Heated chicken and duck waterer

[nvanzee1]

Currently have 22 chickens and 7 ducks all together. This will be the first winter with ducks and this many chickens (only had 4 chickens last year). Im in michigan so this winter we'll have many days below freezing. Im wanting to find a way to keep a decent amount of water thawed. Would be nice if i could go at least a week without having to refill. For the chickens im planning on using a 20 gallon barrel that will feed pvc pipe with horizontal nipples. Both ends of the pipe will connect to the barrel and ill have a small pump pushing the water through. Also have some type of heating element in the barrel. Seems like that will work pretty good to me. Now for the ducks im not sure exactly what to do. I dont plan on having their pond/pool available. Ive read some people will use heated dog bowls or something similar but i can see them splashing the water out of that in a hurry and would need to be filled everyday if not multiple times a day. Ive come across fairly big watering cups that i could add into my pvc waterer i have for the chickens. Not sure if they would freeze or not though. Or if it would be big enough for them or if they would still need a bucket of some sort to put their heads in? Anyone has any ideas that are fairly inexpensive?

 

[cavemanrich]

You have the chicken water supply quite well covered. I would put the horizontal nipples directly into the wall of the barrel. Place them at different levels in case some of your chickens are shorter, or taller. About 6 nipples should take care of things. You need a STOCK TANK HEATER inside barrel. They do come with built in thermostats, so you wont be overheating your water. You can also use a THERMO CUBE, for additional control of heater.
Your duck watering situation is somewhat more complicated. Ducks do need to dip their heads deep. I would use an ELECTRIC HEATED DOG BOWL. Separate your ducks from chickens if you can. Refill as needed.
WISHING YOU BEST,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, and

 

[nvanzee1]

Only reason I was going to put the nipples in a pvc was so during the warmer months I could just hook it to the hose and not worry about having to fill the barrel.
That's about all I could come up with for the ducks also. Might be my only option. I could separate them for the winter as I still need to build them a more permanent enclosure for the cold weather. What size enclosure would you recommend for them? I was originally thinking 4x4 but that might be a little small. Also how much room should I give them in the run? My current run for the ducks and chickens is 8x24. Would 8x8 be enough for the ducks, leaving 16x8 for the chickens?

 

[cavemanrich]

Hooking a hose to a pipe with the nipples,,,,,,,,,,, there are a few things to consider. You cant just hook up hose pressure (usually about 35psi) to the nipple pipe. Nipples would leak bad,,,, and even pop off, NOT TO MENTION SPRAY INTO THE CHICKEN FACES,,, IF THEY ACTUALLY DID GET THOSE NIPPLES TO OPEN. (HIGHER PRESSURE ACTUALLY PREVENTS NIPPLE FROM OPENING EASILY) You would need a special water pressure regulator. (to reduce pressure to about 3psi) There is an option to hook up a hose to the barrel, and have things on AUTOMATIC. Install a toilet tank fill valve inside barrel.

On the coop for ducks, consider that ducks do not roost, but stay on floor. I do not have ducks, so am not much help with size requirements.
On partitioning the run for them and chickens,,,,,, make it a movable partition, so you can best determine by TRIAL, AND ERROR.

 

[nvanzee1]

That makes sense. I will do that. I actually already have a float valve that is on my current 5gal. waterer I made.
Good idea on making the partition moveable. Thanks for your advice