help frozen nipples on HEATED waterer

[kristin07035]

I have the cheery chicks heated 3 gal bucket waterer...I noticed today that the water level hasn't really gone down the past few days...upon further inspection all 4 nipples are FROZEN.
The heater is working i can feel it... im going to bring it in & defrost them but what can i do to keep them from 're freezing? Thought I'd never say this but thank god for the snow or my girls would have dehydrated

 

[jetdog]

Same thing here, throw it out and look at horizontal nipples they don't hold the water like the vertical nipples and are far less likely to freeze, I just ordered them from"all bout chickens"I have tried everything and this will hopefully be the answer.

 

[Blueline]

Make sure you let us know how the new nipples work out.

Charlie

 

[jetdog]

Surely I just got them today and going to install them tomorrow.

 

[kristin07035]

Not getting the horizontal ones... the waterer was way too expensive to just throw out... had a suggestion of diipping them in cooking oil so water doesn't stay on & freeze... so far working no freezing

 

[pdirt]

What sort of heater does the Cheery Chicks waterer have? I looked at their website but do not see the heated version for sale.

I made a DIY 3.5 gallon bucket with 2 nipples (the vertical ones that attach to the underside of the bucket) and with a "de-icer" heater (heats to about 40F), the nipples froze but water did not. I switched to an aquarium heater placed on the bottom of the bucket and set to the lowest setting (about 68F). This solved the problem, down to about -9F so far.

I would also ask the Cheery Chicks folks because if you paid a lot of money for it, it should be fool proof!

Another idea is that if you have very hard water, mineral deposits may have built up and "froze" your nipples. A soak of 50/50 water/vinegar will dissolve excess minerals.

 

[kristin07035]

The heated lid

is an extra option.
http://cheerychicks.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1&products_id=5
I believe it is the de-iced one like you mentioned.
Water staying heated wonderfully just had the issue with the nipples freezing. Since dipping in cooking oil so far no problems...I'll just have to wait and see.

 

[pdirt]

From what I've read, most people using the vertical nipples using a deicer like that have eventually ended up using something different than the deicer. They work fine if you're not using vertical nipples or if it doesn't get much below 15F. Colder than that and then what's the point?! Could have saved some money and just bring the bucket in each night. And if we wanted to go away for a few days, I want to rest assured their water will be accessible to them and not always have to rely on a caretaker.

I hadn't heard of the cooking oil trick before. Do let us know how it works out for you.

 

[chad-o]

Vertical nipples are full of water so are prone to freezing since the nipple is exposed to the cold. Horizontal nipples only have the back of the valve exposed to the water and are less likely to freeze. The spring load keep the part that is exposed to the cold basically dry. The back of the valve is in the warm water so it can't freeze shut. Ck out the picture and you can see for your self.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/321319925386?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1558.l2649

 

[Alaskan]

In super cold weather I just give up and go to the black plastic feed pans. Impossible to break.