the water from freezing while we need the bottom of the tank to get heat and keep the nipples from freezing. When I tried that I was "new-not-nohow"

JT

 

[thecreekhouse]

I also don’t want to run a super long extension cord out to my coop so it has no electricity. I think a loooong extension cord outdoors is just asking for a fire hazard. Raccoons, possums, skunks, weasels and even dogs or cats might chew into it and cause major problems. As for water not freezing, I have no good suggestions. I dump and refill my hens’ rubber water dish each morning, adding lukewarm water and a small splash of apple cider vinegar.

 

[ngennetta]

Hello @Afrodigh! I'm Nicole, owner of Heritage Acres Market, and the seller of the horizontal nippled you linked on Amazon.

We live in Colorado where it gets quite cold. We use the horizontal horizontal nipples year round on a bucket. In the winter we simply add a submersible heater.

You can also make a PVC system with the side nipples, and wrap the PVC with heat tape. As you noted, the horizontals do not freeze as easily as the others because they don't hold water in the barrel like others do.

If I can provide any more info on how to use, install or train your birds, please don't hesitate to ask!