heated waterer.

[Flappy]

I live in Michigan and was wondering if anyone had advice on a heated waterer?

 

[snow5164]

Hi,
I live in southern Manitoba and the water heater we choose years ago is the cookie tin heater.

You buy a cookie tin and install a light socket inside it , your normal waterer sits on top of it. We used a 60 watt bulb and the water was too warm , the last few years we’ve been happy with a 25 watt bulb .

It is energy efficient and easy to make , we have sand in our coop so there’s no hazard like with straw.


I’ve heard a lot of people use heated dog bowls , I tried that and it was a lot of cleaning ..

Have fun planning

 

[ChickenCanoe]

There is quite a bit of discussion in the following post on keeping water thawed.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/winter-is-coming.1271443/

 

[Mosey2003]

@snow5164 - does the cookie tin heater work with plastic waterers? I really don't want to use the metal waterers, but I'm afraid even with a heat lamp or two on it, mine may still freeze...

 

[snow5164]

Hi @Mosey2003
Yes we had the metal waterers and they rusted within the first summer , might have been my well water...

With a cookie tin heater my water stayed thawed ,but they are in a coop heated to 0’C

 

[wamtazlady]

I use a 10 gallon plastic tote (most use a 5 gallon bucket), horizontal nipples, and a stock tank deicer that is rated for use in plastic. Kept my water thawed down to -22 F last winter. The great part is that it only needs filled once a week for my 12 hens.