Heated Waterer Dilemma

[Matilda Belle]

I cannot for the life of me find a heated waterer that works well for chickens. I've purchased the plastic hanging heated waterer but had several issues (cord not long enough, spillage while hanging, etc.), and most recently I've had a heated dog dish. The dog dish has worked well up until recently when my chickens have decided to perch and crap in it. It also doesn't hold enough water for my birds. So now I'm thinking of purchasing either a larger dog dish or a heated base. Does anyone have experience with the metal heated bases likes this one?

https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/farm-innovators-heated-base

I'm tired of wasting money on junk poultry products (Lord knows there is a lot of junk out there). I want something that works to -20 degrees, and something built to last. Should I go with a larger dog dish or go with the metal base? Or something else?

 

[Peepsi]

This was my solution, an electric water de-icer: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000HHLIXY/?tag=backy-20

I got a large bucket (3 gallon, although if you have more chooks, you can get a 5 gallon bucket) and put the de-icer in it. It has a 6-foot cord. It only comes on when the temps drop below 40 degrees F. Chickens drink out of the bucket (it sits on the floor, and I put cinder blocks next to it so the chickens can hop up and reach the top of the bucket). Water doesn't freeze. The bucket doesn't get tipped over when it's kept full of water. It's tall enough that the chooks don't get stuff in the water. Problem solved.

 

[Meg-in-MT]

I have the heated bases and metal waterers in all of my coops/runs and they work really well. They do not last forever, unfortunately, but are the best I've found for my climate. I've also seen many a chicken drinking out of the automatic waterers we have for the cows

 

[Matilda Belle]

I have the heated bases and metal waterers in all of my coops/runs and they work really well. They do not last forever, unfortunately, but are the best I've found for my climate. I've also seen many a chicken drinking out of the automatic waterers we have for the cows

I'm not familiar with Montana's climate. Does it get cold like -20? Does the water stay unfrozen?

 

[Meg-in-MT]

I'm not familiar with Montana's climate. Does it get cold like -20? Does the water stay unfrozen?

Yes, even down to -40° occasionally. Sometimes I will get ice in the small trough, but it's not usually enough so they cannot still drink. I'll break the ice up and pick it out and then it's good to go. If you can keep it out of the wind, even better.

 

[imnukensc]

Does anyone have experience with the metal heated bases likes this one?

https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/farm-innovators-heated-base

That is the base I use, but I don't have the temperatures down here to deal with that you do in your location. I place it under this homemade HN waterer and run an extension cord to it from a GFCI outlet.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

I just dug mine out of the well house. Needs cleaning ... it just keeps the water from freezing. We set it on a half-cinder block outside so it doesn't sit

in the mud, and the chickens don't perch on it or soil in it. We don't keep water in the hen house. They don't drink at night when they're roosting.

 

[Red-Stars-in-RI]

I use a plug-in electric heating unit in a 5-gallon bucket with nipples. The heating unit has a thermostat and kicks in when temps get low enough. Used all last winter here in RI and it worked great. Just set them up again last weekend as we’re starting to get frosts here.

 

[NHMountainMan]

We’re expecting single digits / teens in the next few overnights. I bought the premier1 heated poultry nipple waterer. It got great reviews. Hoping that the one the OP mentioned isn’t the same one.

 

[Acre4Me]

We purchased the heated base this year for the 5-gallon metal waterer. So far it’s working well. Last year used heated dog bowl, worked well but no one perched on it. We tried bucket heaters and bucket de-icers with the Nipples on the outside if the bucket. The de-icers did not work (both failed, both were new). The heater made the water hot and steamy so the nipples always worked, but the cage around the heater (to keep it from hitting the bucket sides) was welded incorrectly and created rusty water immediately and the chickens would not drink hot rusty water.