Frozen water ideas

[Katejc]

Hi everyone, we are just at the beginning of winter here in interior british columbia, lst year we got down to -13f for a couple of weeks. I’m looking for some inexpensive ideas for keeping my flock watered. Last year we made a cookie tin heater which is basically a lightbulb inside a cookie tin with the waterer sitting on top. It was a bit problematic as the lightbulb kept getting killed off by the extreme temps and since you cant see it, it requires a daily check. Another option I was thinking of was to get a fish tank water heater and clip it inside a 5 gallon bucket with some chicken nipples screwed in? Has anyone tried this? I would love to hear other ideas!

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Hi everyone, we are just at the beginning of winter here in interior british columbia, lst year we got down to -13f for a couple of weeks. I’m looking for some inexpensive ideas for keeping my flock watered. Last year we made a cookie tin heater which is basically a lightbulb inside a cookie tin with the waterer sitting on top. It was a bit problematic as the lightbulb kept getting killed off by the extreme temps and since you cant see it, it requires a daily check. Another option I was thinking of was to get a fish tank water heater and clip it inside a 5 gallon bucket with some chicken nipples screwed in? Has anyone tried this? I would love to hear other ideas!

The fish one I've seen before. Not sure how cold tolerant it is though

 

[RojoMarz]

Heated polt waterer?

 

[Katejc]

Heated polt waterer?

I can’t find one that isn’t $100+ I will get one if none of my ideas pan out.

 

[Katejc]

The fish one I've seen before. Not sure how cold tolerant it is though

If I can find a cheap one I think I will test it out

 

[wamtazlady]

I use a plastic tote, horizontal nipples, and a stock tank deicer that is rated for use in plastic. This year's tote holds 20 gallons of water. With only 7 chickens this means it only needs filled once every couple weeks. This system has also kept the water thawed even when our temperature was -26 F. The deicer is the most expensive part of this system. It costs about $50. However, unlike an aquarium heater it is designed to work in cold weather and keep the water just thawed, not warm. Some people have used the aquarium heater and it has worked well for them. The deicer I use has it's own built in thermostate. It turns on at 35 and off at 40 or 45 degrees. On one of the recent threads about keeping water thawed someone wrote about why an aquarium heater might not be the best choice. You might want to find that and read before you decide. Anyway, my last deicer lasted 3 years. This one is on its third year so the cost it not high when it only needs replaced every 3 or so years.

 

[rosemarythyme]

I've done an aquarium heater before for about 2 years but not sure how well it works in very low temps. They do need to remain fully submerged so that's something to keep in mind.

 

[Happy hen lover]

I have an aquarium heater and it works fine. I use it with horiz nipples.

 

[21hens-incharge]

I use a plastic tote, horizontal nipples, and a stock tank deicer that is rated for use in plastic. This year's tote holds 20 gallons of water. With only 7 chickens this means it only needs filled once every couple weeks. This system has also kept the water thawed even when our temperature was -26 F. The deicer is the most expensive part of this system. It costs about $50. However, unlike an aquarium heater it is designed to work in cold weather and keep the water just thawed, not warm. Some people have used the aquarium heater and it has worked well for them. The deicer I use has it's own built in thermostate. It turns on at 35 and off at 40 or 45 degrees. On one of the recent threads about keeping water thawed someone wrote about why an aquarium heater might not be the best choice. You might want to find that and read before you decide. Anyway, my last deicer lasted 3 years. This one is on its third year so the cost it not high when it only needs replaced every 3 or so years.

After 5 heated dog dishes that failed within a month each I went to a bucket heater exactly like this. It worked extremely well and I used it for several years.
It is still in working order but with only one coop with power I now just carry water out each morning and dump the dishes at coop closing so they are ready for the next morning.
In extreme cold I carry out some hot water to melt the ice that has formed during the day.
While my way won't work with nipple waterers it works for open water dishes.