Heated dog bowl filled with sand?

[kuntrychick]

I know I read on here where someone used the heated dog bowl & filled it up with sand & set the chicken waterer on top of the sand. If anyone has done this, please reply.

Was your sand damp or dry? Did it work ok?

I just wasn't sure if it's ok to use the electric dog bowl dry or not.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I haven't done the sand trick but it's ok for it to run dry.

 

[lcammack]

I believe it is ChooksChick that has the sand in her heated dog bowl. Maybe try pm ing her?

 

[Hawkeye95]

ChooksChick is on the Kansas thread (consolidated kansas) and yeah, she's mentioned sand in her heated dog bowls. It's a great idea! I'm making the cookie tin heaters, but I think either will work fine. I'm guessing the sand is dry, but I've never actually asked her that!

 

[cluckfan]

We use the heatng insert from the dog bowl. The ones that are attached to the underside. We sit it upon a block and sit our metal fount right on top. Seems to be working just fine. The shiny part is not exposed because I know the birds would peck at it.

 

[BellevueOmlet]

If you have a heated dog bowl, why not just put water in the bowl? I guess mess and all that?
I use a heated bucket with waterer cups and love it.

 

[kuntrychick]

Quote:
What kind of heater do you use in the bucket? I've ordered nipples & they're on the way, but it got below freezing the past few nights so I had to use the heated dog bowl until the nipples come in. Then, I still haven't decided what I'm gonna heat the bucket with.

Does the standing water in the cups not freeze?

 

[kuntrychick]

My heated dog bowl is the blue one from TSC. I believe it's 5 qt. Does anyone know what the wattage is & what temp it turns on & off? Is that air temp (assuming the thermostat is in all the stuff under the bowl)?

I'm still a little on the fence about how this is gonna work for me. I filled it up all the way with sand because my waterer is a 3-gallon & won't fit down inside the dog bowl like the 1-gallon ones will.

Every time I have went out & checked on it the past few nights, it was in the mid-to-high 30s (didn't get to freezing or below until overnight). When I would check on it, the water was cold, the outside of the dog bowl didn't feel warm. I removed the waterer & felt the sand, even sticking my finger into it & it didn't feel warm.

But, last night it got down into the low 20s (overnight), but not for sure for how long of period. I didn't get a chance to check the waterer until about 8 AM. The water was not frozen. The outside of the bowl felt a little warm, the sand didn't feel ice cold, but not really warm either. So, I'm not sure how this will work with that amount of sand in there & that amount of waterer on there (I mean, the bowl is designed to keep 5 qt. from freezing....not 5 qts. worth of sand + plastic base of waterer & 3 gallons of water).

What do y'all think? It did keep the water from freezing last night, but not sure how it would work if the temps stayed below freezing for a long period of time.

 

[Tres Amigas]

This is our second year using this method. We use a regular metal flat bottomed pet bowl from mallwart and just enough sand to bring the rim up to the level of the heated dog bowl. We have two bowls - take a clean bowl out and bring the other in for washing. It works excellently well for our three girls. The first year we tried just putting the water in the heated bowl, but it was a mess to change the water and disconnect the whole thing each time we needed to clean the bowl (and the thing will get slimey!) This way it's just a quick switcheroo of bowls. Because it's so quick and easy to do our girls actually get their water changed more frequently in the winter. One drawback is that you can't put ACV in a metal dish, so every couple of days I take the ACV water out in an old tupperware. Works for us.

BTW - We're in Eastern Washington, so freezing is an issue.

 

[cluckfan]

Quote:
Look neat never saw one set up like this. Where did you get it and what is it mounted on. Can't tell from your photo.