Horizontal nipple setup with a heated dog bowl?

[JadziaDax]

Has anyone used a horizontal nipple water setup with a heated dog bowl for winter?

I'm wondering if I could use a 2.5g bucket with horizontal nipples set in a heated dog bowl (maybe with a paver or sand in the bottom to raise the bucket up enough).

Has anyone used a set up like this? Thanks!

 

[cavemanrich]

First

Now to answer question.; I don't think this will work very well when it gets very cold. The heated dog bowl is only 25 watt. (that is what mine is.) The transfer of heat from bowl to water container will be difficult. The horizontal nipples will freeze.
Why do you not want to use the bowl with water in it directly ??? I assume that you do not want to refill it with clean water daily. There are other heaters that can be installed into your water bucket, I read about people using aquarium heaters. It may be a trial and see situation with those.
WISHING YOU BEST

 

[JadziaDax]

We don't get terribly cold here, very very rarely below 0F - I don't remember it getting below 0 in the last 10+ years. We occasionally get down to 2-4F for a night, maybe two a year.

You are correct in my reasoning for not just using the open bowl

I had heard great things about the horizontal nipples. I can always pick up one of the generic red-and-white waterers for the winter, though.

 

[RJSorensen]

Horizontal nipples are the cold weather champ by me. A bucket heater and a few red nipples installed on your bucket and you will be easy good for the temps you note. I get minus twenty several times a year, and my setup has worked without fail. With just three pieces, nipple(s) bucket, and heater you can have five easy gallons of clean water for your flock. The heater has a temp sensor that turned it off when it gets back up to 40 degrees, I believe it turns on at 34 degrees or so. I bought an aquarium pump and aquarium heater and designed an engineering marvel, but better sense won out over my pride of intellect. Keep it simple… simple may not be glamours nor reflect my true intellect, but it works with no worries. That is worth a lot to me, so you might wish to consider something on this order. I live in USA zone six and it does get solid bucket cold here…

This year I am trying a bucket hanging out of doors, not in a coop nor building/shed. I have hooked up a chain to a five gallon bucket from a tree, not sure it will work in this way as of yet, but the results were so good from the prior year, I am going to push my envelope and see.






Best to you and your birds,

RJ