How do you manage iced water?

[Suzz]

I is interesting to me. Like I didn’t know that water heaters existed. For me we get frost maybe once a year. Never worried about frozen water. In fact we freeze water to keep the water cold all ‘winter’.

So imagine living in a walk in freezer for 3 to 4 months a year then add wind that about sums it up

 

[EagleEyes]

I'm in northeastern Missouri so no stranger to really cold winter weather. It can get in the minus teens here in January/February.

Tried the heated dog bowls. They work but seldom last more than one or two seasons for me before they conk out on me.

Last year I went to home made heaters that consist of a metal cookie tins with a coffee cup heater inside. Luckily I have power to my coop so no problem and the heaters work great. I have old metal mixing bowls that I set on them and no more frozen water.

A member here on BYC, passed on the idea to me. You can find the easy instructions here:

https://the-chicken-chick.com/make-cookie-tin-waterer-heater-under-10/

SW Wisconsin and gets and stays cold for a long time here. Coldest I've seen it here was in Jan of 2019' -39F

I also use a cookie tin heater, that my waterers sit on but in mine I have a 60 watt bulb and is plugged into a thermo cube.
It sits on and cement block in the corner of the coop.
This is only for the winter, in the not so cold months the water is outside in the run.
I have two galvanized waterers that appear to hold 2 gal, and switch them out every several days as needed.

 

[littlecoopnextdoor]

I have been struggling with this! I have been going out twice a day to replace frozen water. My mom has a heated water bowl for me (yay!) but I can't pick it up til next week. It can't come soon enough.

 

[Show Sebright]

So imagine living in a walk in freezer for 3 to 4 months a year then add wind that about sums it up

Nice. That’s got to be fun. How do your chickens survive…. My girls hate when it gets below 50

 

[Suzz]

Nice. That’s got to be fun. How do your chickens survive…. My girls hate when it gets below 50

Chickens are very hearty they have those wonderful down feathers keeping them warm if the wind isn’t blowing on them they are fine at -40 even with no heat and no insulation